Hi! We are planning a trip to Banff the first week of April for our 25th wedding anniversary. I am wondering if we should stay in Banff the entire time or spend a night or two at the Fairmont Lake Louise. We are going to ski one day. We are planning to stay at the Fairmont in Banff. Any suggestions or tips for that time of year in the area would be great! Thanks!

The Fairmont in Banff is only about an hour’s drive from the Fairmont at Lake Louise and the drive is very scenic. There’s really no need to split your stay between the two hotels. When we went, we stayed at the Fairmont at Lake Louise and made a couple day trips to Banff, played golf at the Fairmont in Banff, spent a few days visiting sights and hiking in Banff National Park & the surrounding areas and just relaxing for a couple days and enjoying the facilities and grounds of the hotel at Lake Louise.

Why waste time and going through the hassle of checking out of one hotel in the morning and checking into the other late in the afternoon. Make it easy on yourself and stay in one hotel and just drive around seeing sights and doing things that interest you.

Congratulations on your anniversary! You have picked a great location and you'll have a lovely time!
For recommendations in Banff:
Gondola - takes you to the peak of Sulphur Mountain with great views from the rooftop observation deck.
Banff Upper Hot Springs - according to their website, maintenance construction ends in December 2025, so you'd have an opportunity to visit the upgraded space. Absolutely recommend!

Also, I have to include this note: if you plan hiking, please read about Banff wildlife. Even though mating season starts later in spring, you still should be prepared to encounter and watch out for bears, elk, sheep, deer and coyotes - it's a magical experience if you are prepared and know how to behave and what to avoid.

The first week of April is still very much winter in Banff. The lakes are going to be frozen solid. People will still be ice skating on them. There will be no hiking: all the alpine hiking trails will be inaccessible due to the ice and snow, as well as avalanche risk. The town of Banff is a small, walkable town full of hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafes, souvenir shops, and services. When you stay there, you can walk outside your hotel and stroll the shops and whatnot. That's the only place in Banff with a real town. But most of your time will be spent outside of town, in your car, driving around to various lookouts, ski resorts, frozen lakefronts, canyon walks, etc. If you don't have a car, you're going to be very limited to where you can go outside of town.

Lake Louise is world famous, and it's a 45-minute drive down the highway from the town of Banff, but it's essentially an isolated outpost set along a very famous lake. The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is the only hotel on the lakeshore itself. All the other services nearby Lake Louise is about a 10-minute drive down the mountain from the lake at a highway junction. While they call this collection of services "Lake Louise Village", it's not a true village but more like a strip mall of services by the highway, out of sight of the lake. Zero ambiance and charm, but convenient if you plan to ski at the Lake Louise ski resort and you don't want to splurge on the luxury Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise or have to commute 45 minutes in from the town of Banff. People generally stay at the hotels at Lake Louise so they can be a 45-minute drive closer to the alpine hiking trailheads or ski resort at Lake Louise, and so they can also be a 45-minute drive closer to the sights along the Icefields Parkway and at the adjacent Yoho National Park. That's the main reason people stay there. But if you want to step outside your hotel and have a vibrant little town ambiance with restaurants and shops to explore, you won't find that at Lake Louise.

Because it'll be your anniversary, absolutely spend some time in Lake Louise for just a change of scenery from the town of Banff. It will feel more secluded, in true wilderness. It'll be quiet at night (not that Banff is rowdy by any means, but Banff is a true town). There is a free shuttle between the Chateau Lake Louise and the Lake Louise ski resort. They'll have an ice bar outside the hotel in the winter (and April, again, is still very much winter at Lake Louise). The hotel has some very nice restaurants (Walliser Stube is a personal favourite) as well as some casual restaurants, and the restaurants are, I believe, still only open to the guests of the hotel, not to tourists passing through. The trail going around Lake Louise will be covered in ice and will be slippery, so make sure you bring micro spikes. Half the trail will be closed due to avalanche risk. There is not a whole lot to "do" right at Lake Louise in the winter, other than to just step out to the lakeshore, admire the lake, stay cozy at the hotel and be pampered at their spa and their restaurants... but isn't that what anniversaries are for?

BC Robyn makes great points. When the hiking trails and tea houses are open I would spend a couple of nights at Lake Louise but in April there really will not be much to do there. I would lean toward just staying in Banff and doing a day trip to Lake Louise. If you want really quiet, I would check out Emerald Lake Lodge for a night or two.