Glacier to Banff
 

We're planning on being in Glacier for a few days in July and then going to Banff for a few more but travel between the two is challenging. Renting a car with drop-off in Canada is super expensive, flights and Amtrek are long with connections through Seattle...we don't want to lose precious time in transit. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Where are you flying into? Spokane? Someone asked a similar question not too long ago- cheapest option I could find with a rental car would be to make it a loop trip, and that's if you found a rental company that allowed you to cross the border.

You can also fly from Spokane to Calgary and then take a shuttle from Calgary to Banff. But that would NOT be economical- I think those flights start at about 200 per person. And you're right, they are not nonstop, but that's pretty typical of my experience with Spokane Intl. :)

In case you want the shuttle link:


http://airportshuttleexpress.com/Banff.htm#banff

Calgary airport is an excellent airport.

And driving to the U.S. with a car rented in Canada is not a problem.

What you don't want to do (because of price) is rent in one country and drop off in the other.

What I have done several times is fly from South Florida to Calgary, rent a car and drive to Glacier in MT (3.5 hours from Calgary airport to the Many Glacier area) and then about 4.5 - 5 hours from Glacier to Banff.

There's a Walmart Supercenter just south of the airport. You can take any food across the border except raw meat and citrus.

If you have an early flight back home from Calgary there's a Delta Hotel in the airport directly across the street from the terminal.

The Canadian Rockies are beautiful. The northern US Rockies are just as beautiful IMO.
Skip Banff for this trip. Either fly to Kalispell or to Spokane and take the Empire Builder overnight to Whitefish.
Rent your car in Montana and see Glacier and if you want to go into Canada, just go to Waterton which is attached to Glacier NP.
My favorite part of the Canadian Rockies is Jasper including Maligne Canyon. My travels in Canada over the past 13 years have been by ViaRail on the Canadian with a rental car from Jasper.

Do what Myers suggests, though you might want to skip Walmart.

On the way from Glacier/Waterton Lakes to Banff, stop at Head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump. Seriously.

Banff is in a gorgeous setting, though I liked Lake Louise better in that part of the world. Banff was full of Japanese tourists. Full.

Just to add.

By far the eastern part of Glacier has the most wildlife and spectacular scenery.

The Many Glacier area and the part along the GTTS Road from Logan's Pass eastward are the place to spend your time.

One of my trips was to determine what kind of future trip to Banff & Jasper I wanted (it actually took place the following year).

On that exploratory trip I spent 2 1/2 days in Banff & Jasper and without going into it in too much detail we saw a lot.

I would without a doubt skip the very disappointing Maligne Canyon just outside of Jasper.

I would definitely go to Mistaya Canyon at Km 71 (10-15 minute walk) along the Icefield Parkway and Angel Glacier about 20 miles south of the town of Jasper (about 2/3 mile walk).

If it will help, you can see my photos of these trips and others at:
www.travelwalks.com