Banff National Park in Alberta Canada had been on our wish list for the last few years. Alas, the dream came true in September when we found a direct WestJet flight from Raleigh to Calgary. Banff is still about a 2-hours drive from the airport, but we are lucky to have family in Calgary and this gave us a perfect opportunity to see them before we headed into the National Park.
Our trip started on Friday September 19th, late evening via a direct flight to Calgary. We landed at almost 10pm. After getting our rental car from National, we drove off to spend the night with our family. We headed back home to Raleigh super early on Tuesday morning, September 23; this time with a layover in Denver. Tuesday was a teacher work day for the kids, so we missed 1 day of school for this lovely 5-day trip.
Iceland was still fresh on our mind given that we were there just a month or so before this trip. Banff reminded us so much of that trip – with open pastures, big mountains, blue blue waterfalls, green green lakes, hot springs and that overall mind blowing scenery. For anyone who doesn’t have the time for Iceland, I’d say, go check out Banff for a weekend!
Here is our 3-day Itinerary in Banff and surrounding areas:
Saturday 9/20: Leisurely breakfast with our family in Calgary before heading out towards Banff. Stop at Grassi Lake for a challenging up-hill hike with great views. The green lake at the top is well worth the effort. We spent over 2 hours completing this hike. All 4 kids hiked right along with us. Then, off to a grocery store in Canmore called Save-on-Foods, where the kids were thrilled to learn that children are offered free bananas while their parents shop. We finally checked into our Airbnb in Canmore Ski Village. After a bit of time swimming and hot-tubing, we had dinner at home and then went to bed.
Sunday 9/21: Breakfast at Airbnb. Drive to Johnston Canyon where we hiked the Lower Falls. Upper Falls Hike looked very tempting but it is much longer and so we decided to save it for next time. Drive to Morant’s Curve to watch the train pass. Drive to Lake Louis. Mind blowing Lake. The ultra blue water surrounded by mountains, with the red canoes floating around in them, felt like something out of a Wes Anderson movie. Drive to Continental Divide in Kootenay National Park. Drive to Numa Creek Trailhead for more blue waterfalls. Last stop at Radium Hot Springs – the best way to end our day. Dinner at home. Bedtime.
Monday 9/22: Breakfast at Airbnb. Pack-up and check-out. Drive to proper downtown in Banff . The area is lively and we had a great time walking in and out of various stores and food places. We then drove into the Banff ski village to park and hike Tunnel Mountain trailhead. This is another long up-hill hike, but the kids did great and we had the best view (and packed snacks) waiting for us. We finally started our drive back to Calgary to have dinner with our family. We spent the night in Calgary catching up and hanging out with cousins.
Tuesday 9/23: 3:30am wake up call to head to the airport and fly back. We had an 8-hour layover in Denver. We saw more cousins who live in Denver before returning to the airport and relaxing at the AMEX Centurion Lounge.
Our trip to Calgary/Banff was certainly a quick one. But I have noticed that when a destination involves nature and open spaces, it hardly matters how short or long our stay, for we inevitably come home feeling relaxed and good about having seen yet another wonder created by Mother Nature.
Hope you enjoyed reading this. Talk soon!
The Antibland Chronicles 
Leave a comment