Banff & Lake Louise Roadtrip

In June I had to fly out to Alberta for a wedding, so I decided to add on a little trip through the mountains 🙂

We tried to squeeze in as many of the top spots as we could in 3 days. Unfortunately the weather in June this year wasn’t very summery, so we had to plan our days around the weather (it rained or snowed every day while we were there..boo). We didn’t anticipate it being so cold so we weren’t prepared (only brought a rain jacket as a coat)- I definitely recommend packing a lot more warmer clothes than you’d think you would need!

So if you’re looking for a summery getaway, I would definitely recommend going in July or August. However, the area gets very busy with tourists during those months, so if you don’t want to fight the crowds June or September are also okay! (We just got very unlucky with the weather the 3 days we were there)

Day 1 – Peyto Lake and Lake Louise
Day 2 – Moraine Lake, Johnston Canyon, and Bow Falls
Day 3 – Banff Town, Two Jack Lake, and Tunnel Mountain

Day 1: Peyto Lake and Lake Louise

We landed in Edmonton and rented a car from the airport (Alamo Car Rental) and drove for 3 hours down to Banff! If you’re just coming to Alberta just for Banff I would definitely recommend flying into Calgary (only an hour drive into Banff). You’ll also want to rent a car- getting around by transit is not necessarily the easiest thing and trust me- you’ll want the flexibility to pull over at the side of the road whenever you want to take pictures because it’s just that beautiful!

Since our first day was the nicest in terms of the weather forecast (22 degrees and sunny!), we decided to head straight to Peyto Lake! There’s a free parking lot just off the side of the highway (look for signs for Bow Pass or Peyto Lake Lookout). There’s a little trail head that takes you right up to the lake view! The trail itself pretty easy and only took about 15-20 minutes, but we stayed up there for at least 45 minutes taking pictures because it was just THAT pretty!

Since we were in the area, we decided to add on Lake Louise since it was such a clear day! We didn’t do a hike here (as we were pooped from the flight and still had a ways to drive to our hotel) but instead just walked around the lake and stopped for a quick bite in the hotel!

While we were there we tried to go to Lake Moraine as well, but the road was closed due to the parking lot being full and we just missed the last shuttle (the last one is at 4pm) 🙁

We continued driving to our hotel in Banff (about an hour drive from Lake Louise) and went out for dinner in the town. We stayed at Tunnel Mountain Resort. It was quite nice- had a full kitchenette, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a fireplace! It was only a 3-5 minute drive into the town which was great!

Day 2 – Lake Moraine and Bow Falls

So to avoid the parking lot getting full, we headed to Lake Moraine super early the next morning (we left our hotel in Banff at 530am!)

Tip: If you have a car I’d highly highly recommend going early in the morning like we did. Nobody was there (so nobody getting in your pictures) and then you don’t have to waste your time and money on the shuttle.

Lake Moraine is seriously one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen in my entire life! The pictures are UNREAL- but it’s even better in person, trust me!

It’s a super easy walk up to the main viewpoint (less than 10 minutes), but we spent an hour here taking in the view and walking around the other trails! (It was friggin cold at the top so dress warm if you don’t go in the main summer months!)

After Moraine Lake we headed back towards Banff and stopped at Johnston Canyon. There’s easy walking trails through the canyon and waterfalls – worth a stop if you’re looking for a less intense outdoor activity!

After the canyon we headed up to the Banff Gondola – it was more expensive than I thought so we decided not to do it because it was very overcast at the time so wouldn’t be worth it. If it’s a clear day though I’ve heard really good things! (you can either take the gondola up or hike up!)

Day 3 – Banff Town, Two Jack Lake, and Tunnel Mountain

This was the worst weather we had our whole trip… it was 2 degrees Celsius and was snowing/freezing rain on and off. Because of this we decided to lay low and stay around the town in case the weather turned worse.

We spent the morning walking around town and doing a little shopping. We kept walking towards the river on the Main Street and it brought us to a trial along the river. It’s a flat, easy trail that goes along the river and brings you to Bow’s Falls. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the waterfall so it’s something you can easily fit into your schedule!

Along the trail you can see the historic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel – this would be super picturesque in the winter covered in snow!

Since the weather was holding up, we decided we wanted to be a little more active so we drove up to Tunnel Mountain and started the hike up! It’s a pretty steep hike up so wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. Unfortunately, when we were halfway up a blizzard rolled in and we couldn’t see a thing (didn’t get any pictures..boo). We ran down as fast as we could to get to our car and missed out on the view from the top.

On our way back to our hotel we did a little detour and drove along Two Jack Lake and Lake Minnewanka. It’s super pretty and worth the drive out there if the weather is nice! (Unfortunately it was freezing and snowing so we didn’t actually get out and walk around).

And just like that our little Banff/Lake Louise getaway was over – we headed back up to Edmonton the next morning for the wedding!

Thanks for reading
xoxo steens