Things to Do in Banff: Tours, Tickets & Day Trips

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the Lake Louise and Moraine Lake tour, 2) the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain, 3) the Icefields Parkway full-day tour with the Columbia Icefield, 4) the hop-on-hop-off Banff bus, 5) the Johnston Canyon walk and winter icewalk, 6) the Big Canoe tour on the Bow River, 7) Lake Minnewanka’s scenic cruise, 8) the Banff Upper Hot Springs, 9) the Sunshine Village gondola and meadows and 10) Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park.

Plan three to four days. Day one: an early shuttle or tour to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, the Lake Agnes Tea House hike, Emerald Lake on the way back. Day two: the gondola in the morning, Bow Falls and Surprise Corner, a Lake Minnewanka cruise, the hot springs at dusk. Day three: Johnston Canyon early, the Bow Valley Parkway, Two Jack Lake, Vermilion Lakes at sunset. Day four: the Icefields Parkway to Bow Lake, Peyto Lake and the Athabasca Glacier — or a long hike such as Sentinel Pass or Cory Pass.

Bow Falls and the river trail, Surprise Corner’s view of the Fairmont Banff Springs, the Vermilion Lakes boardwalks, the Tunnel Mountain summit, the Sulphur Mountain switchback hike (ride the gondola down for a fee), the Fenland and Marsh loops, the Hoodoos trail, Cascade Ponds, Two Jack Lake, the Johnston Canyon lower and upper falls, Lake Louise’s shore path and the Lake Agnes hike, the Bow Valley Parkway’s Morant’s Curve, and the lookouts at Bow Lake and Peyto Lake on the Icefields Parkway. All require the park pass.

Lake Louise and Moraine Lake (45 minutes; tours from about $54–73, shuttles $27), the Icefields Parkway to the Columbia Icefield, the Athabasca Glacier and the Skywalk (2.5 hours each way; full-day tours $163), Yoho National Park’s Emerald Lake, Natural Bridge and Takakkaw Falls (one hour), Canmore and Kananaskis Country (25 minutes), Kootenay’s Marble Canyon and Radium Hot Springs (90 minutes) and Jasper (3.5 hours — better as an overnight).

Soak in the Upper Hot Springs, ride the gondola for sunset and dinner at the Sky Bistro, stargaze from Lake Minnewanka or Vermilion Lakes (occasionally with northern lights in autumn and winter), drink at Banff Ave Brewing, Park Distillery or the Rundle Bar in the Fairmont Banff Springs, catch a film at the Lux Cinema, join a wildlife-watching evening tour when elk and bears are most active, or walk Banff Avenue under the peaks after the day-trippers leave.

Ski at Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Mount Norquay (November to May), walk the frozen Johnston Canyon with ice cleats, skate on Lake Louise beside the ice castle, snowshoe and cross-country ski, take a dog-sled ride, soak in the hot springs under falling snow and ride the gondola for the winter panorama. The Ice Magic sculpture festival at Lake Louise and SnowDays in Banff fill January; Moraine Lake Road is closed and the lakes are frozen from November to May.

The Banff Gondola and its summit boardwalk, the Upper Hot Springs, the Lake Minnewanka cruise, the Big Canoe on the Bow River, the easy Johnston Canyon catwalks to the Lower Falls, canoeing on Lake Louise, the Cave and Basin hot-spring cave, the Banff Park Museum’s taxidermy, Sunshine Meadows’ gentle trails and gondola, floating the Bow River on a raft, spotting elk along the Bow Valley Parkway and, in winter, sledding, skating and beginner ski lessons at Norquay.

Late June to September — the lakes have thawed to their turquoise colour (Moraine Lake by mid-June), Moraine Lake Road and the high hikes are open and every tour runs. Late September adds golden larches and fewer crowds. December to March is ski season with frozen lakes and icewalks; April to May and October to November are quiet shoulder seasons with closures.

Yes — the eight-minute ride up Sulphur Mountain delivers a 360-degree panorama of six mountain ranges, the Bow Valley and the town from a summit boardwalk, and it is the most-reviewed ticket in Banff. Go early or late to avoid queues, book a timed ticket online, or hike up the 5.5-kilometre switchback trail and ride down for a reduced fare.