Banff, Alberta Canada Travel Guide

Banff, Alberta Canada Travel Guide

Banff, Alberta Canada – an AMAZING place!! Stay at the Fairmont Banff Springs, shop and eat in the cute downtown, visit some of the most amazing lakes on Earth. Trip of a lifetime!

Banff, Alberta Canada - an AMAZING place!! Stay at the Fairmont Banff Springs, shop and eat in the cute downtown, visit some of the most amazing lakes on Earth. Trip of a lifetime!

I’m sharing my final post about my recent trip to Canada. 
I saved the best for last! Banff!!
I absolutely LOVED everything about Banff. 
We stayed at The Fairmont Banff Springs – it was AH-MAZING!
I loved the fun downtown area. Tons of great shops and food. 
Oh, the food!!! We ate TONS of great food. Some of the best I’ve ever eaten.
If you ever get the chance to go to Banff, GO!
I’d love to come back during the winter and see it covered in snow.

We stayed three nights at The Fairmont Banff Springs.
It is called the Castle in the Rockies.
The hotel was AMAZING!!
There tons of places to eat and great shopping.
The breakfast buffet and afternoon tea are wonderful!
There is even a bowling alley in the hotel!
I definitely want to come back.
The view from our room was spectacular!

The Fairmont Banff Springs
405 Spray Ave
Banff, AB T1L 1J4, Canada
1-403-762-2211
What To Do

Lake Minnewanka
We spent most of our days in Banff driving to the various lakes in the National Park.
Lake Minnewanka was our first stop!

The lake is 13 mi long and 466 ft deep, making it the longest lake in the mountain parks of the Canadian Rockies .

SO pretty!!
Lake Minnewanka
We saw this guy on our way back to the hotel.
 Two Jack Lake
We got up before the crack of dawn to drive to Two Jack Lake for sunrise.
It did not disappoint!

Two Jack Lake at sunrise is a MUST!
Two Jack Lake
Lake Minnewanka Scenic Dr
Improvement District No. 9, AB T0L, Canada

Banff Gondola
We took the Banff Gondola to get the best view of the city.
The gondola takes you 2900 feet above the city.

You can eat in the observation tower.
There is a coffee bar with drinks and snacks.
There is also a sit down restaurant, Sky Bistro. 
I’d love to come back and eat dinner in the sky!

Banff Gondola
1 Mountain Ave
Banff, AB T1L 1B2, Canada
1-403-762-2523

Vermillion Lakes
We stopped at Vermillion Lakes several times during our stay in Banff.

The three lakes are formed in the Bow River valley, in the Banff National Park, at the foot of Mount Norquay. They are located between the Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks. 

 Sunrise at Vermillion Lakes

I probably took 300 photos of the sunrise. 
It was breathtaking!
Vermillion Lakes

Castle Mountain
We passed Castle Mountain and had to stop for a quick photo.

Three Sisters Mountain
The Three Sisters are a trio of peaks near Canmore, Alberta, Canada. 
They are known individually as Big Sister, Middle Sister and Little Sister.

We parked and hiked to get some great views of the mountains.
LOVED the reflection in the Bow River.

Three Sisters Mountain
http://www.tourismcanmore.com/things-to-do/three-sisters-mountain

Bow Falls
Bow Falls is located directly behind The Fairmont Banff Springs.
After we had afternoon tea, we hiked down to check it out.

Bow Falls is a major waterfall on the Bow River, Alberta just before the junction of it and the Spray River. 

Bow Falls

Norquay Mountain Chairlift
We drove to the top of Norquay Mountain to get another great view of the city.

We encountered a family of sheep on our way!

Norquay Mountain
https://summer.banffnorquay.com
What To Eat
Downtown Banff is full of cute shops and tons of great places to eat.

Our first stop was as McDonald’s. 
We originally stopped in for a coke, but couldn’t resist trying the Poutine.
It was actually really, really good.
How could it not be with those fries!!
Distillery Park Restaurant and Bar
We had a great meal in downtown Banff at Distillery Park.
The flatbread – SO good!

We had to try the BBQ Brisket Poutine.
YUM!

Our favorite appetizer was the Cornflake Pulled Pork Fingers with Maple dipping sauce.
I could have eaten an order of these and been good!

Don’t leave without trying the donuts.
O-M-G! SO good!
Park Distillery Restaurant and Bar
 219 Banff Ave
Banff ALTA T1L 1A7, Canada
403-762-5114
High Rollers
High Rollers was such a fun place!
They have a bowling alley in the restaurant!!

I tried one of the local ciders.
LOVED it!

We started with the Rock N’ Bowl Fries
Krinkle Cut Fries, Queso, Ground Beef, Green Onion, Tomatoes, Sour Cream

Ridiculously good!

Gutterball Bread
Cheesy, Garlicky Buttery Goodness, Marinara
Wishing I had some of this right now!

The Canadian
Sausage, Bacon, Onion, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Maple Syrup Drizzle
The maple syrup drizzle made the pizza!
Who knew?!?!

The Mac N’ Cheese
Mac n’ Cheese, Bread Crumbs, Valbella Hot Dogs, Marinara
Do you dare try it?!?

Meat Lovers
Sausage, Pepperoni, Bacon, Chicken, Marinara
I loved the addition of chicken on the pizza.
My new favorite combination!!
High Rollers was SO much fun. 
They played great music, you could hear the bowlers and the food was fantastic. 
I highly recommend it!!
High Rollers Banff
110 Banff Avenue (Lower Level Clocktower Mall)
Banff, AB, T1L1G1
403-760-5300
Tim Horton’s
There is a Tim Horton’s on every corner in Canada!
We HAD to try it.
We grabbed some TimBits – donut holes.
We also tried the Maple Donut.
YUM!
Tim Horton’s
Bear Street Tavern
The Bear Street Tavern had great ratings on Yelp, so we decided to check it out.
We started with the Garlic Cheese Fingers.
 Fresh pizza dough, garlic, mozzarella, green onion, sweet garlic + marinara sauce
SOOOOOOOOO good!

We also got a couple of pizzas.
The Margarita – sliced red tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, pizza sauce – was delicious.
They also had us mix together chili oil and honey to use as a dipping sauce with the pizza.
O-M-G! Mind blown! SO good! I would have never ever thought to do that. 
Now I want chili oil and honey on all my pizza.
Bear Street Tavern
213, 211 Bear Street 
T1L 1E4, Banff Alberta
403-762-2021
Beavertails
Oh, Beavertails. Where have you been my whole life?
We HAD to try a famous Beavertail while we shopped in downtown Banff.
What is a Beavertail?
Fresh fried dough, slathered in butter, warm Nutella, drizzled with peanut butter and topped with Resses Pieces.
Also know as HEAVEN!
Holy Moly!
Seriously one of the best things we ate in Canada.
I saw that there is a location at DollyWood here in the States.
I might need to make a roadtripe SOON!
Beavertails
Ketchup Chips
SO, Ketchup Chips are a thing in Canada.
Heather LOVES them, so we grabbed a bag for all of us to sample.
They taste just like chips dipped in ketchup.
If you love ketchup, you need these!
Banff was my favorite stop on our Canada trip.
I loved the hotel and the fun downtown area.
The food was fantastic!!

Don’t miss our other Canada posts:

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