Visiting Banff in Winter time

Now that travelling is off the cards for the foreseeable future, I thought I’d take some time to appreciate previous trips that I have taken. Consider my next few travel posts, travel diaries. I wanted to start with an incredible trip that James and I took whilst we were living in Canada. Today I’m sharing with you what it’s like visiting Banff in Winter time.

Banff is in the Canadian Rockies, in the province of Alberta. The Canadian Rockies mountain range is a stunning area of natural beauty and if I could do anything differently, I would stay there for longer!

Our trip to Banff was combined with visiting Vancouver and we wanted to keep the trip budget friendly. The one mistake we made was choosing to travel for less money on Greyhound buses, rather than paying more for private transfers and maximizing our time in this stunning location. Due to this, we only spent one full day in Banff which meant we missed seeing the iconic Lake Louise!

Here’s what we got up to when visiting Banff in Winter time

We started our day looking for a breakfast spot and exploring Banff before heading to the gondola.

breakfast in banff
smoked salmon scrambled egg

One thing about visiting mountains in Winter time is that you can’t guarantee clear visibility at the top. When we first arrived at the top of the mountain, the clouds were thick and we couldn’t see very far.

Luckily, it wasn’t a wasted trip and the clouds parted to give us a stunning view of the town below us.

After we had explored the station at the top and enjoyed the views, we headed back down the mountain to the hot springs. Unfortunately, James’ phone died from the steam at the hot springs. We lost all the pictures that we took there. However, whilst we were queuing to get in, I took a picture of the springs next to the mountains.

It’s a shame that we lost the pictures because when we were in the pool, it started to snow. As someone who is used to European beach holidays, it felt like a real treat to be swimming under falling snow.

After we had finished at the hot springs, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and grab some dinner. The bus we took from Calgary to Banff arrived at midnight. Our bus leaving Banff was scheduled for 8:30am the next morning so we really did only get one full day in Banff.

My recommendations for visiting Banff in Winter time

Maximize your time there. Even if it proves more expensive, take that cost from something/somewhere else and invest it in Banff.
Research different transport options. Greyhound is a budget friendly option which goes to Banff, but there are also private transfers which can work to your timetable.
Fit Lake Louise into your travel itinerary. This may mean hiring a car or organising extra transport, but I’m sure it’s worth it. I’m still gutted we didn’t see it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this first extract of my travel diaries. It’s lovely reminiscing on old trips and holidays. I’d love to go back to the Rockies, maybe in late Summer and see more of the stunning national parks.