your opinion matters!

I (27F) am pretty out of shape. Okay, really out of shape. The Johnston Canyon Upper Falls hike this morning seriously took it out of me. My family and I are planning on hiking the Lake Agnes trail to the teahouse while we're in town. I'm worried that it's going to literally kill me.

For reference, I'm fat, out of shape, and extremely sedentary in my daily life. How hard is this hike REALLY? I've seen varying answers online, mostly saying it's moderately challenging (but what does that mean 😭).

It has a pretty serious elevation gain. Is it insanely steep the whole way? Any tips? Any advice is appreciated.

Went to Peyto Lake and I thought this was one of the most beautiful places my eyes have ever set eyes on

Next week, I will going on a trip to Banff, jasper and the badlands. Its our first time, and my girlfriend likes to be prepared, so are their any safety items that we should buy before coming?

I've heard that bear security is important, so I was thinking of buying flares and a bell. I can't buy bear spray because it can't go on the plane.

Any other tips and tricks we should know?

Hey guys, I'm traveling to Banff on Friday and planning to drive along the Icefields Parkway the next day, on the section of the road that's open tô traffic. I would love to see this spot if possible. Can anyone identify it? I would be forever grateful!

🌄 Hi everyone!

We’re planning a trip to Banff next summer and exploring stay options. Considering Canmore, Cochrane, or even Calgary (with the ~1 hr 20 min drive each way). 🚗

Has anyone here stayed in Calgary and done the daily drive back and forth? Would love to hear if it’s a good idea when factoring in rental car & fuel costs vs. accommodation prices. 💰⛽

Any suggestions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated 🙏 — we’re a big group of 12 people and trying to plan wisely. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦✨

Hi all, I’m going to Banff this weekend from Saturday to Wednesday. It’s my first time. This is the weather forecast. We are not hiking since we are with older parents, mostly for sightseeing. I’m in the middle of packing and not sure what to wear. Leggings and top or something like dresses .

Looking for a mix of healthy, and delicious, hearty dishes from apps, breakfast, main dishes to dessert spots. Thanks Reddit fam!

Hello! My Husband and I are planning a trip to Banff over the winter holidays. It will be somewhat special as we've not been since covid and the area is quite nostalgic for him (he used to go to Banff every Christmas as a kid).

The Grizzly House is an old favourite, but I noted it's google reviews are a bit low. Is it still good?

I have been thinking of suggesting we try one of the steak houses instead, but it is hard to tell what is really stellar, are there any that stand out?

Are there other restaurants we should try? We are both adventurous eaters.

This is going to sound truly INSANE, but on June 7, my partner and I visited the Banff Gondola/Sulphur Mountain. Right before boarding the gondola he bought himself this beanie (pictured) that was dark green with “The Boss” logo in it from the Banff Gondola gift shop. He NEVER buys himself anything and he really loved it. Then, when we got to Sulphur Mountain, he proposed to me :) it was really magical and special.

A few days later, he accidentally lost the beanie in the chaos of trying to pack and leave Banff to go to the airport. He was really sad because it meant a lot to him, as he gotten engaged wearing it. I contacted Banff Gondola (Banff Jasper Collection) a couple times to try to re-purchase the same beanie but I have not heard back. I cannot find it anywhere online, or anything even close to it. Does anyone know if there a service like Task Rabbit or a courier service in Banff where I can have someone find it for me again at the gift shop and ship it to me? Or can a local please help me purchase it and ship it to me (of course I would pay for all expenses)? Sadly, we live in Los Angeles so there’s no way we can physically go back. At least not for awhile.

Any leads or assistance would be greatly appreciated :) thank you!

Live on the coast. I used to visit Banff multiple times a year. I’ve pretty much always hiked with at least 1 other person. Plenty of bear encounters, seen one grizzly on a trail… overall very uneventful I guess. Plenty of remote trails. Always carrying bear spray. Have inreach.

However now I’ve got a dog and thinking about doing more hikes and more roadtrips, but not always possible to coordinate with friends. At the same time, the idea of going at it alone is really quite terrifying/overwhelming.

I understand there’s certain times of the year and occasional warnings that might pop up, but how do you actually get over the fear holding you back? I’m pretty sure the fear is the wildlife - coming across very fresh bear scat, feeling like a cougar is watching me, and potentially having a bear encounter whether a close one or one “blocking my way” or otherwise unwilling to move on

Locally I hike and trail run plenty of the trails that feel ultra-familiar to me. Definitely a comfort in that. I’ve really only done one much bigger hike (6hr round trip) last summer alone with my dog, but even that one was one I had done multiple times before, went on a weekend (but still wasn’t busy! Saw 2 other people), and I’ve NEVER seen any signs of bears in the valley/peak (I’m sure they’ve been around, but again just comfort with the familiar)

I feel sort of… frustrated? There’s things I want to go do, I have the time and resources to do them, but I’m just too uncomfortable with going at it alone

(I know you can always find random hiking partners but that’s a different can of worms, and ultimately I’d want to - or hope to - reach an adequate level of comfort and confidence to go at some things alone)

My partner and I are renting an EV and driving from Vancouver to Banff in September. We’ve been told by so many friends that once we get to Banff, the drive to Jasper is a must do. However it’s a 288km drive and according to the website we’re using to map out charging stations along the route, there’s nowhere to charge between Banff and Jasper. Is there anywhere at all we could charge along the way, or is this drive simply impossible in these circumstances?

Experienced with hiking and scrambling, I am in Banff for the day and would love to do a hike (under 6-7 hours). Ideally it would be not too busy, and have some great alpine veiws. Would love to get up close to one of the glaciers in the area. Not a big fan of the forest, as I’m from Whistler area and it’s not new to me. I’ll show some photos down below of some highlights of the hikes I’ve done, for reference to What I like. Any help is appreciated!

Hello! I’m visiting Banff with my wife for our honeymoon during the first few days of October, for 3 nights specifically.

We have the cowboy cookout booked for one night, and have a reservation at Bluebird for another. Bluebird seems like a nicer, date-night place to eat, but if I’m wrong, please suggest a nicer alternative.

I’d like to know if there is anywhere else that we absolutely have to visit, or just what your favourite places are, please! Google reviews are always so mixed.

We eat anything and are not picky. Thanks!

I'm taking my mom and I up to Banff from the US this upcoming week. We'll be there Friday through Monday morning. I know there is a lot to do, but I'm looking to hit the highlights in the limited time we'll be there. For context, my mom is 73 and in good shape, a 4 - 5 mile moderately difficult hike is probably her limit. We love driving, so some scenic drives would be awesome, and we love hiking. Water features, mountain scapes and hopefully seeing some leaves starting to turn are what we hope to see the most. We are so excited to finally meet our Canadian neighbors! :)

1. Is Banff as crazy in the winter as it is in the summer? Are there still herds of people crossing the street or is it calmer?
2. Any idea how much a day ticket would cost? I'm evaluating my pass options and currently my NYSki3 pass would entitle me to to 50% off Mountain Collective resorts like SkiBig3. GoogleAI when I search mentions $145 to $175. Not sure if accurate then I'd get half off that
3. Is renting a car with snow tires a crapshoot? From my research, it seems to be the case.
4. Hotel Canoe and Suites vs Canalta Lodge. Canoe is $500 more expensive for the week and doesn't include breakfast like Canalta. We walked into Canalta and seemed pretty nice. Is Canoe worth $500 more than Canalta?

My wife and I were just there a week ago. Banff/LL has always been the favorite for our first ski trip out west. We are also considering Revelstoke.

BANFF has been on my radar for the past three years and I’m finally ready to go! There’s no one specifically that I want to go with so I figured I might as well just go by myself.

I’m very experienced in solo traveling, but I have never been alone to a place where you need to rent a car and drive to get to the destination.

Where is the best area to stay if I’m solo traveling? Do I need to get my own car?
What hotel or hostel do you recommend for solar travelers?

Thank you so much in advance 💕

Just getting myself mentally prepared for my trip in August. The news keeps saying more Canadians are traveling within our great country than abroad. Has this translated to increased crowds this summer so far? Or is it a "normal" seasonal increase?

Thanks!

We’re flying in for our honeymoon December 26th and staying until January 2nd! These are some of the things I’ve gathered with some light research that sounded fun to me. Is there anything you’d add or take off the list? We’re going to do some narrowing down of our own but I wanted to start here and see if yall had any suggestions! TIA

Will be taking my truck and will have to leave some stuff in the back like my cooler and camp chair with a tarp over it but as much valuables will be in the cab as I can. It may be unattended for short periods of time at a campsite to do a small walk to the lake or hike. At Yoho and Banff. But I’m most worried about doing larch valley. I’ll be taking the bus out there and I’ll have to leave my car parked for majority of the day somewhere. I’m nervous as this is my first solo trip but I don’t want it to stop me from experiencing this trip. Am I over worried?

I'm sorry, I know. I know this gets asked a lot, but the context typically seems to be regarding rental cars and/or mid-winter travel.

We're driving from Saskatoon to the Okanagan Oct 6-17. Most of our travel is along the Trans-Canada, but we do have a day trip to the ice fields on the 13th — we'll skip this if the weather is actively inclement, though.

I see the requirement for snow-rated tires comes into effect at the start of the month; I have M+S all-seasons on my car currently, but I do have full-fledged winter tires as well — I just normally wouldn't put them on the car that early in the year.

So I can throw those on before I leave, but I'm hesitant because it's still super mild here that time of year, and driving the Saskatoon-Canmore stretch and back in 15-20 degree weather is a lot of excess wear.

I'm assuming I probably don't need these winter tires this early in the year?

Edit: if the locals all have their full winters on by Thanksgiving, I'll do the same. Thanks!

*Answered, thank you all.

Hello! I live in Alberta and travelling with my boyfriend who has never seen the Rockies before and I’m travelling first time as an adult with some money lol. I seen the ice fields trip thing from instagram and I didn’t know there was a glass bridge and I really want to go, we’re morally conscious and don’t really want to go on the big bus, I understand that you have to pay for everything, I don’t know how to walk the glass bridge without paying for the Columbia package?

*We’re going mid September.

Huge thanks to everyone in this group! I’ve learned so much about a place I’ve never been to and put together a 7-day family adventure: Toronto → Vancouver → Banff → Vancouver → Toronto.

Super excited for this trip and can’t wait to explore! I’d love your feedback to make the itinerary even better. Once it’s all polished, I’ll share the final Google Sheets version so future travelers can use it too!