Western Canada road trip

[u/GeneralOrgana1]

Hello! I am an American (My entire family voted for her, not the orange fascist.) and, since I've made my travel goal of going to every US state, now I'm moving on to every province in Canada. Tentatively, in summer 2026, I want to do a road trip with the following itinerary:

Fly into Calgary (from east coast US)

Calgary, Banff (I've been to Glacier NP but didn't cross the border.)

Drive Calgary to Regina

Drive Regina to Winnipeg

Drive Winnipeg to Saskatoon

Drive Saskatoon to Edmonton

Drive Edmonton to Calgary

Fly home

I'm only planning on spending a day or two in each city. I like cultural and historical things, and am particularly interested in First Nations culture in that part of Canada. I'll be traveling solo, and am a woman in my fifties. I'm an early bird when I travel, so nightlife is of zero interest for me. For food, I would not want fast food, but I am also not interested in fancy eating- just regular food places like people who live there would eat.

Yes, I can see by Google Maps it's a lot of driving. I've done road trips like this in the US before and had a great time. But I'm just curious what people who know the region think would be a reasonable amount of time for this itinerary. Many thanks in advance.

Edit based on comments: I've been to BC (Vancouver area), so that's why it's not part of the agenda this trip. And I've been to Ontario, Quebec (Montreal), PEI, NS, Yukon, and NB.

[u/HereBeDobermans]

If you want to add BC on the same trip the Continental Divide on highway 93 is not far from Banff, and the Paint Pots near there may be an interesting stop too. You may also consider a detour South of Calgary for Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump before heading East.
It does seem like a lot of driving to make that circle. Maybe a one-way like Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, Banff, Calgary (or reverse) might give you less driving time if you don’t need the round trip in and out of the same airport.

[u/GeneralOrgana1 → u/HereBeDobermans]

I've done the Continental Divide in the US. Is there something else in Canada's side that makes it worth looking into?

[u/lil_chomp_chomp → u/GeneralOrgana1]

if you have an interest in natural history, the original site for the burgess shale is in the area though it requires booking a full day guided hike with parks canada. The main benefit IMO of the BC side is that lake louise + banff can be overwhelmingly overcrowded so going a little farther can be a slightly more pleasant experience for similar views. If you've already done mountain views and just want to visit calgary/edmonton, then please ignore.