Banff & Lake Louise, Canada
Turquoise glacial lakes, three ski resorts, and grizzlies on the roadside in the Canadian Rockies.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -6° | -13° | 23 mm | prime |
| Feb | -3° | -13° | 22 mm | prime |
| Mar | 2° | -9° | 35 mm | prime |
| Apr | 6° | -3° | 51 mm | |
| May | 12° | 1° | 73 mm | |
| Jun | 17° | 5° | 110 mm | prime |
| Jul | 22° | 10° | 81 mm | prime |
| Aug | 22° | 9° | 71 mm | prime |
| Sep | 16° | 5° | 59 mm | prime |
| Oct | 7° | -3° | 39 mm | |
| Nov | -1° | -10° | 37 mm | |
| Dec | -7° | -15° | 26 mm |
30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.
Cost
Serves travellers at Budget→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $230 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Ice Magic Festival January
Ice-carving on frozen Lake Louise
Banff Mountain Film Festival November
The world's premier mountain-culture festival
Worth knowing
A car covers the Icefields Parkway and the trailheads. Moraine Lake is closed to private vehicles and reached only by shuttle, and the Lake Louise car park fills before dawn in summer.
getting around · editorial
Calgary is the airport and Banff is about ninety minutes away on a motorway. Shuttles run the route; there is no passenger train.
getting there · editorial
The lakes only turn that colour once the glacial melt starts; early in the season they are still frozen. Every vehicle in the park needs a pass.
know before · editorial
Cards everywhere, including parking machines. Tipping in restaurants and bars is expected at North American rates.
money · editorial
Late spring is the flat spot: the snow has gone grey and the alpine trails are still closed. Midsummer weekends are bumper to bumper on the parkway.
when not to go · editorial
Banff town has the restaurants and the evening life. Lake Louise village is smaller and closer to the big walks. Canmore sits outside the park boundary, quieter and twenty minutes down the valley.
where to stay · editorial
Quests
Icon
Lake Louise
Water green with rock flour, and the glacier at the back. Go before seven.
Moraine Lake
The Valley of the Ten Peaks. The road opens only in summer and closes when it is full.
Banff Avenue
The main street with the mountain at the end of it.
Sulphur Mountain
The gondola to the ridge, with the boardwalk out to the old station.
Lake Minnewanka
The largest lake in the park, with a road along the whole shore.
Johnston Canyon
A walkway bolted to the canyon wall, out to the two falls.
See
See the colour of Moraine Lake at midday — cloud takes it away
Eat
Eat poutine after a cold day, with no guilt
Eat poutine after a cold day
It is not pretty and it does the job.
Drink a hot chocolate on the shore of the frozen lake
Gloves on, no hurry.
Moment
Walk on the ice in Johnston Canyon
Watch the first light hit the glacier above Lake Louise
Twenty minutes, and it is over.
Get into the hot springs with your hair freezing
Minus fifteen outside, forty in the water.
Trail
Walk the Plain of Six Glaciers trail and back
Four hours, fourteen kilometres, steady climb.