Ever since Arun introduced me to the Banff film festival, I’ve been wanting to go to Banff. Leaving Vancouver on an overnight greyhound, it took about 15 hours to get into Calgary. The ride through the mountains was beautiful, like a prelude to what I was going to see in the following few days. From Calgary, I rented a car and drove into Banff.

My first impression of Banff was it reminded me of Aspen- a quaint town wedged amongst mountains. As the first national park of Canada, the Banff National Park has a lot of nature and history to offer. The Bow River runs through the town, and there are dozens of hiking trails fanning from Banff. One special thing about Banff is the flow of “healing water” that feeds the hotspring sitting on top of the mountain. Needless to say, going to the hotspring was the first thing on my agenda once I got to Banff.

I went to Lake Louise for a 16km (~10 mi) hike the second day. I recalled seeing a picture of Lake Louise on Southwest’s in-flight magazine and thought it would be nice to see the lake in person. I started at the Lake Louise Chateau and was greeted by a glassy lake surrounded by mountain ranges.

I did the tea-house to tea-house hike which included two tea/coffee breaks at the Agnes Tea House and the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. The cute tea houses served hot beverages, snacks, and lunch which was a great motivation to visit both tea houses.

The HIGHlight of the hike was up at the Little Beehive where the whole lake was in view. Up from the top, you could see how reflective the lake was. And if you look really hard, you can see people kayaking across the lake.

The trail to the Glacier Tea House offered a different scene where there were less trees and more mountain views, horseback riding was also an option to explore the trails.

Coming down from the glaciers, the returning trip to the trailhead was mostly downhill and pleasant. I got back to the car at around 2pm when most tourists started pouring in with the rain.

I spent the next few days hiking around and exploring Banff’s cute shops. Coincidentally, the Banff film festival was happening from June to September and I got to watch some epic outdoors films in Banff!

All in all, I highly recommend a trip to Alberta/Banff if you want to be stunned by mountains, rivers, lakes, and forests. Tips for where to stay (as requested by Anna L)- I stayed at the HI Banff hostel, the rooms were very clean and it was reasonably priced. The hostel could provide a free bus pass to get around town, but everywhere is walkable within Banff. Another option is to stay in Canmore- a nearby town about 20 mins of drive from Banff.

Special shout out to Dexter who called dips on first Navigant shout out. Dexter, go learn how to surf properly. Next destination- Budapest.