Well ladies and gents, the most asked for blog post! A recap of our weekend in Banff National Park. The trip I believe everyone should book! I can not wait to take my kids back when they are older.
As a blogger I love blogs to help and inform people. The ones where I have no idea what I am doing but someone has been there, done that and has it all mapped out for me. YES, please. So, I will give credit where credit is due. We followed the blog www.toquesandboots.com YA’LL she was so informative and helpful. We could email her at any time (even while we were on the trip) and she would help us in any way!
Long story short we basically followed her itinerary with a few changes. I am going to give a rundown on what we altered, things we would recommend, and some mistakes we made.
1. We stayed in Canmore. A small town 25min outside of Banff. Honestly we chose to stay in Canmore for the price. We booked our room 4 months in advance and nearly everything in Banff was booked. What was available we weren’t crazy about spending.
2. Flights. I recommend the Hopper app. Input your trips and dates. The app will tell you the best time to buy. Our flights dropped down to about $300 a person. The flight is 4hrs long from Houston airport. You fly into Calgary.
3. CELL PHONE SERVICE. We obviously don’t travel much internationally. We had 6 people on our trip. Not one of us thought about our phones. Needless to say we were in a scramble when we got there and no body could use their phone. Add the international plan before you leave. It was like $10 a day.
4. Her guide is 72hr in Banff. We really only had a good 48hr. Our travel day was delayed with plane issues. We arrived, ate dinner, checked into hotel, and went to sleep. The mornings start REALLY early. At least they did for us, and I would do it all over again. When following her guide we started on day two. Vermillion Lake sunrise.
5. Bug spray! Pack it or buy it. But either way who knew mosquitoes would be terrible in Canada. Well, they are. Like big. Spray your self. You are welcome.
6. Exercise. The hikes can be intense, and at such a different altitude. I would say every age, size, shape were on the trails and they all made it. But, to enjoy yourself I would say go ahead and at least walk before going. If you want a little more reality put your incline all the way up and then walk.
7. This goes in hand with #6. Book a massage for your last night. We did not and literally drove all over looking for someone to at least rub our feet for 30min. No such luck. The trip was epic, but let’s just say a massage after hiking 30 miles would have been the icing on the cake.
8. Timing! To enjoy all summer activities you need to travel between middle of June-August.
9. This will not help or hurt your trip. Just some friendly information. The sun does not set until almost 10pm!
Her guide will cover most things you need to know about traveling in Banff National Park. Now book you the trip and go exploring !
Feel free to message me with any questions or further details!
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