BANFF, ALBERTA

This is the most popular place to be during the summer!

Why visit Banff?

What makes Banff National Park so popular during the summer is its gorgeous turquoise glacial lakes. Everything about the town is picture perfect. This is also a great place to see wildlife like moose, dear, and maybe if you’re lucky bears! We wanted to see bears so bad but wasn’t lucky enough. There are so many hikes to explore.

Here is a list of some great things to do in Banff.

•  Hike through Johnston Canyon. It’s a fairly easy hike into the canyon. There are beautiful waterfalls throughout the hike. I went to specifically to see this spot. It’s a huge “boulder like” rock. I highly recommend you to go super early if you want to get here before the crowd because Photoshop definitely had to work hard in this photo. I had to crop out so many bodies! You can hardly tell right?? LOL.

• Visit Lake Moraine to watch the sunrise. This is one of the most visited lakes in Banff for the very reason that it is so picturesque. It is the perfect way to start your day. You can walk around the lake to see other falls on the opposite side. There is a cottage area that you can have breakfast with a view as well. I grabbed a coffee and took a nice stroll around the lake. The reason why I love this lake so much is the reflection of the glacier mountains in the water. I can get lost in this view!!

• Kayak at Emeralds Lake. This was full of fun! It is cheap to rent a kayak for an hour at Emeralds Lake. Each of the lakes has places that you could rent kayaks from but I liked this lake because of its colour! Again, this photo does no justice but it’s magnificent. You could also go for a dip if you can handle the cold temperatures. I’m from Hawaii, therefore, hard pass for me. I stay right here on this kayak!

• Hike up to the famous Peyto Lake. Yes it is postcard worthy! The lake gets it’s colour from large amounts of glacier rock that flow into it during the summer time. It was so breathtaking that we had to go twice during our two week stay. People say that the lake is a shape of a wolf, what do you think?

• Visit the most popular lake in Banff, Lake Louise. You can tell that this is one of the most visited lakes because the only way to get in was to catch a shuttle bus there. I could totally understand why. Lake Louise definitely lives up to it’s name. If you can afford it, I’d suggest staying at the Lake Louise hotel for your stay in Banff. It is absolutely stunning. I would love to wake up and look out the window to this type of view in the morning!

• Ride the Lake Louise Gondola up to the summit. I really enjoyed going up to the summit during the evening to see the sunset. It wasn’t crowded and you could get gorgeous photos of the sunset from the highest point of Alberta. We got to the top, caught some epic photos then watched the sunset while having a few beers at the restaurant. Loved every moment of it!

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Banff has been such an amazing destination. I plan to come back in the future with friends and family. I am so lucky to have  visited this area of Canada first, and it makes me so excited to see what the rest of Canada has to offer. I absolutely love the Canadian vibes, everyone is so kind and thoughtful. We met a couple during our night stay in B.C. We were all sleeping in our cars with the same intentions on catching the northern lights. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see it because of the brush fire smoke BUT we had a blast getting to know this couple. They travel through Canada while living in their van. True legends! That’s what travelling is all about, seeing new places and meeting new faces. Everyone has a story!

If you do plan to go to Banff, Alberta or have gone I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

XO,

HUNTER KELSI