Exploring Banff: A Perfect Blend of Adventure and Mystery

A wet start to Banff

We had the short bus ride from Lake Louise to Banff and arrived in a downpour. Once we checked in we went out for a walk and despite the rain the town was really busy. Probably the most British people we had seen on the trip so far and lots of young people, we think they were getting ready for the skiing season in November. The cloud stayed low so we couldn't see the mountains and the rain continued to comedown so we headed back to the hotel, Brewster Mountain Lodge. A nice budgetish place.

Evening Scares

We had signed up for a ghost walk in the evening so were glad to see the rain stop. This was fun, we were in a group of around 15 and we were taken round Banff and to some spooky areas and told various ghost stories of hotels and houses. It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. I think the cold night added to the ghoulish tales.

The Unmissable Gondola Trip

No trip to Banff would be complete without a gondola trip and luckily the cloud had cleared so we we had a clear bright morning for this. The views were fantastic as we went up and you've able to walk to other peaks once at the top. The viewing areas are great but due to the snow very slippy. We were happy to put up with this for the great views of the snowy mounts and valley. Liz was delighted when 3 chaps spotted her Canada goose coat and asked lots about it.

We had planned to go for a swim in the hot springs but were slightly disappointed as was really just an out door pool. We knew that at this time of year normal council water is added to the spring water due to low spring pressure and this meant on the day we went we couldn't smell the usual sulphur smell of the water. These two things made us decide to leave the Hot Spring swim for another location.

Summary of Experiences in Banff

We really enjoyed Banff, a lovely town and slightly busier than the other places we've seen in the Rockies. We were surprised that other than when we first arrived it was very quiet and everything seemed to finish between 9pm and 10pm at night. This may be do to our visit being between seasons though.

The scenery is amazing and we were incredibly glad that the clouds lifted for the second day and that there was plenty of snow about. The Ghost Walk and Gondola trip were both definitely worth doing and we also managed to fit in a lovely curry at Zyka although a slight panic when our gin, lime and sodas arrived without gin!