Canadian Rockies: Banff National Park

Each glacial lake sports a different, utterly impossible shade of turquoise, framed by diamond-bright glaciers, pearly snow-capped peaks, and emerald conifers. Easily navigated hiking trails transport you into an alpine paradise dotted with colorful flowers—home to bighorn sheep, elk, and other wildlife you can see up close. The fresh air’s stillness is broken only by the sound of meltwater cascading down hillsides and the songs of birds busily raising families in the short summer. When it’s time to relax, the über-luxe, much-acclaimed hotels are staffed by friendly, intelligent people who know the meaning of fine service: paying attention and planning ahead to provide what the guest needs at any time. Even the flightseeing is “over the top,” if you’ll excuse the pun. 

AOPA provides an excellent overview of flying into Canada. Those with drunk driving or other criminal convictions, carrying restricted items, or traveling with children, should check with Canadian Immigration to be sure they will be allowed into the country. Follow the rules—passport, eAPIS, sticker, be on time, etc.—and it’s a breeze. If you’re based far from Canada, stopping and spending the night near the border on the U.S. side leaves you fresh the following day and eases compliance with customs procedures (i.e., arriving on time). Read the Canadian aviation regulations to understand standard operating procedures for flight within Canada. Our cross-border flight began at Missoula, Montana, and provided spectacular flightseeing over Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Springbank Airport, just west of Calgary, is an airport of entry and has rental cars.

It’s a 60-minute drive west from Springbank Airport to Banff, located in the Bow Valley. The Bow River runs past the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, first opened in 1888 and rebuilt after a fire. The Canadian Pacific Railway originally built and operated the luxury hotels of the Canadian Rockies to attract wealthy tourists, employing Swiss hiking guides to assist hikers. When CP Hotels purchased Fairmont in 1999 the hotels took on the Fairmont name, maintaining the highest-quality service and food and modernizing where needed. Having seen this hotel in so many photos, it’s almost déjà-vu to actually pull up the driveway. One of the world’s premier resort hotels, this Scottish Baronial “castle in the Rockies” is built of stone and looks toward the famed Mt. Rundle, whose seabeds have been thrust up, tilted toward the east, and exposed by eons of weather. The lush gardens are a riot of color; baskets overflowing with flowers hang from the lampposts. Numerous fine restaurants, a 27-hole championship golf course alongside the river that’s famed worldwide, and luxurious spa all ensure the hotel lives up to its reputation.

We stayed at the equally fabulous Rimrock Resort Hotel, perched above it all beside the Banff Upper Hot Springs and gondola. The Rimrock, deservedly an AAA/CAA 4-Diamond Hotel, features rooms and a lobby decorated with rich woods and furnishings, large windows, and a luxurious spa. A high corner room like the spacious Grandview Room 800 boasts views of both the Bow and Spray valleys. The next morning we followed the concierge’s directions to a hike up Ha Ling Peak to carefully crawl the last few feet and hang our heads over the cornice, with thousands of feet of air between our faces and the forest below. If you’d rather not climb a mountain, ride the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain, reminiscent of the Mt. Pilatus gondola above Lucerne in Switzerland. Enjoy the view at the restaurant or take the easy 1-kilometer self-guided tour of the Banff Skywalk; hikers here will find access to trails where wildlife abounds.

Next, it’s on to Lake Louise.