Banff
Travel Guide > North America > Canada > Alberta > Banff National Park > Banff
In this Article
- Introduction
- Sights and Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Weather
- Getting There
- Getting Around
- Eat
- Drink
- Sleep
- Keep Connected
Join the Hipporoller Challenge
Help the Travel Guide reach 20,000,000 characters and we'll donate 63 hipporollers worth over $6000. Read more.
Contributors
Utrecht (100%)
from http://utrecht.travellerspoint.com
Help contribute to this article to share the ad revenue.
Introduction
Banff is located in the province of Alberta in the west of Canada and is the largest town in the Banff National Park with roughly 7,000 inhabitants. It's also Canada's highest town at almost 1,500 metres above sea level. About 130 kilometres west of Calgary, this town might as well be the touristic capital of the country as no less than 4 million visitors go here and enjoy the town and it's magnificent surroundings every year!
Sights and Activities
- Banff Upper Hot Springs
- Skiing in winter
- Hiking, biking and mountain climbing in summer
- Mount Rundle/Cascade Mountain/Mount Norquay
Weather
Winters are from November to March with frost and snow for months in a row though temperatures sometimes do get above zero as well. It has over 2 metres of snow a year and is even possible during summer! It's an excellent time to come if you like skiing and other wintersports, but temperatures can drop below -20 degrees Celsius easily at night. Summer temperatures in the warmest months (June to early September) are pleasant with an average high of 22 degrees Celsius and an average low of around 7 degrees.
Getting There
By Plane
Calgary International Airport, (airport code: YYC) is the nearest airport, almost 2 hours away from Banff. Air Canada connects Calgary to more destinations across Canada, the USA and the rest of the world direct from here. WestJet flies from Calgary to destinations across Canada, as well as select places in North America. In addition, many US airlines fly to Calgary.
By Train
By Car
Banff is easily reached by car along the Trans-Canada Highway. It's best to pick up a car at the airport in Calgary where there is much more competition and choice.
By Bus
Greyhound Canada has buses to Calgary (almost 2 hours) and Vancouver (14 hours) and many places in between.
Brewster Transportation offers pick up from the hotel to Lake Louise (1 hour) and Jasper (4,5 hours). Sundog Tours has transfers to Jasper as well.
By Boat
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Budget
| Property | Address | Type | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banff Chalet - SameSun | 433 Banff Avenue | Hostel | 83 |
| Banff Y Mountain Lodge | PO Box 520 102 Spray Ave. | Hostel | 78 |
| HI Lake Louise | Village Road, Box 115 Lake Louise Lake Louise, Alberta | Hostel | 89 |
| HI-Banff Alpine Centre | #801 Hidden Ridge Way Banff, Alberta | Hostel | 84 |
| HI-Castle Mountain | Box 1358 Banff, T1L 1B3 (Banff National Park) | Hostel | 88 |
| HI-Mosquito Creek | Highway 93 c/o PO Box 1358, Banff, Alberta | Hostel | 81 |
| HI-Rampart Creek | Highway 93 c/o PO Box 1358 | Hostel | 91 |
| HI-Whiskey Jack (Yoho) | Yoho National Park, c/o Box 1358 | Hostel | 88 |
| SameSun Backpacker Lodge - Banff | 449 Banff Avenue, T0L 0C0 Banff, Alberta | Hostel | 77 |
Mid-Range
Upscale
This is version 4. Last edited at 18:49 on Aug 14, 09 by Utrecht (+12). 3 articles link to this page.
Except where otherwise noted, content of this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License