Banff on a Budget? Am I barking up the wrong tree?
 

Hi- my boyfriend and I are looking to go to Banff. Neither of us have been anywhere in Canada except B.C. so this is going to be new to both of us. We will be flying from SEA to YYC and then...

-How do you get from YYC to Banff? Train, bus, or rent a car?

-Is it better to stay somewhere in town so that you can walk to dinner
and such, or if we are wanting to do outdoorsy stuff should we be farther out?

-When is the best time to go if neither of us want to ski but we want to be outside?


Thanks for the help. :)

1. Rent a car. YYC to Banff is about a 2 hour drive including possible delays as you go through the city of Calgary.

2. I would find a hotel in Banff itself because it is quite small and you can easily walk to all restaurants and shopping. Nothing is super cheap for accomodation in Banff, however. With a car you could also stay in the nearby town of Canmore, which is just outside of the park entrance and is about a 20 minute drive to Banff. Many of the outdoor activities are close by.

3. If you don't like snow and cold, come before November and after March. :) Even then you may be surprised....

I second the suggestions and add that you should try Priceline for rooms in Canmore. Most of the hotels there are pretty nice.

Park Fees at Banff
 

Park entrance fees are quite high: they are assessed per person.

I recently paid more than C$40 for 2 persons over 5 days.

In comparison, the highest US national park fees are US$20 per vehicle.

There are shuttle bus services from YYC to Banff... google search them. The drive is LONG and boring (at the start) and if you are not familiar with winter driving the roads may be too much for you.

The hotel prices in summer are SKY HI .. winter with ski season they are a bit more reasonable.

There are MANY MANY hotels.. 5star (Banff Springs Lodge) to cheap. I know Banff Springs was over 800CAD in summer while I am getting it for 275CAD in the winter.

There are also many chalets in addition to the hotels. I would be as close to 'town' as possible .. tho the newer hotels are 5minutes out. Stayed at a chalet many years ago at Tunnel Mountain and really enjoyed it.

Be aware there are less flights into YYC in the winter (at least on American they cut out the ORD flight) so I know my return is very ruff (either 6am which would require prior night in YYC at hotel or 3pm which means I leave Banff about 9am . and then overnight in DFW as no more flights after the YYC arrival).

That said, Banff is an incredible place! I was there a couple weeks ago (stayed in Calagary and took bus tour for a day up) and am heading back in December!

Remember the CAD-USD conversion when making plans! Its not as expensive as it sounds!