If cascading waterfalls, pristine lakes, snowcapped peaks and alpine meadows carpeted in wildflowers are on your list of things to see in the Canadian Rockies, then a sightseeing tour in Banff, Alberta is for you.

There are number of tour operators offering sightseeing tours that take guests to the most exceptional locations for photos, wildlife viewing, and nature walks! See Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, the Columbia Icefields, and historic landmarks in Banff. Learn about the history of Banff National Park from fully trained and knowledgeable guides and even get the chance to see the native wildlife.

Many tour operators offer tours ranging from half- to full-day day hikes as well as longer multi-day hiking and walking tours. Many of these guided hikes and walks are offered not just out of Banff, but all over the Canadian Rockies, and can often be combined with other activities if you like.

Speaking of Jasper, you can experience sightseeing tours in Jasper as well in small, personalized luxury vehicles equipped with large windows for optimal viewing opportunities. For more information on sightseeing tours in Banff National Park and Jasper, please visit the following links:

• Discover Banff Tour
• Lake Minnewanka Cruise
• Evening Wildlife Tour and Cruise
• Discover Lake Louise and Moraine Lake
• Jasper to Banff Tour

We can also recommend Banff Travel as a premiere sightseeing tour operator. Banff Travel offers half- and full-day sightseeing tours of the Banff area with knowledgeable guides. Banff Travel also offers wildlife tours, including an evening wildlife viewing trip and a trip to a Grizzly bear refuge in Banff National Park.

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures are another one of our favorite guided hiking and walking tour operators. Yamnuska offers a variety of tours throughout the Canadian Rockies, whether you’re looking for a leisurely afternoon outdoors or a multi-day trip in the alpine wilderness.

click here for Yamnuska Mountain Adventures 200 – 50 Lincoln Park Canmore, Alberta
click here for Banff Travel call toll free: 888-659-3394 211 Bear Street Bison Courtyard Banff, Alberta

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• Sightseeing Around Banff
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Winter in Banff, Alberta, and the Canadian Rockies offers a lot of opportunities for extreme outdoor sports – ice climbing, heli-skiing, Nordic skiing, snowboarding and the like. But don’t feel you have to go home just because you’re not interesting in going big. And if that’s the case there are still many ways to get out and enjoy the winter wonderland of the Rocky Mountains.

After all, sometimes it’s nice to to just walk outside and admire the natural beauty that has blessed this area of Western Canada, home to several national parks, including Banff and Jasper National Parks. Even in winter, the frozen, snow-covered alpine peaks and valleys are beautiful and, if anything, the air is even fresher.

So if heli-skiing and ice climbing isn’t for you, how about ice walking? Many of the tour operators in and around Banff, as well as Lake Louise, Canmore and Jasper offer ice walk tours; they will typically supply crampons or ice cleats and hiking poles, as well as some hot chocolate (that’s our favorite part, to be honest).

Ice walks are a great way to see the beauty of the Canadian Rockies in winter up close and personal; it also gives you the chance to see the wildlife of the region. Although the bears hibernate through the winter, and some of the birds fly south (of course), many of our animal denizens remain active year around.

We can recommend Banff Travel; the adventure specialists there can hook you up with a variety of ice walks in and around Banff National Park, including night-time walk to Stewart Canyon Bridge and along the shoreline of Lake Minnewanka. If you’ve ever been near or camped near a frozen lake at night then you know the sound of the ice as it contracts in the cold evening air makes for some unique and even spooky sounds.

click here for
Banff Travel

call toll free: 888-659-3394

211 Bear Street
Bison Courtyard
Banff, Alberta

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By Blake Baily

More and more GPS tours on handhelds and in rental cars are being offered all throughout the world.

Many vacationers are finding GPS tours and GPS systems to be highly problematic, however. Many Canadian Rockies visitors discover that GPS tours and GPS systems can go in and out because of the mountainous geography and elevation. This is especially true when touring British Columbia (BC), Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, Jasper and other alpine areas in the Rockies. Keeping and maintaining reception can be a huge issue.

Often GPS tours will require additional hardware hacking to make them usable in this terrain; this is also the case with satellite radio as well.

Your best bet: simply enjoy the grand scenery of the Canadian Rockies and then curl up with a good book!

Blake Baily is a tourism and travel editor who has written for Frommers, Trip Advisor and Moon Guides.

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There is an easy way to relax and still see the alpine beauty of Banff National Park and the Canadian Rockies from the road:  motorcoach sightseeing tours. This is a great way to explore in and around Lake Louise, Banff and other areas of the Alberta and Western Canada, such as Jasper National Park.

Not only do you get to witness the scenic beauty, but the driver-guides will add to your experience with mountain lore, history and story telling. Furthermore, you can pay attention to the scenery outside the window and leave the driving to them.

There are many tour operators who provide motorcoach tours tailored to specific needs and interests, such as waterfalls, historic sites, wildlife viewing and others. A few of the more popular motorcoach tours include:

• • Banff town: covering the local historic sites and viewpoints.
• • Lake Minnewanka: a 15-minute scenic ride from downtown Banff to nearby Lake Minnewanka, where boat tours are available.
• • Moraine Lake and Lake Louise: a 45-minute drive northwest of Banff along the TransCanada Highway to destinations including Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, and the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
• • Columbia Icefield: a stunning drive up the Icefields Parkway north of Banff town and Lake Louise, on the border of Banff and Jasper National Parks. It is about 2 hours from the town of Banff or about an hour from Lake Louise to the Columbia Icefield, the largest body of ice in North America below the arctic circle. Here visitors can also embark on tours of the glacier itself, as well as an interpretive center.

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The sightseeing opportunities around Banff National Park and elsewhere in the Canadian Rockies are numerous – even if you prefer high-heels to hiking boots. Banff, Alberta, for example, is surrounded by the aforementioned mountains of the national park. To enjoy breathtaking scenery of snow-capped peaks and forested valleys, all you have to do is open the curtains of your hotel room to see incredible views every day of the year.

Bow Valley Parkway, Banff National Park

If you take to the road, then those snow-covered peaks of the Canadian Rockies, with their glaciers, lakes, forests and wildlife, are yours for the viewing. That’s what makes Western Canada so special; this natural beauty is accessible to everyone; all you have to do is go look. So don’t forget your camera; picturesque postcard views are around every bend.

Lookouts and parking areas are located along park roads, and they provide excellent opportunities for your vacation sightseeing or holiday getaway. Starting from here in the Village of Lake Louise, you could take the Trans Canada Highway south toward Banff town for 60 kilometers, and it is a lovely drive. But an even better option is to take the Bow Valley Parkway, which lies east of the Bow River (the highway lies to the west of it) – this will provide you with a scenic alternative.

Or you could head north from Lake Louise, taking the Icefields Parkway, so named because it offers access to the ancient glaciers found in the northern part of the park. In fact the Icefields Parkway takes you past scenic lakes and rivers all the way until it reaches Jasper, at the center of Jasper National Park

Despite the remote wilderness locations and rugged natural beauty of the Canadian Rockies, there are actually several commercial operations in Banff National Park that make sightseeing that much easier for visitors.

• • Lake Minnewanka’s commercial tour boats provide access to Devil’s Gap, where vertical stone walls rise out of this still, 142-meter deep lake which lies northeast of Banff (the western end of the lake is just a few kilometers away from downtown Banff.
• • Banff Gondola transports visitors from downtown Banff to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, where the 360-degree panorama includes all of Banff, the Bow River, and Mount Rundle. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can hike to the top and take the gondola down – or take the gondola up and hike down.
• • Lake Louise Gondola takes visitors up above the lake, where they can enjoy panoramic views of the nearby mountains and valleys, or walk through flower-filled meadows. Keep your camera handy – grizzly and black bear sightings are not uncommon!

Icefields Parkway, connecting Lake Louise and Jasper

Speaking of bears, wildlife viewing is of course a major pastime for Banff National Park visitors and locals alike. We’ve seen deer wandering down the street, and even the occasional black bear. It’s more common to see bears in more remote locations, but sometimes you can spot them nibbling dandelions from your car as you drive the Bow Valley Parkway, for example. Another spot right in town to see wildlife is Sulphur Mountain; hike up to the top or take the gondola and you are likely to see bighorn sheep.

Of course, please respect all park rules and regulations when it comes to the wildlife. Please stay safe and keep your distance, and do not feed the animals. Like the saying says, take only pictures and leave only memories.

Looking for a guided sightseeing tour? Look no further than  Banff Travel. They can fix you up with all of your travel needs and all of the adventures you want to have in the Canadian Rockies.

click here for Banff Travel

call toll free: 888-659-3394

211 Bear Street
Bison Courtyard
Banff, Alberta

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Over 40 buildings of historical significance have been identified in the town. Among them is the Canmore Hotel on Main Street which was built in 1890 and is still in use.

Two blocks north on the banks of Policeman’s Creek is the North West Mounted Police Barracks, Canmore’s first police station built in 1893. Much volunteer effort has been devoted to restoring this old structure.

Two doors to the south is the Ralph Connor Memorial United Church, which was built under the direction of the Rev. Charles Gordon in 1891. After leaving Canmore Rev. Gordon went on to achieve literary fame under the nom de plume Ralph Connor.

Much information about the town, its history and its surroundings can be found in the stacks of the Canmore Public Library, located half a bolck north of Main Street on 8th Avenue. There are regular showings of local artists’ work in the Canmore Artists’ and Artisans’ Gallery located inside the library building.

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