Banff in a new light

 

This summer I returned to Banff for the first time since I lived there when I was 18. The first time I arrived in Banff I had seven suitcases, all the confidence in the world and no idea what I was doing. It was my first time living on my own, my first time living in Canada since I was seven and my first real job. This breathtaking mountain town just 45 minutes west of Calgary is a popular place for young Canadian teens to get their first job out of University or for some take a break between high school and college as I did. It was an easy place to get a job if you spoke Japanese and could handle your booze. At least that’s how I saw Banff when I was 18.

Returning to Banff ten years later with my husband made me realise Banff was a lot more than the inside of a pub.  I didn’t expect to take a walk down memory lane - my liver couldn’t handle it but I was shocked by how much Banff impressed me. It was more beautiful than I remembered with the snow topped peaks, endless foliage and wildlife. We hiked, swam, canoed, walked on glaciers, soaked in hot springs, hiked some more and spent five days in complete heaven.

Banff prices are astronomical and I’ve read that Banff stands for “Barely Affordable, Nothing For Free” but with clean air, the mountains out your front door, glacier fed water running along the hiking trails - there is a lot for free, you just have to stop to appreciate it.

Worth looking into:
www.mountroyalhotel.com/  - a lovely hotel right down town
www.fairmont.com/banffsprings/ - where I worked and the hotel that made Banff a town
www.brewster.ca - excellent tours. They also do the ice field tours

Don't Miss:
www.banffgondola.com- this view
www.taximike.com/magpie.html - these margaritas
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/activ/activ1_E.asp - the trails

Tourist Info:
www.banff.com
www.banfflakelouise.com 
www.discoverbanff.com

 

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