Thursday, August 10, 2023

Banff: Day 3

I’m back with the next part of what’s been an amazing trip to Alberta, Canada! TL;DR - it’s been the best getaway I could have hoped for! Be prepared for LOTS of photos. I can’t get enough of these gorgeous mountain views! 

Day 3: Biking to Banff

A friend of Amber’s recommended that we bike from Canmore to Banff as there is a dedicated bike trail. So we got to the bike rental place when it opened at 9 on Tuesday and were on our way. It’s about 15 miles each way and the views are stunning! 



We stopped a number of times to take pictures and exchange ‘can you believe these views??’ comments! 

Amber caught some photos of me on my bike!



About 2 hours later, we biked into Banff! We obviously were not looking to set a record in terms of pace. ;) 

Biking into Banff! 

Banff is probably the busiest ‘mountain town’ I’ve been to. But the central area is closed to vehicles which really helps as it would be even more congested otherwise! One super cool thing is that they have a free bike valet! You just drop your bike off and they give you a tag to pick it up. We were supposed to get a bike lock with our rental but at about the halfway point of our bike ride to Banff, we realized the guys at the rental place didn’t give it to us! 

We were pretty famished so got on the wait list for a spot with a 45 minute wait and swung by a cafe with GF goodies for something to tide us over until we sat down for lunch. Oddly my stomach has been off while traveling lately. I’ve getting nauseated quite often. This happened in California, too. I think it’s a combo of dehydration and not eating regularly enough? My body is so used to eating like every 3 hours (toast for breakfast, yogurt and berries 2 hours later, then lunch 2 hours later, then popcorn a few hours later, etc). So I’ve been trying to drink water more often and have food on me at all times on this trip so I can eat more frequently. 

After a yummy brunch meal, we shopped for a bit for our families and I snagged a cute hooded sweatshirt for only $30 Canadian for myself! I really only have 2 hooded sweatshirts and could use another. Kae and Kyria, I thought of you and your love of sweatshirts when deciding to buy it. I pretty much heard you ladies say: buy the sweatshirt, Lisa! So yes that means I am having imaginary conversations with blog friends in my head! Ha!

Next we hopped on our bikes to bike along the Bow River and up to the bougie Fairmount hotel which has a rate of $1,600CAN/night! The water in this mountainous region of Alberta totally reminds me of New Zealand. I spent a week on the South Island of NZ when I studied abroad in Australia in 2002. The Banff area is the only comparable area that I’ve visited. I’ve never seen water this color anywhere else besides NZ and on this trip! The blue/green color is so stunning! I’ve done a lot of hiking in Colorado and haven’t seen anything like this in that region of the Rockies - which don’t get me wrong is also gorgeous! 




We biked up to the Fairmount hotel and Amber asked a valet person if we could look around. I fully expected to be told NO but the guy was so nice and even offered to store our bikes while we had a look around. We grabbed a snack at an on-site cafe and sat out on the patio to rest our legs for a bit. Then it was back on our bikes for the bike back to Canmore! 

Heading back to Canmore

At about the halfway point it started to POUR! I was glad I had purchased and packed a nice rain jacket for this trip (I got a great deal on a Gortex rain jacket at REI last week). It got quite a bit of use! The bike ride back was slightly down hill and we biked quite fast once it started raining so it only took 1.5 hours to get back. 


We were pretty spent by the time we got home so we showered and grabbed some take-out pizza. We had plans to leave the Airbnb by 6 the next morning so we could get to Lake Louise before it got crowded. So we called it an early night! 

16 comments:

  1. oh these pictures!!! so beautiful.

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  2. Yay for hooded sweatshirts! If it is cold, you can wear it while you are in Canmore and you will really look like a tourist! :) I am sure we have already talked about this, but in San Francisco since it is always cold in the summer, we see SO MANY people with San Francisco sweatshirts on and we always giggle about them standing out as tourists!

    I loved Canmore, and Banff is nice too, although I found Canmore much more quiet and less touristy, so more manageable overall. However, I stayed in Banff for a few days and had a great time hiking around etc. I think I even ran up that hill to the Fairmont which was a bit hard and scary but what a nice view (I went up to the top of the hill with the gondola too which was nice.) I also really enjoyed Lake Louise; hopefully you had a nice hike and maybe a soak in the hot tub!? I think I saw my first porcupine at Lake Louise! Hopefully you see some animals but from afar!

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  3. I love these photos! Banff is truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet! And how neat that you got to do this bike ride. Sounds like you are having fun.

    Are you finding that staying on top of the food/water is helping with the nausea? I hope so -- not an enjoyable feeling, especially when you are traveling.

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  4. Hahaha! Glad you bought the sweatshirt!!! ;)

    This all looks so beautiful and so fun! I am not traditionally a huge "biker" person but I think it's a really special way to see a landscape when traveling. We did a bike trip in San Diego that I loved and also went biking in Ireland. I filed away something about a bike trip in Paris, too, that I need to make sure we do when we go there someday!

    Keep enjoying your trip! So happy for you to have this time to get away from reality for a bit. :)

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  5. *Oh, that was supposed to say: I filed away something about a bike trip in Paris that YOU told me about! :)

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  6. Beautiful! I can only imagine it was a million times more impressive in person!

    I have imaginary conversations with my friends all the time. Sometimes they're the angel on my shoulder and sometimes they're the devil!!

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  7. Gorgeous! I've never been west of Ontario and one of my goals is to make it to BC in the nearish future!

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  8. Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed the bike trip!
    My husband and I have stayed at the Springs (Fairmont) many times but in the off season it is much more affordable. It's honestly worth it if you can swing it because it's so beautiful.
    I love Banff and the Rockies and now you see why!

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  9. This sounds like the most wonderful holiday for you -- all that beauty and being with a friend to enjoy it all. Banff sounds wonderful. Sorry about the rain though. Glad you found that jacket!

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  10. what a wonderful trip!!! Banff... we might go there next summer as my husband lived in Canada and highly recommends Banff. it seems you are doing a short stop there? I thought it's like a bigger park to spend few days there.

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  11. i love this adventure so much!!! And it looks amazing. I was in Banff once, for a day (long story) so didn't get to see much. And it was a long time ago! But I'm sure everyone reading this has put "visit Banff" on their bucket list. It just looks incredible.

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  12. What a great bike trail and a great way to spend your day with Amber. It sounds like something I'd enjoy!!

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  13. Ok, I think you have sold me on why I need to visit this area. These views are incredible and Banff looks like such a cute place to visit! I'll take 4 nights at the Fairmont, thank you please. ;)

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  14. I love getting a drink and snack at a fancier hotel than I am willing to pay for! I think I was there once with my mom as a kid but don't really remember it, you really make me want to go back!!

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  15. Thank you for bringing back my memories of visiting Banff over 30 years ago now! It looks as beautiful as I remember it. <3 What a fabulous trip!

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  16. Those views are STUNNING!!! I love that you were able to see everything by bike, I think you can see things better running, walking, biking. Everything looks incredible!!!

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