THE MOST SUSTAINABLE WAY TO VISIT BANFF NATIONAL PARK
What’s better than a weekend getaway in the mountains?! With beautiful scenery, stunning lakes, good food, wildlife and so much to explore, Banff National Park is a destination we frequent in the summer!
And we are not the only ones that love this incredible park. I found out that last year, the town of Banff saw over 2.6 million cars between May and October. So this year, we looked at more environmentally-friendly ways to explore the park.
We learned that the most environmentally sustainable way to visit Banff National Park is by transit, we tried it and here’s our experience:
To start our trip we took the On-It bus from Calgary to Banff. It only costs $10 one-way and it runs Friday-Sunday and holiday Mondays. It was a comfortable ride and only took about 15 more minutes more than it would driving. It’s a very appealing option with gas prices right now…
I would recommend bringing a sweater for the bus ride because the A/C on the bus works very well! It was so nice to sit back, relax, enjoy the views and read!
We arrived in downtown Banff at 10:15 am, walked a few minutes to the Banff Visitor Centre to pick up our Park Pass, and then headed for an incredible brunch at Farm and Fire. I couldn’t believe how delicious their vegan omelette was.
To get around Banff National Park they have the Roam Transit system. We had a SuperPass which gave us unlimited access for the entire day. The best part about taking the bus is that it’s the only way to guarantee entry to the popular attractions in the park like Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, the Gondola and many more.
In the summer, the Lake Louise parking lot usually fills up by 6:00 am and thousands of cars get turned away! If you drive to Banff, you can park for free at the Banff Train Station and then walk to the Transit Hub.
We took Roam Transit to the beautiful Lake Minnewanka! We hopped on the Lake Minnewanka cruise which is the best way to see more of this lake and learn about the land as well. This was definitely a highlight of the weekend!
We then took the bus back into town to check in to our hotel. We were staying at the Rimrock Resort, which has a bus stop directly out front making it very accessible. The views from the hotel are amazing. We took some time here to relax and enjoy cocktails at the hotel’s Larkspur Lounge before heading back into downtown Banff for dinner.
Another benefit of taking the bus is you don’t have to worry about parking downtown or getting a cab!
We had a delicious dinner at Balkan, a Greek restaurant in the heart of downtown Banff. I was so happy they had lots of yummy vegan options!
After a busy and fun-filled weekend, we hopped on the Sunday morning bus back home.
After our experience, I have a couple of tips for you:
Buy all your transit passes ahead of time and add them to your phone
Plan your visit on explorethepark.ca
Overall, we were very impressed by the ease of the transit system. And it’s the best way to reduce our impact on the environment. As visitors to the park, we have to recognise that it’s our responsibility to protect the environment for future generations and so that we can still enjoy the park for many years to come.