No year in Canada is complete without visiting Banff and Jasper in Alberta's Rocky Mountains. You will leave feeling inspired by towering mountains, freezing glaciers and the wonderful food sourced amongst Canada's 'postcard perfect' landscapes.
If you have ten days then driving from Vancouver in early June is the best way to experience this region. For shorter trips late April (possibly Easter) is the time to go as roads start to reopen at this time. Visiting earlier in the year will give you the place to yourself with fewer crowds and amazing views of the frozen Columbia Icefield.
Grab a cheap early morning flight to Calgary and then hit the road in a rental car for the ninety minute drive to Banff. This 'chocolate box' tourist town has a string of heritage buildings and fantastic hospitality options staffed by seasonal working holiday staff. There are lodgings to suit all budgets and a long season of skiing and boarding. The Park Distillery and Chuck's Steakhouse are absolute standouts.
In the cooler months you won't be able to camp so day trips into the national park are preferred. Please don't forget to buy decent crampons as you will need them for all hikes. Johnston Canyon is stunning and you have to visit the Columbia Icefield where five glaciers converge. Here you can do a highly recommended explorer tour right out beyond the moraine in an all terrain vehicle. It is a surreal experience standing on 150m of frozen blue ice. A visit to the skywalk is included in the price.
Continuing towards Jasper I had a great experience staying in a wilderness hostel right at Athabasca Falls which had large communal kitchen areas and warm, comfy beds. One advantage of this style of accommodation is that you can walk right to many scenic spots and frozen waterfalls.
This is a trip you wont forget.
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