1. Explore Downtown Banff Downtown is super quaint and has a very cozy appeal regardless of whether you choose to visit in winter or summer. Parking all round town is free on the side streets, so don’t be alarmed that there is no parking on the main street (Banff Ave). There is a large variety of dining options, and it's you'll be hard pressed to make a decision from the many great options. See my food post of my favorite places to eat in Banff. 2. Plain of Six Glaciers and Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse Plain of Six Glaciers is about a 9-mile hike from Lake Louise. About .25 miles from the Plain of The Six Glaciers there is an adorable tea house to stay your hunger after the long hike (hours 9-5). Be warned, both the tea house and Lake Louise are very popular tourist attractions, and early arrivals are rewarded with solitude on the trail and views full of splendor. When we visited, we saw the dawn's first light falling on Lake Louise and the glacier behind it, a breathtaking and awakening start to the morning (before 6 o'clock!). Even arriving before 6 o'clock, there were several dozen other visitors eager to rent a kayak and start the hike up to the prime views - the early bird gets the worm! The hike is mostly flat as you make your way around Lake Louise, but once you reach the edge of the lake you'll start a more ambitious climb to the Plain of Six Glaciers. Once you reach to the switchbacks, you've almost reached the tea house, where you either grab food or continue forward to Plain of Six Glaciers viewpoint another quarter mile up the trail. We arrived at the tea house at about 8:30AM and did not realize that the tea house didn’t open until 9:00 AM so we continued to the Plain of Six Glaciers viewpoint. The tea house food tasted amazing after hiking about 2 hours (but we're sure it would taste amazing any time you had it!). I would 100% recommend any of the teas (I had the cream of earl gray tea and it was outstanding). You can also find any of the teas sold at the tea house at the Banff Tea house located in downtown Banff. Tips: 1. Start early to maximize your day as well as avoid the crowds. 2. The hike can take anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours one way depending how in shape you are and if you are adjusted to the altitude. 3. Try some of the tea at the tea house – free hot water refills to get the most of your delicious teas. 3. Athabasca Glacier If you have the time to make the drive-up Icefields Parkway to the Athabasca Glacier is a once and a lifetime experience. The glaciers leading up to the Athabasca Glacier are so massive that is hard to understand how big they truly are. You really start to appreciate the size of the glaciers once you are at the Athabasca Glacier. Brewster just started evening on the glacier tour, where you get be on the glacier with only about 20 other people (instead of around 200 when taking the tour during the day), apple cider and appetizers while on the glacier, and dinner once you get back to the welcome center. Tips: 1. If you want more bang for your buck and intimate experience go for the evening on the glacier tour - a new program that everyone hopes they continue to operate. 2. Bring a water bottle or some type of container to bring some of the glacier water home. 3. Dress warm! It gets pretty windy on the glacier and, no surprise, it's very cold on the glacier. 4. Herbert Lake The perfect pit stop to start the drive up the Icefields Parkway! The small lake appears almost like glass to have mountains on the background reflect on the lake. Tips: Don’t miss the turn off it is every easy to drive past the turn off. 5. Peyto Lake The hike from the personal car parking lot (where the two pin points are on the map) is all up hill to the first overlook. The first overlook is denoted by the blue arrow. The path from the personal car parking lot to the first overlook is paved to make it a little easier to hike up. The best view is further up, which not many people go to and settle for the first overlook. It doesn't take more than 15 minutes more to reach the best overlook, and we would highly suggest you don't go without reaching the rocky overlook that affords the view in the photo above. The map to the left shows the starting point of the first overlook (blue arrow) to the Peyto Lake Panorama Viewpoint (black arrow) that will give you the view as shown above. Follow the path that is circled in the red circle to hike to the Peyto Lake Panorama Viewpoint.
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