looking for help planning trip glacier/waterton/banff

planning a 7-10 day trip for end of summer...plan to rent a car in kalispell,spend several days in glacier, maybe one in waterton, then going on to spend 2 days in banff, 2 days at lake louise, then one night in calgary before returning home...plan to hike, take in the scenery, maybe raft and bike as well...would love to hear if anyone thinks this itinerary is doable...should we spend more or less time in any of those spots...spend the whole time in glacier and forget about banff...or vice versa???

any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

looking for help planning trip glacier/waterton/banff

It sounds entirely doable with 10 to 14 days. The only kink I can see is that you will not be able to rent a car in Montana and drop it off in Calgary. You%26#39;ll have to plan on driving back to Montana, leaving your rental car and flying home from there.

looking for help planning trip glacier/waterton/banff

As Camping Girl stated, you should have at least ten days to do all the activities you have listed. I would stay at least five days in Glacier. If you like to hike, there are numerous hikes in the Many Glacier area that are worth doing. What type of hiking are you interested in? Many hikes in Glacier have a lot of elevation change. I also think all rafting is on the west side, so you should plan two to three nights on each side of the park.

You will ahve a fair amount of windshield time, but a great trip. Note, end of summer the river is way down and the rafting very tame.

thanks very much for your reply; boy, did you possibly save me a very large hassle!!

wasnt%26#39; sure we could do both glacier, waterton, and banff during the same trip, so glad to hear you think that is doeable...of course if we fly into and out of calgary there will be some more driving involved.

one more question if you%26#39;d be so kind: there are several b%26amp;b%26#39;s in banff that have gotten rave reviews...but we also were planning on spending a few nights at lake louise...and i know they are only about 40 miles or so apart...would it make sense to spend a few nights at both banff and the lake louise area?

thanks much again.

joe

Whether its worthwhile to spend part of your Banff NP time in LL is entirely up to you. I personally wouldn%26#39;t want the hassle of packing up and moving 40 miles down the road when you can easily see it all from one base, but that%26#39;s my personal preference. Also, things in LL are *very* quiet - there is absolutely no nightlife, and very few restaurants.

I guess it depends on what you%26#39;re looking for.

really appreciate your reply!

we aren%26#39;t hard core hikers by any stretch, but we are in shape and love to do moderate hikes outdoors...we%26#39;d also love to raft and realize the time of year we%26#39;d be going might not be optimal...

anyways, thanks again very much for your response.

joe

thanks very much for your input-really appreciate it!

joe

camping girl,

you%26#39;re a wealth of information; thanks again.

so if i hear you right you%26#39;re suggesting we base our stay in banff and make a day trip to lake louise, etc...yes?? i%26#39;m not interested in changing our lodging frequently, just thought there%26#39;d be alot to see in banff and again in lake louise.

thanks much again.

joe

Oh, you%26#39;re most welcome!

Yes, in the Banff area I wouldn%26#39;t bother moving from Banff to LL (or vice versa) as a lot of what you want to see is so close. Even if you want to drive to Field (Yoho NP, west of LL) it is only about a 20 minute drive further than LL. Now, if you wanted to go to Jasper, that would be a different story as it is too far away to make a decent day trip of it. But do make a point while you are in the LL area to spend the better part of a day driving up the Icefields Parkway at least as far as the Athabasca Glacier, which is about halfway from LL to Jasper. This piece of road has some incredible views and in all honesty, that glacier is not going to be around for very many more years so see it while you can. The glacier tour is very interesting and well worth the money, IMO. Plus, you will want to check out Peyto Lake, which is accessible from the Icefields Parkway.

Let me know if you need suggestions for Banff and LL. Have you checked out my travel pages on that area? It might give you some ideas. (and the pictures will really whet your appetite for your impending vacation, lol) Here%26#39;s the link:

members.virtualtourist.com/m/adecc/de819/

Also, my Waterton page:

members.virtualtourist.com/m/adecc/dc729/

If you could find a full day for Calgary, I would urge you to visit Drumheller, about an hour east of the city. It is home to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which houses what is probably the best collection of dinosaur skeletons in the world. It is really, really interesting, but you would need at least 5 hours to make that trip from Calgary, IMO.

I hope that helps. Happy planning.

- CG

thanks once again for your recommendations...it is people like you that make trip advisor such a great site.

by the way found out that you can rent a car in the US (kalispell) and return it in Canada (Calgary)...thats the good news...the bad news is that there is a $500 drop charge...think we%26#39;ll fly into and out of calgary and just suck up the extra driving down to glacier and back.

again, my thanks.

joe

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