"Mountains" a Banff National Park Travel Page by Redlats

I've always had a relationship with Banff National Park. The first time I visited I was five years old. My dad immigrated to Canada to work with the Canadian Pacific hotels, so our family spent five summers in Banff while I was a small kid.

My first summer job while I was in university was as a surveyor in Banff National Park. We got to travel in many parts of Banff -- with side trips to other National parks like Prince Albert NP.

A couple years after graduating from university, my wife and I got married and our honeymoon was in (you guessed it) Banff NP.

Since then we have gone back to the Rockies for holidays at least 10 times

Regarding the number of days to plan, it really depends on what you like doing for activities. There are many hikes available that each take a day. If you just do the normal things of driving around the area, taking in the various museums, visiting Banff Springs hotel, going for a dip in the hot springs, walking through the tourist shops, taking the gondola to the top of Sulphur mountain, climbing Tunnel mountain, etc., you should probably spend a minimum of three days in Banff just to absorb the history and try out the various activities. Of course, there are many places that you can visit using Banff as your starting point. You should plan a whole day for the drive from Banff to Jasper (to allow time to stop and visit places like the Columbia Icefields) and there are more views to behold in the parks immediately adjacent to Banff -- i.e. Jasper NP, Yoho NP or Kooteney NP. We have returned ten or fifteen times in the past 40 years. There is a lot to do!!