"Banff & Rocky Mountains On My Top 5... " a Banff Travel Page by Mikebb

Our 9 week round the world trip included 8 days in the Rocky Mountains before taking the train to Vancouver. Our base was a timeshare resort inside the Banff National Park on the edge of Banff township and from here we traveled in our blue PT Cruiser hire car in every direction and as far as Jasper for an overnight stay.

For me these 8 days were fantastic, the Rocky Mountains and national parks are just so beautiful and provide activities for all age groups.The facilities provided for tourists are of a high standard which enable everyone to have an opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty. Good roads and walking tracks abound, whilst there are plenty of mountain hiking tracks to challenge the more adventurous.

I was impressed with the vast tracks of unspoilt land, nature as it was and hopefully how it will be for future generations. Our trip covered parts of Africa, Paris, North Eastern USA, East and Western Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and New Zealand, but of all those destinations Banff and the Rocky Mountains was outstanding.

Being a citizen of a country where snow and ice are rare, mountains scarce, and glaciers have not been around for millions of years a highlight of our trip was seeing exactly those things and being able to walk on a glacier was mindblowing.

Our base of Banff allowed us to easily do day trips by car to locations like Lake Louise,another trip included an overnight stay at Jasper. This trip included the visit to the Athabasca Glacier which was the "stand out" memory.

Generally we are not museum people but we are very interested in the North American Indian (now known as The First Nation People) and it was in Banff that we experienced the Luxton Museum of the Plains Indians, a magnificent museum recording the life and customs of these people prior to white settlement.

We also enjoyed the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, located in Banff and gives a history of the town.