Banff National Park, Canada - Car-free Tour from Calgary
Around mid-April, Banff National Park is in the off-season so there are no crowds and you can enjoy the beautiful scenery at the junction of winter and spring! !
If you don't plan to drive to Banff National Park, it is highly recommended to take a bus from Calgary to Banff. You will arrive in an hour and there is no need to buy tickets to the national park separately! Relatively cost-effective! This time I bought the ticket on Flixbus, the fare was cheap and the bus departed on time! (It is recommended to follow the boarding location indicated on the ticket after purchasing the ticket and arrive 15 minutes before departure)
Public buses in Banff
🌟Download Roam Transit to check bus routes:
🟢Bus 1: Upper Hot Spring, Sulphur Mountain, Banff Gondola [20-30min per bus] CAD 2
🔵Bus 2: End point: Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel CAD 2
🔴bus 3: Banff ↔ Canmore【20-30min per bus】
🟡bus 4: Cave and Basin CAD2
🔵bus 6: Johnson Lake, Two Jack’s Lake, terminal Lake Minnewanka [around 1h10min per bus, middle stop not stable] CAD 2
🟢bus 8X: Lake Louise【1h per bus】CAD 10
🟤bus 9: Johnston Canyon【1.5-2h per bus】CAD 5
(In April, some buses only operate on holidays, so it is recommended to check the website of Upper Midway National Park first!)
🌟Download Token Transit for paying the bus
Some hotels offer free bus tickets. You can ask when booking a room.
Day 1
📍7:15 Depart from Calgary Down Town
->8:50 Arrive in Banff (Flixbus)
📍(Buy some food in Banff Town)
📍10:15 Banff High School Transit Hub
—(take bus 8X)(42mins)—>11:00 Lake Louise
📍Walk Lake Louise lakeshore (or different trail)
13:48 or 15:13 have bus (8X) leave Lake Louise back to Banff
📍16:00 Check in hotel
📍30 mins walk to Casade of time garden, Bow Falls Trail (from hotel)
📍Dinner
the next day
📍Breakfast
📍(Banff Hight school stop take bus 9)(35mins)—>Johnston Canyon
📍Johnston Canyon—> (bus 9 back to Banff High School stop)—> (bus1) Gondola
📍Banff Gondola is highly recommended! ! !
8mins to the summit of Sulfur Mountain CAD70/person(🌟buy tickets in advance could be cheaper)
📍Banff Gondola-(10mins)—> Banff Town
📍Dinner
Day 3
📍Banff Town
📍30 mins walk to Vermillion Lake
📍Return 17:30 Banff—> 19:00 Calgary (Flixbus)
If you have more time, you can also go skiing!