Banff Townsite Highlights

This Tour Comes From...

The National Geographic Traveler: Canada

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The vast majority of visitors arrive in the resort of Banff by road, most of them along Trans-Canada 1, as it climbs away from the prairie up the valley of the Bow River. The town’s permanent population of about 5,000 swells to more than 30,000 in summer. Most of the national park’s nearly four million annual visitors spend at least some time here.

The town has a fair number of man-made attractions, and it is perfectly possible to spend a stay here strolling the streets, shopping, seeing and being seen, all against the backdrop of fabulous mountain scenery. But Banff’s main role is as a starting point for the excellent drives and trails that bring visitors into immediate contact with the mountains. Not surprisingly, Parks Canada runs a very full interpretive program, and a visit to the Banff Visitor Centre makes a worthwhile start to any stay in the national park. CONTINUED

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Banff Park Museum National Historic Site (93 Banff Ave. +1 403 762 1558. Closed a.m. mid-Sept.–mid-June. Adm. Fee) This is western Canada’s oldest natural history museum, founded in 1903. The array of stuffed native animals is evidence of a now outdated approach to wildlife interpretation, but the museum has lots of character.
Bow Falls Just before it joins the Spray River at the foot of the Banff Spring Hotel, the Bow River has cut these falls into an outcrop of Sulphur Mountain siltstone. Trails along both sides of the Bow River provide easy access to overlooks and superb views of the Banff Springs Hotel.
Cave and Basin National Historic Site (End of Cave Ave. +1 403 762 1557. Adm. fee) The first facilities to take advantage of Bannf’s hot springs were built in 1887. These were replaced in 1914 by a more elaborate structure and swimming pool, which eventually became unsafe due to the weakness of the tufa deposits on which it was built. A rebuilding project has restored the site to its glamorous 1914 appearance—although you may not swim. Displays tell the story of the site, the starting point of Banff and the whole Canadian parks movement.
Luxton Museum (1 Birch Ave. +1 103 762 2388. Closed Mon–Tues., mid-Oct.–mid-May. Adm fee) Norman Luxton settled here in 1901 and devoted most of his life to promoting Banff as a resort. On good terms with the First Nations people of the area, he organized the town’s Indian Days and dedicated a museum to their heritage. For a while after his death, Luxton’s collections were managed by Calgary’s Glenbow Museum, but they are now cared for by his friends.
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (11 Bear St. +1 403 762 2291. Closed Mon. mid-Oct.–mid-May. Adm. fee) Born in Banff, Peter Whyte and his American wife, Catherine, both of them artists, devoted their lives to portraying loca l people and landscape and collecting documents and artifacts related to the region. Their collection forms the basis of the archive of the Canadian Rockies, an important research resource. Displays give an overview of how the Rockies were conquered and how Banff developed as a resort. Together with the library of the Alpine Club of Canada and galleries for temporary exhibitions on local themes, the archives are housed in a fine modern building.