Banff & Calgary Trip

Banff has been on my “Must Travel To” list for a long time and when we got free voucher tickets to go there, Will and I were so excited! We didn’t have much time to plan but we knew that we wanted to see as much of the National Parks as we could. The weather and time change threw some v interesting wrenches into the mix but ultimately, it was a wonderful trip to the great North.

Day One: Calgary to Emerald Lake

We flew into Calgary Airport and picked up our Enterprise SUV. The experience with them was so easy and they even upgraded us to a bigger SUV, which I’m thankful for because we trekked into some nasty, slick weather.

A great tip: When you visit any country that you won’t have easy access to wifi, make sure and download the app maps.me ; it’s a directional map that lets you zoom, search and get directions to places when you don’t have a working Apple Maps!

The drive through the Banff National Park to Emerald Lake Lodge was spectacular! The sun was out that day and the hour and half drive to Banff village was all “ooo’s” and “ahhh’s”!

We knew we would be starving from the morning plane ride so we stopped at Banff’s Bear Street Tavern for pizza. The bartender there said that the sun sets at 5pm SHARP, so we scarfed down some ‘za and booked it for Moraine Lake. Unfortunately the road to Moraine Lake was closed for season, and I was so sad but all the avalanche risk signs by the entry road made me feel a little better about the decision to say byeee to that planned activity.

When we planned our Banff trip, I found Emerald Lake Lodge through a crazy Pinterest searching spree. This little known gem outside of Banff was one of THE BEST parts of our trip. The views at night were unreal and I could barely sleep knowing that they would be even more spectacular in the morning.

We did the package deal of dinner and a night stay, which was perfect! We scored a suite with lake views and ate a delicious, authentic Canadian meal that included duck and Alberta beef. The morning finally arrived and I shot out of bed to go to the balcony to see the view. OMG you guys, pictures don’t do this place justice.

Day Two: Emerald Lake to Banff

The complimentary breakfast at Emerald Lake Lodge warmed our bones as the snow began to fall outside. We spent most of the morning exploring the grounds of the lodge and walking along the Lake trail before the tourist crowds arrived.

We were told that Peyto lake, another spot I was dying to see, was closed for season and trail preservation. Trying to hide my disappointment, we looked around at other spots to check out.

Just off the Trans-Canadian Highway are a bunch of stops with postcard views, like Bow Lake and Hector Lake. The beautiful morning snow had turned into an ice cold rain when we got out to see these lakes so it was a quick trip to hear the waves crashing into the stagnant ice chunks, then back in the car.

The road to Lake Louise was called Icefields Parkway and the inclement weather really gave that name its truth! haha! I really tried to get us to stay at The Fairmont Lake Louise because I wanted to see those famous lake views from the room but it turned out, the weather hid most of those sights anyways. We did, however, get to walk around the lake trail and even see some crazy people attempt to walk on the half frozen lake. Will wanted to go out onto the water and I about had a heart attack convincing him not to.

The Fairmont Chateau is quite fancy but inviting! We walked around the shops inside the hotel for a while before making our way back to the car to continue our days journey to Banff village.

We made it to our hotel, The Mount Royal in downtown Banff with just an hour to settle in before we headed to our dinner reservation.

I partnered with Pursuit Group to do the Banff Gondola experience and I was beyond excited / scared to take a gondola STRAIGHT up the mountain! To get to our dinner reservation at Sky Bistro, you can only take this gondola up, which makes the trip even more VIP fancy. We boarded the cozy gondola and snuggled up in the provided blankets as the night views of the city began to emerge. Again, my planning didn’t exactly mesh with the time change, so when we went up in the gondola the first time, the sky was completely dark but Banff twinkled far below us. Will loved the nighttime ride and I was calming my fear by practicing my breathing techniques haha!

We made it to the top and ate the most lovely meal at Sky Bistro. This meal was indulgent, savory, and everything we had built it up to be in our minds. Stuffed like a happy pig, we took the gondola back down to Banff and were given another ticket for the next morning, so we could really get a feel for the sights.

HOLY FREAKING MOLY were we glad we got to come back because the views brought tears to my eyes.

Day Three: Banff to Calgary

The next morning we woke up and had a quick breakfast at Juniper Hotel Bistro where we saw the sun hitting the mountains. Excited for a break in the weather, we finished our meal and headed back to the Banff Gondola.

We got in our cozy gondola and headed up the mountain to views that can only be described as unreal. I was feeling so thankful for the opportunity to work with an amazing company, and do such fun things on our trip! The tiny break in weather provided us with the perfect window to see Canada for miles and miles. The gondola ushered us up to the top of the mountain and to a lookout point that you could appreciate Banff National Park for all its beauty. A must do experience if you come to Banff.

*Thank you Pursuit for comping our ride at Banff Gondola and giving us a one of a kind memory!

After getting our fill of walking around the observatory and taking pictures, we headed back down to our car to tool around downtown Banff. The downtown area is super cute and had a trillion flannel pajama shops that I had to go into. The weather was getting frigid so going into all the stores was a nice treat. I had on my list of planned stops, this one little place called, Beaver Tails. Will got the original - which is comparable to an elephant ear that you get at the fair, but this one was GOOOOOD.

Noshing on our ‘tails’ as we hit up Bow Lake Falls and a couple other viewpoints around Banff, we felt we got to see most of what this mountain town had to offer.

We heard chatter that more snow was coming so we got on the road to Calgary and to our next stop - Hotel Arts!

I was privileged enough to partner with Hotel Arts Calgary and it was a treat from the moment we walked in the doors. The hotel is deeply rooted in Calgary culture and has an art and fashion centric decor. Everywhere you look in the lobby is the coolest art and sculptures yet, you feel very at home here too.

They upgraded us to a King Suite (woohoo!) on the top floor and as soon as we checked in dropped off some sweet treats, water and a card welcoming us to the hotel.

I was hungry (shocker!) so we popped down to one of the two restaurants in the hotel and grabbed a happy hour meal at Raw Bar. The interior design made you feel like you were underwater and they even had a TV playing hockey so Will was happy too.

After a quick bite with the best fried rice I’ve ever had, we headed back to the room to relax and shower. I mention the shower because the bathroom had a tv in the mirror that played relaxing music, the shower itself was the size of our bedroom in Denver and they had these provided products that were UNBELIEVABLE!

I might have tapped the hot water reserve there because I was in the shower for close to 30 minutes haha! During that time, the sweet hotel staff dropped off more chocolates, tarts and macaroons to our room - they obviously knew a pregnant person was staying there!

Before arriving in Calgary I made a reservation at Foreign Concept, seeing as it was highly, highly rated. Will and I braved the dumping snow and ate a few small bite dishes there. The food was good but our exhaustion got the better of us and we headed back to the hotel early.

Day Four: Calgary

Our last morning in Canada, we woke up and headed downstairs to Hotel Arts other restaurant, Yellow Door Bistro, for brunch. Even more art and thoughtful details were in that restaurant and even a HUGE horse lamp that I wanted to take home. Our server JR started off the meal with a fresh strawberry smoothie and proceeded to bring us our delish meals. We even got a plate of the chef’s pancake of the day that was a chocolate soufflé with raspberry sauce and chocolate mousse on top. DEAD. It was so good. After licking the plates clean and thanking JR for refilling my coffee a billion times, we perused around the hotel staring at the art like we were at a gallery opening.

One more quick 20 minute shower experience for me and we reluctantly left Hotel Arts

*I can’t thank Hotel Arts and the staff enough, a lot of hotels are good, but this hotel was GREAT and the experience they provided was unparalleled. On our next trip back to Calgary, we will definitely be staying here again and enjoying all they have to offer.

And that was our Canada trip! Sorry for the long blog post but we did pack a lot into those few days! A one of a kind adventure that was peaceful and beautiful from start to finish. If you haven’t already booked your ticket as you read this blog post, what are you waiting for??

Oh wait!! The best part! My only goal for the Canada trip was to get a Tim Hortons coffee and donut to relive my Robin Scherbatsky dreams from How I Met Your Mother.

At the airport I basically dove headfirst into the store and got a coffee and a honey crueller. Lets just say, it didn’t disappoint and I was a officially a Canadian :)