One of the benefits of going on an exchange is that you spend a long time in the one place so you really get to know it well. Spending nearly six months in Alberta, Canada was incredible. I got to experience summer as well as winter not only in the city of Edmonton where I was studying, but also in the Rocky Mountains! I have already written about my summer experience in Banff National Park, but I visited in winter as well. On two separate occasions, in fact: once with the university ski and snowboard club, and once for New Years with my Canadian relatives. So today, I’ll be sharing all of the best things to do in winter in Banff and Canmore, as well as where to stay and some great places to eat.
Where to stay
If you’re looking for somewhere to stay in Banff town or Lake Louise, then the recommendations from my summer guide still stand. The HI Lake Louise, HI Banff and Samesun Banff were all excellent hostels. However, I do have one other option I would like to add to this post, which is located in Canmore.
Canmore is a small mountain town just outside of Banff National Park. Situated only an hour from Calgary, it’s a popular place for Canadians, many of whom have holiday homes in the town. If you’re wanting to stay outside of Banff National Park, Canmore is a great option because it’s just as beautiful without the restrictions that come with staying in a National Park. As for where to stay, I recommend the Canmore Ski Lodge. This accommodation is great for if you’re travelling in a group as up to three people can stay in one room. They also have a hot tub – it’s super nice to hop into after a cold day of skiing!
Where to eat
If you’re looking for somewhere to have dinner in Canmore, I highly recommend the Grizzly Paw Pub. It’s a really nice venue in the middle of town and they do quite nice meals. They also do home-made soft drinks; I don’t often drink soft drinks but the orange flavoured one I had was really nice. Of course, they also have your standard fast food restaurants in Canmore. Dairy Queen is right across the road from the Canmore Ski Lodge, if you’re looking for something cheap and convenient.
For a hot drink and snack, I recommend the Good Earth Coffee House. I had a cinnamon roll and a hot chocolate here which were really delicious. You can also get breakfast or lunch here, with a range of hot meals available. Since looking it up, I’ve found out it’s actually a chain which you can find in Canmore, Banff, Calgary, Edmonton and even as far away as Vancouver and Montreal!
Before you set out: make sure you have the right gear!
If you’re planning on doing any winter activities in Canmore or Banff, whether it’s skiing, ice skating or even just walking, it’s super important that you have the right gear. Remember, you need to learn from the mistakes I made in Jasper and at LEAST have good snow boots for walking around anywhere except for in town. Gear Up Sport in Canmore is fantastic and has all of the gear you could possibly need for your winter adventures. We hired ice skates and crampons here and they were in great condition. I believe you can also hire skis and summer gear here, however I usually hire my skis on the mountain. More on that later.
Things to do
Below, I have written about four amazing things you can do in Canmore and Banff in winter! No doubt you can tell that I tried to make the most of my time in a cold country and tried just about every winter activity possible! Over the New Year period, we hoped to do more skiing but it ended up being much too cold! If you’re planning to do any of these activities, make sure you are prepared, not only with the right gear but also with the right clothing, good mittens and heat pads for your hands. Anyway, let’s get to the fun stuff!
Ski at Sunshine Village
Sunshine Village is my favourite place to ski in the entire world. Not that I have skied at many places… But still. It’s such a fun mountain and the snow is absolutely beautiful! There’s a great range of runs here, from easy green runs (good for people who haven’t skied in 5 years… Like me) to fun blue runs and crazy black runs. I actually did my first black run here: my uncle told me we’d be going down a really nice blue run. But at the bottom, he said “congrats you did your first black run!” to which I responded “wait what?!” Long story short, there’s a great range of runs.
My favourite runs
For beginners, I highly recommend the Strawberry Express Quad. I spent all of my first day at Sunshine Village doing the same green run off that chair. It’s quite fun! There’s also quite a nice one off Wawa Quad Chair and lots of fun ones through the trees off the Wolverine Express Quad. This was my first run after five-ish years of not skiing so it can’t have been too bad!
For intermediate-advanced skiers, Goats Eye Mountain is my favourite. The views are absolutely beautiful (on a rare clear day) and the blue run is great fun. The picture below is of me skiing Goats Eye. I highly recommend it if it’s open! If you take the Wolverine Express Chair then the Tee Pee Town Double Chair (which is covered and HEATED!!), you can get to the top of Lookout Mountain. There’s lots of fun runs of a range of levels here too. It’s worth heading up JUST to go on the heated chair to be honest.
Other facilities on the mountain
The only downside to Sunshine Village is you have to get the gondola up to the ski area. Not only does this increase the cost of your ticket, it can also take a while to get up on a busy day. I recommend arriving either early for opening or a bit later in the morning once most of the crowds have dispersed. You can ski out of the mountain, which is quite easy and fun.
In terms of facilities, the ski hire here was great; all of the staff were super helpful. The restaurant on the mountain also has quite a good range of food and everything I had was delicious. Most importantly, it was nice and warm!!
Go ice skating on the Canmore Skate Pond
Something I really wanted to do in winter was skate on a real lake or pond, and Banff or Canmore is the perfect place to do it. I don’t really know why I wanted to skate on a real lake so badly. I just thought it’d be cool. If this is a dream of yours too, I highly recommend the Canmore Skate Pond. It may not be as scenic as skating on one of the lakes in Banff National Park (not to say it’s not beautiful!) but it does have some benefits. It’s much less crowded than somewhere like Lake Louise, and they smooth the ice each morning with a Zamboni. This makes it a super safe place for beginner skaters like myself! Also, it’s conveniently located right near the centre of Canmore town, so as soon as you’re done you can head into one of the cafes for a coffee (or hot chocolate) to warm up!
Explore Johnston Canyon
Johnston Canyon is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been, so I’d highly recommend a trip if you’re visiting Canmore and Banff in winter. It’s completely different to Maligne Canyon in Jasper – it looks less like Narnia and there was way more frozen waterfalls! Though that could be to do with the changing weather in November VS January rather than the location itself… Anyway, if you want to see frozen waterfalls, I recommend coming here. There are waterfalls of all different sizes, from small ones to those large enough to be climbed by ice climbers!
For something a little different, hire some crampons and make your way down onto the river itself. We had the river to ourselves and saw the most beautiful views. There was a frozen waterfall that we could walk right to the base of and even crawl part-way behind. Plus there was the view over the river in the other direction (the cover photo for this post), which was seriously beautiful!
Channel your inner child and go tobogganing at Cemetery Hill in Canmore
Let’s be real, who doesn’t love tobogganing? It’s such a fun thing to do in winter and you don’t have to be a kid to do it! If you’re looking for a fun hill to toboggan on, all the locals go to Cemetery Hill in Canmore. It’s quite a tall, long hill so it’s actually a really great place to go. If you go early-ish in the morning you should beat the crowds. We had it to ourselves early (I’m talking around 9:00-10:00am) on New Years Day, but more people started showing up as the morning went on. Make sure all your valuables are safely zipped in your pockets because it is likely you’ll fall off at the end of the run!
Here for New Years Eve? Watch the fireworks on Canmore Skate Pond!
If you’re in Canmore for New Years Eve, I recommend going to see the fireworks at the Canmore Skate Pond. It’s only a small and short fireworks display, but beforehand there’s free hot chocolate and music. This is a super popular event with the locals so be prepared for crowds! Still, it’s really nice to stand on the surface on the pond watching the fireworks explode above you. The fireworks are at around 9pm so it’s the perfect time for families (and people who value sleep more than staying up till midnight).
So there you have it: the ultimate guide to Canmore and Banff in winter! As always, I hope you’ve found my post helpful or at least been inspired by the beautiful photos. Writing about the Canadian Rockies over the last month has certainly made me want to go back as soon as possible!
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I’ve always wanted to see a frozen lake, but skating on a frozen lakes sounds even better! Looks like so much fun, and so beautiful. The frozen waterfall is also a bonus. So cool that you were able to see it all, both during summer and winter!
It’s so cool (literally 😉 hahaha)! Highly recommend. The frozen waterfalls were so stunning… Winter was just completely different so I’m definitely glad I got to see both!