We spent 3 whole days in Lake Louise and Banff, Canada. We LOVED every minute of our time there.  I will be sharing all of the things that are a must while you are there visiting Lake Louise and let you know my thoughts on this beautiful destination. We spent half our time in Lake Louise and the latter part of our stay in Banff. Let me begin this post by stating, there are absolutely no words or pictures that will ever be able to adequately describe the beauty of this country that it fully deserves. The vastness and majesty of the Canadian Rockies is unmatched in my opinion.  I spent most of my time in awe of every single mountain view. We were surrounded by these massive, perfectly placed, snow capped mountains and I couldn’t take it all in!

We had a little hiccup in our travel on our flight out. The airline had to physically remove a passenger, so long story short we missed our connecting flight. We had literally been up almost 24 hours before finding the comfort of our beds at Baker Creek Resort. But the kids were rock stars (we have THE BEST travelers) and I was most disappointed about missing the scenic drive from Calgary to Lake Louise. But we made the most of it! With the kids fast asleep in the backseat, Kris and I plugged in our directions to the GPS, downloaded the GyPSy App, and listened to our guide take us on our road trip all the way into Lake Louise.

Lake Louise Itinerary

Day One

Stayed at Baker Creek Mountain Resorts

If you want to unplug and take in all of God’s creation Baker Creek Mountain Resorts is the place to stay. We had the most perfect 2-bedroom chalet complete with a full kitchen, bathroom with a massive shower, and a cozy fireplace. The resort is in the middle of Banff National Park. Kris and I may or may not have had a competition on who could get the fire lit and keep it lit the longest. I had won, so that lit a fire under Kris’s butt (pun intended) to beat me. He did indeed win, but only by the hair on his chinny chin chin.

Ok, back to Baker Creek. Baker Creek is directly off the Bow Valley Parkway in the middle of the national park. You have untouched pristine views that surround the property. There are fire pits throughout the property for you to enjoy roasting marshmallows or just to sit, relax, and warm up by the fire. They also have the cutest little hockey rink. The kids were in awe of the snow. Brydon had never seen snow and he was more than anxious to get outside and take it all in. Every time I turned around he was touching it, trying to make snowballs, walking in every pile he could find. He even would fall down on accident of course, just so he could be in it. It was so much fun watching him, we would just laugh.

Breakfast at Trailhead Cafe

Ice Magic Festival at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

I have always seen pictures of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Never in a million years would I have believed to be able to not only visit, but to visit during the Ice Magic Festival and see these masterpieces created with ICE. The detail and craftsmanship of each piece of art created was breathtaking. Throughout the grounds of the Chateau Lake Louise, were these works of art that we all reveled over and were mesmerized by the talent it must take to etch out every detail.

The kids couldn’t pick a favorite and I couldn’t either. Ok, I can, I love the castle on the lake. It’s one of my favorite pictures from the trip. The Ice Magic Festival is a must see when visit Lake Louise. You honestly do not think the setting could be any more beautiful and they add these gorgeous sculptures and it is just a sight to be seen.

Ice Skating on Lake Louise

How in the world are we ever going to top the kids first time ice skating on Lake Louise? The kids could not wait to lace up and get out on the lake. Kris lead Audrey around the lake while Brydon quickly made his way around. He was sometimes not so graceful, but he was the most proud of himself for ice skating. Even if he was drenched from head to toe after falling so many times in the snow. It is hands down my favorite video of him saying “Look Mom, I am doing it!!” It was pure magic amongst the ice sculptures and gigantic mountains surrounding us!

Lunch at Laggan’s

We had a cozy lunch at Laggan’s with cookies the size of our head for dessert. Met some fun locals that come their weekly to hike the area. As soon as our bellies were full, we drove up to Johnston Canyon.

Johnston Canyon IceWalk

I am not going to lie, when we walked up to the Canyon entrance and I saw the kids would be hiking almost 4 miles through the icy and snowy terrain of the Canyon, I had to keep my mommy anxiety in check. But my fears were quickly put at ease and this hike was one of my favorite parts of our trip. We trekked through Johnston Canyon to a world of frozen waterfalls and pillars of blue ice every where we turned.

Our guide taught us about the formation of the canyon, she picked out fossil corals in the rocks, taught us about all of the indigenous plants and trees, and she also took our picture at almost every stop. She was so knowledgable about the canyon and the area, we all learned so much! You could tell she loved the area and took so much pride in being able to educate us on the nature and beauty that we were taking in. We peeked through a tunnel for a close up view of the Johnston Canyon Lower Falls, then continued on the hike to the Upper Falls.

At the very end of the hike the “grand finale” was the incredible “Cathedral of Ice” at the Johnston Canyon Upper Falls. We all stopped at the top of the Upper Falls platform and watched and amazing display of ice climbers finish their ascent, then repel back to the bottom of the falls. The kids passed out cookies while our guide filled up cups of hot cocoa. After a brief time, we continued on down the falls.

Dinner at Baker Creek Bistro

Nestled on the Baker Creek property is the Baker Creek Bistro. It is an intimate, cozy setting, fire place included with the most delicious meals. We had a hard time choosing what we wanted! Our dessert was not as hard of a choice, we all picked the brownie and ice cream sundae with assorted caramel, raspberry, and peanut butter drizzle on each scoop of ice cream.

Yum! So not only was the food incredible, but the Bistro provided you with cozy blankets to wrap up in while eating your dinner! The kids were begging us to buy one to take home!

Day Two

Breakfast Grab-n-Go Style at Baker Creek

Baker Creek offers coffees, lattes, and yummy breakfast sandwiches for you to grab and go, so you can head out on your next adventure or cozy up at your chalet by the fireplace and enjoy your breakfast.

Spent the morning exploring Baker Creek Grounds

The grounds at the resort are glorious. You are surrounded by pristine snow fall that the kids couldn’t wait to jump in and have a snow fight and make snow angels. There are hiking trails and fire pits scattered throughout the area. There is no cell service and very limited wifi. No televisions in your room. The perfect place to unplug from all electronics and be immersed into family time amongst God’s beauty.

Tubing at Lake Louise Ski Resort

The Lake Louise Ski Resort offers 42,000 acres of skiable terrain in the middle of the Canadian Rockies. If you ask the kids, I think this was their favorite part of the trip. If you read the Ski Resort’s website they state, “Here at Lake Louise Ski Resort we welcome you with big smiles and open chairs.” And we can attest to this first hand. I have never been in one place where you could tell that every single person you encountered truly loved their job. It made tubing even that much more fun!

They catered to the kids and pretty much let them go down the mountain how they wanted (within safety rules of course) and when they wanted. They went down individually, spinning,  and backwards. Then they would plan on going just the two kids, then each one with each parent, and then we all went together as a family! Kris and I felt like kids again. It was a blast.

The Lake Louise Ski Resort caters to all levels of skiing and snowboarding, along with snowshoeing. It is your one stop shop for everything snow!

Lunch at Northface Bistro

I could not believe the dinning options at the Ski Resort! I was expecting your typical warm up hut with burger and hot chocolate. But the resort offers a huge selection of dining choices from Sushi to the Bistro which is a full-on buffet complete with a pasta and dessert station. We all carb loaded for another round of tubing with all of us picking out our own pasta!

More Tubing

Roadtrip to Banff

After tubing we were off to our adventure in Banff. Stay tuned to hear all about Banff and it’s beauty.

More Things to Do in Lake Louise:

There are so many more activities to do in the Lake Louise area. We of course didn’t have time to do everything, but thought y’all would enjoy researching and taking part in any or all of these!

• The Complete Columbia Icefields Tour
• Snowshoeing
• Snowmobiling
• Ice fishing
• Plain of 6 Glaciers Tour
• Plain of 6 Glaciers Tour and Twin Falls Hike
• The Epic Summit
• Banff Upper Hot Springs
• Jasper National Park
• Moriane Lake – only accessible during the summer, but I have heard it is one of the most breathtaking views.
• MORE activities at LAKE LOUISE/BANFF TOURISM and TRIPADVISOR

XOX

Mandy

The BIGGEST of Thank You’s to BANFF AND LAKE LOUISE TOURISM for sponsoring this post.