11 Things to Know before Visiting Banff National Park
Banff National Park is absolutely breathtaking—towering mountains, turquoise alpine lakes, and jaw-dropping views around every corner. I was in awe the entire trip! If you’re looking for a quick, no-fluff guide, here are 11 essential things to know for your Banff adventure:
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Save Time in Customs
If you’re traveling from another country, breeze through customs by downloading the ArriveCan app ahead of time! 72 hours before your arrival, declare your arrival by answering the question on the app. If you’re traveling with others, only one person needs the app, all travelers can be declared together. Once at the airport just head to a kiosk and scan your passport beforehand.
Mandatory Park Pass Fees (Daily vs. Discovery Pass)
Skip the line at Banff by purchasing your park passes online ahead of time! Simply enter the number of people visiting and the number of days you’ll be in the park. Make sure to print your pass and display it on your car’s dashboard at all times while in the park. If you bought your pass online, stick to the far-right lanes at the entrance to bypass the ticket lines.
As of 2025, daily admission is $11 for adults and free for kids. The Parks Canada Discovery Pass costs $75.25 for one adult or $151.25 for a family of up to 7 people. Valid for 12 months after purchase, this pass grants access to all National Parks across Canada, making it a great option if you plan to explore beyond Banff.
Check Road Closures & Best Time to Visit
Moraine Lake Road is closed from mid-October to late May, so if you’re planning a visit outside the summer months, you won’t be able to drive there. Winter travel in the Banff area also requires specialized tires or experience driving in snow, as conditions can be icy and roads may be temporarily closed.
The best time to visit Moraine Lake and Lake Louise is typically late June through early October, when the road is open and parking/shuttle options are fully available. If you visit outside these months, plan ahead for winter driving and limited access.
Bear Safety and Spray
Canada allows you to bring bear spray in your checked bag, but it must be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. You can also buy bear spray in Canada, but if you already have some, it’s usually cheaper to bring your own.
Before you hit the trail, remove the safety zip tie! This zip tie keeps the safety cap on during shipping, so the spray doesn’t accidentally go off. Cutting it off ahead of time ensures you’re ready if you ever need it.
Always carry your bear spray in an accessible spot—on your hip or chest—and make sure you know how to use it. Hiking in a group of three or more is also the safest way to avoid bear encounters.
Renting a Car
I’ve seen a lot of debate on whether you need to rent a car to get around Banff or just take public transit. Banff has a pretty great transit system, Roam, which will take you to many of the popular areas, including Lake Louise, Two Jack Lake, Banff Gondola, Lake Minnewanka, and more.
While this is a great option, I personally rented a car and am very glad I did. It gives you complete freedom to go anywhere in the park whenever you want. For example, we visited Peyto Lake on the Icefields, which we wouldn’t have been able to reach without a car.
That said, if you only plan to visit Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and Banff town, you do not need a car. You can rely entirely on the Roam Transit system and shuttle services, which are reliable and cover these main destinations.
If you do decide to rent, Turo is a great option to save money. It’s an app that lets you rent cars from locals, and you can filter by vehicle type and price to find exactly what you want. Prices are often cheaper than traditional rental companies. Make sure to filter for airport pickup so you can grab your car as soon as you land. Our car was at Park and Jet at Calgary Airport, with clear instructions for the short shuttle and a contactless check-in.
If you prefer renting from a traditional car company, I recommend checking out Discover Cars, which finds you the best rates on rental cars in the area. We’ve used Discover Cars a few times when they had better prices than Turo.
Skip on Converting Money
There has also been a lot of debate about whether you need to convert money before visiting or not. If you are planning to convert money, I would definitely do it ahead of time to have a better conversion rate. However, it’s not necessary to convert money. I was able to use my credit card everywhere I went and the card company just did the conversion for me.
Some card companies do charge a small fee for converting, so just check their policies ahead of time.
How to Beat the Crowds when Visiting Banff
Banff is the most visited National Park in Canada! You can expect there to be a decent amount of people on most of the trails. The best way to avoid this (somewhat) is to wake up and beat the crowds to the trailheads. This way you’ll be able to secure a parking spot, plus you’ll have really great views of the sun rise!
Getting to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise
Driving and Parking:
You can drive to Lake Louise, but parking fills up extremely early—usually by 7:00–7:30 AM. If you want to guarantee a spot, aim to arrive before 7:00 AM. You might get lucky later in the day, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Shuttle Options:
If driving isn’t an option or you want to avoid the stress of parking, there are shuttle services available:
- Roam Transit Super Pass
- Covers both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.
- Only available in summer for Moraine Lake, since no commercial vehicles are allowed there.
- A good budget-friendly option if you want to visit both lakes in a day.
- Parks Canada Shuttle
- Operates to both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, but tickets need to be reserved ahead of time.
- Reservations open in the morning, and additional slots release 48 hours before your planned visit at 8:00 AM MDT.
- Parks Canada tickets are generally more structured and allow you to select specific times, but the earliest slots go quickly.
Tips for Getting Tickets:
- Be flexible with your timing—popular morning slots fill within minutes.
- Check back frequently in case of cancellations. We managed to snag two 7:00 AM shuttle seats the night before our visit!
- There are private shuttle options as well, but Roam and Parks Canada are usually the cheapest choices.
Pack Layers!
Weather in Banff can vary drastically, so it’s always best to dress in layers and have extra layers with you. Temps in the nights can dip in the 30s-40s even in the summer months. This means you’ll need a few layers if you’re planning a sunrise hike. By midday the temperatures are usually in the 60s to 70s, so it’s important to be able to remove some of those layers so you don’t get too hot.
Typically I’d wear a pair of tights with hiking pants over them, a long sleeve thermal shirt, a hoodie/jacket, then a wind breaker on top. I also
Download Offline Maps
Before heading to Banff, download offline maps of the area on Google Maps! This was a life saver, and I was sooo happy we did this ahead of time. We thought we would have cell service in Canada but it turned out we didn’t and our provider didn’t have an option to add it. Luckily we had downloaded the map of Calgary and Banff and it worked perfectly. It does take up some phone storage but it’s easy to delete once your back home.
Be Flexible!
When planning a vacation where most of the activities are outdoors, it’s important to be flexible! If its foggy one morning consider doing a waterfall hike instead of a mountain one, since visibility is likely to be poor.
It’s also important to plan some down time in your vacation. If you’re like me you like to pack in as much as possible, but after hiking 6 miles before noon, I definitely needed a rest before dinner.
Have Fun!
Banff National Park is one of the most beautiful places I have every visited! The pictures of the park are amazing but there’s nothing like being there and experiencing it in person. A few spots I recommend visiting: Sulfur Mountain, Lake Moraine, Peyto Lake overview, Lake Minnewanka (definitely do the cruise!), Morant’s Curve Viewpoint and Cascade of Time Garden. Check back soon for a 5 day itinerary showcasing all the places you have to visit!
