Arrival
Banff is just ninety-minutes' drive and 128km west of Calgary on a fast, four-laned stretch of the Trans-Canada. Speed limits outside the park are 110kph, inside 90kph, but watch your speed, as countless animals are killed on the road every year (one reason for the big roadside fences). Lake Louise is 58km away, Jasper 288km and Edmonton 424km. The approach from the west is more winding, the total journey time from Vancouver (952km) being about twelve hours. From the US the quickest access is from Spokane (600km away via Hwy 95) or Kalispell in Montana (Hwy 93). Six daily Greyhound buses from Calgary (1hr 40min; $20 one-way), and five from Vancouver (via either Kamloops or Cranbrook, all via Lake Louise), arrive at the joint Greyhound-Brewster Transportation bus terminal at 100 Gopher St (7.30am-10.45pm, otherwise opens 5min before the departure of night buses; tel 762-6767). Increasingly, popular services are provided between Calgary airport and Banff-Lake Louise direct (and vice versa) by Laidlaw (1 daily year-round, 2 daily Dec-April; $30 to Banff, $38 to Lake Louise, $8 Banff to Lake Louise; tel 762-9102 or 1-800/661-4946; Calgary Ski Bus to Lake Louise tel 256-8473, www.laidlawbanff.com ); the Banff Airporter 8 daily; $36 to Banff; tel 762-3330 or 1-888/449-2901, www.banffairporter.com ); Brewster Transportation (3 daily to Banff and Lake Louise, 1 daily to Jasper in summer; $36 to Banff, $41 to Lake Louise, $71 to Jasper; tel 762-6767 in Banff, tel 221-8242 in Calgary, tel 780/852-3332 in Jasper). The most useful operator currently - because they have hourly departures between the airport and Banff or Lake Louise (and vice versa) - is Sky Shuttle ($34 to Banff; reservations daily 8am-11pm on tel 762-1010 or 1-888/220-7433, www.banffskyshuttle.com ). Given the surfeit of operators, some of the services may well go out of business, so check at the airport - the various companies' ticket desks are lined up to the right as you face the main exit door in Arrivals. Note that Brewster run the only service between Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper (daily May-Oct 1 or later depending on snow, $51 Banff to Jasper): it's heavily used. There's no VIA Rail passenger service - a private company runs luxury trains once a week between Calgary and Vancouver via Banff, but tickets for the two-night trip cost several hundred dollars. Banff is small enough to get around on foot, but to reach the hostel and campsite (some 3km distant) you might need the small town shuttle bus operated by Banff Transit ($1 - exact change required; information tel 760-8294). It runs twice-hourly noon to midnight on two routes between mid-May and September, and on one route (the second of those detailed below) from mid-April to mid-May and October to December: the Banff Springs Hotel -Spray Avenue-YWCA-Banff Avenue-Trailer RV Parking at the north end of Banff Avenue (leaving the Banff Springs Hotel on the hour and half-hour, the RV Parking on the quarter hour) and Village I Campground-Tunnel Mountain Road-Otter Street-Banff Avenue-Luxton Museum (leaving Village I on the hour and half-hour and the Luxton Museum on the quarter hour). Taxis start at $2.60 and then charge around $1.35 a kilometre: from the bus terminal to the hostel or the Banff Springs Hotel should cost around $7. For details of taxi firms and car rentals , for which bookings should be made well in advance .
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