Exploring Alberta

We just spent the past ten days exploring some parts of beautiful Alberta, including Banff, Calgary, and also Drumheller! We spent our first few days here with Revolve for #revolvearoundtheworld, but extended our trip so we could do a little exploring on our own. You guys requested a guide, which I hadn’t originally planned, but here’s a list of some of my favourite things we did. As we visited during early September, the weather was so pleasant. We had temperatures of around fifteen to twenty degrees celsius. The mornings were cool, but the days where the sun came out were absolutely perfect and didn’t require a jacket.

Everything we did below was so easy to access and required no more than a thirty minute walk to each spot.

Lake Louise

We stayed at Lake Louise in the Fairmont for four nights as part of our trip with Revolve. (P.S. you can shop the outfits I wore all week here.

I think this is a great place to base yourself while you go for drives and hikes to visit places like Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake, Bow Lake and The Icefields Parkway. Lake Louise is the kind of place you could sit and stare at for hours. My favourite times of day were the early morning, when there was a light mist over the lake, it was so dreamy and calm. On one of our mornings we took a canoe ride, which felt like were in a simulation, it was just too perfect! The colour of the lake is a beautiful turquoise, it’s insanely perfect it even looks photoshopped in person. You might have to blink or pinch yourself a few times on arrival. If you’re not staying at the hotel, a carpark can be accessed on the left side of the lake. However it does fill up quickly during the day. There is a large car park about twenty minutes away towards Banff that you can park at and catch the bus into see the lake. 

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake was definitely the most beautiful spot we saw this trip! The view is breathtaking, I really caught myself staring out and just being in awe of it all. I was truly blown away by it, and no photo here could truly capture it’s beauty. I had read that we should arrive here before 8am so we aimed to get there by 7am. The entrance to the road of Moraine Lake is just five minutes away from Lake Louise, and then it’s a fifteen minute drive down to the lake. However, at 7am on Labor Day. the carpark was already full! If the carpark is full, they close the road and it can only be accessed by bus. We were so lucky, as we pulled up to the turn off, a car was just coming out. I was surprised for it to be packed so early in the morning. Although it gets quite busy, it’s still quite easy to get photos as the short five minute hike, Rock Pile Hike is a pile of rocks where you can find your perfect vantage point from. You just spread out from the crowds and no one really gets in the way of each other. At least at 7-8am in the morning! 

Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake was just a thirty minute drive from Lake Louise. It had been sunny all day but when we arrived a few clouds appeared above us! No walk is required to see this one, as it is located next to the carpark. The beautiful lake is just as described, it’s colour is a gorgeous emerald. I stepped out onto the rock in the picture below and like clockwork, a rain shower came down on us! It was one of those more magical rainfalls that instead of running for cover we decided to stick around and Damian snapped away! 

Icefields Parkway

Another highlight from the trip was the driving in Banff National Park. We had the most glorious weather so our drives here were spectacular. I didn’t capture that many photos on the main road, but we stopped during some quiet stretches of road to stop and take photos! I should also mention that there is a daily fee to access and drive into the parks. It’s C$19.60 per day or C$136.40 for an annual pass.

Peyto Lake

This lake required the most walking, but even so, it was a very simple twenty minute walk! The lookout to Peyto Lake is about ten minutes walk from the carpark, once we got here it was packed as there are only two small viewing platforms. I knew it would be impossible to take pictures with so many people around, so we went looking for a better view. If you walk another ten minutes down the path you will find the most perfect spot with much less people! Almost none actually! And it’s much larger than the designated lookout. I climbed up onto this rock quite easily, it’s the perspective that makes it look a little crazy. There is no drop to your death on the other side (I wouldn’t risk my life for the gram – don’t worry). But the view from here was definitely worth the extra little walk! 

Downtown Banff

We spent two nights staying in downtown Banff and visited a few times during our time with Revolve. The town is so so cute and has so much going on, I loved the vibe! There are so many cute stores, and some amazing restaurants can be found here. It also felt like home as there are so many Australians living and working here. At one of the restaurants the waitress told us that at least 75% of the staff were Australian. Something I didn’t know about Banff before our visit! 

Banff Gondola

Although this is rather ‘touristy’ I loved it. We took the Gondola up Sulphur Mountain. It’s about a five minute ride and the distance is 1km. It goes up really high, but on a sunny day this view was so worth doing – if you aren’t afraid of heights that is!

Drumheller & The Dinosaur Provincial Park

We were told about The Dinosaur Provincial Park by our Canadian friends, and once we looked it up we knew we had to go! It’s like the real Jurassic Park – except they’re all dead and it’s waaay safer. Over forty species of dinosaurs have been discovered here! That’s the most in the world in such a small radius. The landscape is absolutely incredible and so unique! It has to be seen in person! The only downfall of this place is how far it is, and the fact that the drive is not as pleasant as The Rockies. We started in Calgary and drove 1.5 hours to Drumheller. Drumheller has Horseshoe Bend, The World’s Largest Dinosaur and Museum, and several spots for viewing other unique landscapes and rock formations such as Hoodoos! From Drumheller to The Park is about 2 more hours, but the drive quite flat and boring, so the time does not fly by at all. Getting there makes it all worth it of course, but I’m just letting you know that that’s how we felt about the drive! We spent roughly four hours here, but you could definitely do the whole day looking at the fossils and examining the landscape via several trails, and there is also campsite so you can spend the night if you choose to do so. I really wanted to hang around for sunset, but we had to make the drive back early to catch our flight home. The sunset and sunrise photos I’ve seen from this place look insane!