Banff, the resort town, is located within the Banff National Park. Normally, when people talk about Banff, they are referring to this municipality, which was the first to incorporate within a Canadian national park, and has since evolved into a major tourist destination.
The place was first settled in the 1880s, after the transcontinental railway was built. After the discovery of a series of natural hot springs on the side of a mountain, the area around the cave and hot springs was established as a federal reserve and promoted as a resort and spa town. It was named after the town of Banff in Scotland, which was the birthplace of the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Soon after, the townsite was developed. Roads were built and a series of grand hotels were erected along the railway line to attract visitors. And attract visitors it did…even up to this day. It was late afternoon when we arrived in Banff, and it was packed with tourists!
After nabbing a much in-demand parking spot, we started exploring the town. Fortunately, the Banff townsite is small and everything is within walking distance. We wanted to stretch our legs anyway, after being cooped up in the car for more than ten hours.
We focused on Banff Avenue, the main street lined with charming boutiques, fantastic multi-cultural restaurants, chateau-like hotels, enticing outdoor adventure stores and outfitters, interesting art galleries, and busy souvenir shops. Our window-shopping loop began at the Cascade Plaza Mall, between Elk and Wolf Streets, where we did a quick circuit of the shops before traversing the entire length of the avenue and staying on one side of the road until we reached the Bow River. From there, we turned around and walked back on the opposite side of the loop. We checked out shops that caught our fancy, mostly local boutiques selling homegrown products, art items, and eclectic creations.
But more than the cosmopolitan collection of galleries there, what sets it apart from other tourist centres is its spectacular backdrop. Banff is surrounded by mountains that are all part of the Canadian Rockies – Mount Rundle, Mount Cascade, Mount Norquay, and Sulphur Mountain. Their snow-capped rugged peaks dominate the skyline. At that time of the day, as we approached sundown, the vivid colours in the horizon made them seem like they had been painted on by an invisible giant artist.
Of course, we had to take a look at Banff’s “must-sees.” Unfortunately for us, because it was almost closing time, we only got to see them from the outside – the Banff Visitor Centre, the Banff Park Museum National Historic Site, the Banff Town Hall, and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.
The Banff Visitor Centre is itself an attraction. Built in 1939 as the former Banff School Auditorium, it features Tudor revival detailing, a steeply pitched roof, half-timbering, and a stone base. The Banff Park National Historic Site is home to 5,000 botanical and zoological specimens, as well as an array of Victorian-era collection. It is also the oldest surviving federal building in any Canadian Park, built from logs in 1903. The Banff Town Hall is unlike any town hall you’d ever see. Instead of a gray and drab building, this one has a unique architecture – modern, but reflecting the forms and the materials of the Rockies. The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies contains exhibitions on the cultural heritage of the Rocky Mountains of Canada. Next time, I will make sure I include them in my sightseeing list.
At every corner, we had to wiggle our way around hordes of tourists, and at this point, I asked whether it was wise for us to start looking for a place to stay the night. I am a natural travel planner, and normally, I would have booked everything in advance. However, since I left everything in the hands of my friend who started this idea of a spontaneous road trip, I did not worry about it until I had seen how jam-packed the town was. I was pretty sure that a good portion of the crowd were not merely day-trippers, as most were clearly international tourists getting off huge tour buses and being herded off by tour guides. My friend mentioned the hotel recommended by her cousin, the BAN-ufh-ufh lady (Please read previous story for reference).
Unfortunately, the hotel was already fully-booked. We tried a few more and they all gave us the same answer. We then shifted to calling inns and lodges. No luck. By this time, we were already getting worried. And we had come to realize how ill-prepared we were. What were we thinking? This is Banff, an all-year-long tourist destination and we were there on a long weekend!
We crossed the almost century-old Bow River Bridge that spans the river at the end of Banff Avenue. Banff sits on Bow Falls near the confluence of the Bow River and the Spray River. This concrete bridge connects the downtown area to great trails and out-of-tangent sites on the other side, while at the same time providing a picturesque view of the turquoise river water against the backdrop of towering mountains in all directions. It is also known for its old globe lampposts and Indigenous reliefs.
(I heard that there is now another bridge across the river from the Bow River Trail to Glen Avenue on the other side. It is made of timber and it's a pedestrian-only bridge. I also heard that it is known for its beautiful design and architectural marvel. But it was built in 2013, after I’ve left the West Coast. I should check it out if I get the chance to go back to Banff.)
On the other side, we visited the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, dubbed as Canada’s “Castle in the Rockies,” for it is indeed built like a castle, as all its sister hotels in various parts of Canada. It stands majestic among the tall alpine trees and overlooks the valley towards Mount Rundle.
Built in the Scottish baronial style, this historic hotel first opened to the public in 1888 and has undergone various renovations. Patrons go there not just for the luxury service and accommodations, but also to admire its structure – the wood and stonework, the antique furniture, and other 17th century architectural details.
(Trivia: This hotel is also famous for its resident ghosts. Apparently, there is a phantom bride often seen floating down the winding marble staircase or twirling in the luxurious ballroom in her white, flowy gown. Guests also claim meeting a friendly Scottish bellman dressed in an out-of-style uniform who greets people and helps those needing service, only to vanish after the guests look away. The scariest tale is that of a haunted room (I forgot the room number) which was the site of a gruesome family murder. Rumour has it that those staying in the room would hear piercing shrieks and mournful cries in the middle of the night and that sometimes, housekeeping staff would find bloody fingerprints on the mirrors.)
We were there for photos, but given our predicament, we came to a consensus that should a room be available - any room, including the penthouse suite, we would, by all means, just book it, no matter what the price was. On one hand, despite being cheapskates (or shall we say, frugal), we were already quite desperate. We certainly did not look forward to sleeping like chilled sardines in the cramped car. On the other hand, we told ourselves that since we decided to be spontaneous, why not go all the way and sleep like princesses in a castle in the Rockies! Unfortunately, being a royal was not in our cards for that day. Rather, we were soon to be homeless paupers.
My friends remarked that this must be our karma for running the BAN-ufh-ufh joke over and over again. We panicked at the thought of us spending the night, after a day-long journey squeezed together in a small car at an empty parking lot, being awakened by either the cops or some thugs and getting mugged. Our driver friend said it might be a good idea to park at the Fairmont and then I said that maybe we’d meet some yet-to-be-revealed ghosts lurking around the hotel grounds. We could add another interesting ghost story to the hotel’s collection of tales. My other friend said that maybe this would earn us a free three-night stay in the haunted room.
We stood by the car wiping off our tears from too much laughing. “I can’t believe this is actually happening to us,” said one. “I can’t believe we came so unprepared…so much for being spontaneous,” the next one said. “I can’t believe we can be this stupid. We are now homeless in Banff!” the last one said. Then, we laughed some more and after we had calmed down, we started to plan.
Our Plan A was to drive to Canmore, another resort town 20 minutes away from Banff. Along the way, while my friend was driving, I was checking Canmore and nearby-town hotels and inns online and making a list, while our other co-worker was making all the phone calls. By the time we reached Canmore, we had marked every item off with a big, red X. We had also found out (and that’s minus one million points for each of us for not looking this up prior to embarking on this trip) that aside from the long weekend, there was also some kind of festival going on in Banff, which explained the huge crowds and the unavailability of rooms.
There was no Plan B, but we had to come up with one. Over a late dinner in Canmore, we discussed our alternatives while again tearfully laughing at each other from a mixture of disbelief (at our initial complacency), dread (at the fate that’s awaiting us), and just a general “what-the-heck-did-we-get-ourselves-into” kind of thing.
Finally, my driver friend said, “Check Calgary hotels. We are in Canmore already. Calgary is only an hour and half drive away, so we might as well just go for it.” Since she was willing to drive that far and we had seriously exhausted our list of accommodations, I guess that was Plan B.
It was already nearing ten o’clock by the time we finished our meal and by then, even Calgary hotels were booked for the night. We managed to find a room at an airport hotel because of a last-minute cancellation. By this time, we did not care anymore where it was, as long as we could have a comfortable bed to sleep in before midnight.
We reached Calgary at half past midnight. After taking turns at quick showers, we were dead to the world from pure exhaustion. I volunteered to take the shower last (and we let our driver friend go first). By the time I was done, my two companions were already in dreamland. I think I passed out the moment my head hit the pillow.
It was only over breakfast and coffee the following morning that we realized how extra-long our previous day was. We started the day in Vancouver and ended it in Calgary…in less than 24 hours. We congratulated ourselves for finding a hotel room and toasted with our coffee cups, which got refilled three times. We, after all, needed the caffeine to keep us up that day after a few hours of deep sleep. It was going to be another long day.
I dialed my cousin’s number who was living in Calgary to let her know I was in her city but that I couldn’t see her because we were doing a marathon tour of the Rockies, or at least a part of it.
After hearing a short version of the previous day’s adventures (or misadventures, if one wants to see it that way), all she could say was that my pals and I were one, crazy bunch. And indeed, we were...at least for that weekend.
Photo Credits:
canadarailvacations.com, pandotrip.com, globeguide.ca, aaa.com (Katie Broome),
cbc.ca, pc.gc.ca, banff.ca, banffnationalpark.com, fairmont.com
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