banff in canada advice please

hi

when are you going, when i was in banff last year in october (my aunt emigrated there nearly 2 years ago now) there was a bit of snow, but not much, banff townsite itself is kept clear with snow as are the main highways, you may find though that if snow falls to heavy, some of the passages to certain lakes/mountains etc are shut, if you are going winter season, dont worry about access too much as it is geared up for ski season, (and the winter is apparently lovely, i went in what is classed as a shoulder season) and as well as sking, you can also do snow shooing etc.

when i was there, people generally wore normal clothes not snow suits/shoes, but wrapped up in layers, weather is unpredictable there and varies in a day, for instance many mornings when i was there it started off at -6 degrees and my the afternoon had gone up to 10 degrees, would suggest a good pair of walking/hiking boots though for when it is a bit slippy underfoot or if you decide to go to moraine lake etc (also if you want to go to the columbia icefield, that is shut after a certain time in the year because of the weather)

you may want to look at these sites planning your trip:

http://www.banfflakelouise.com/
http://www.banff.ca/home.htm

http://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-7583-banff_travel_guide-i
http://www.banff.com/

http://www.banfftours.com/

http://www.banffadventures.com/activities-cruise.htm

http://www.columbiaicefield.com/default.asp
http://www.discoverbanff.com/

what everyou do, make sure you have a meal at the grizzly bear, it serves amazing food! they have a chocolate fondue to die for! (i am going out again next summer, and have insisted we go again http://www.banffgrizzlyhouse.com/

also keep an eye out for the wild life, its in abundance there, there were deers walking along the streets, elks on the golf course, mountain goats and sheep, chipmunks along the bow river, plus i was lucky enough to see a wild bear along the highway

We stayed in Canmore, which had a fantastic place called Falcon Crest Lodge - not moneysaving, but a 2 bed apartment for the price of an ordinary hotel room in Banff.

Snowy Owl Dog Tours is in Canmore, great guy, very enthusiastic about their dogs, they will be working in winter, so you might be able to go for a sled tour. The 4x4 quad bike they pull for exercise in summer was broken when we were there, but we visited all the dogs and he explains about all their different breeds, they also keep a 99% wolf, which he freely admits is for film work to bring in money to feed the dogs, (as is the tour - these dogs eats pounds and pounds of food a day in winter)

We also went horse riding in Kananaskis country, not far down the road from Canmore, that would be a spectacular ride in wintertime.

fwiw Canmore is a 30 min drive from Banff town, but it's very handy for the motorway to go visit all the different places you'll want to visit in the Rockies. If you're there purely for skiing the go Banff, but if it's to visit everywhere I'd go back to Canmore in a heartbeat.Plenty supermarkets,restaurants,nice little shops, and not too busy, good access etc.

Have a wonderful trip!!:D

ps How big is your suitcase - is there a small corner for me?:rotfl:

have a great time, i pm'd you a few pics you may want to look at of banff and the surrounding areas

Mr 29 & I went to Banff mid-March last year. Daytimes we were up on the slopes but walking about in the evenings, the pavements were clear in the town centre even when there was snow on the front lawns etc. We wore our snowboarding jackets in the evening with layers and layers underneath, gloves and hat! As for footwear, a good pair of walking boots. There aren't any small 29's (yet ) but I'd like to bet that small ones would jump in the snow without a 2nd thought so waterproof snowboots would be probably worth their weight in gold! It can very nippy in the evenings but there is good public transport up and down the main drag between the shops / restaurants and hotels.

Definitely, if you aren't planning to, try skiing / boarding - it'll open up another world!