Well, Calgarians visit Banff as a day trip all the time. If you can stay at the Sheraton Four Points on the west side of the city, you will be just over an hour's drive from the town of Banff, and just over 90 minutes' drive from Lake Louise - one way. The road connecting Banff to Calgary is an excellent 4-lane divided highway with wide shoulders, and although it can be busy at times in the summer, the drive is not unpleasant. The Four Points also is close to Calaway Park, an amusement park which might make a break for the teens from all that relentless natural beauty. So, although it's not completely convenient, it is certainly feasible to use Calgary as a base for day trips to Banff.

On the other hand, Edmonton as a base for Jasper is right out, because it is four hours' drive from Edmonton to Jasper. The huge West Edmonton Mall is a minor marvel of the modern world, but frankly it's not really worth the hassle and expense of getting there. Indeed, 5 days is barely enough time to visit Jasper and Banff, since it takes four hours to drive from Lake Louise to Jasper--but you will want to spend the whole day to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the road that connects the two, the magnificent Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93).

There are lots of very large malls and interesting places to shop in Calgary; read the TripAdvisor Traveler Article "Calgary Shopping" by clicking on BEFORE YOU GO on the left hand menu bar, or going here:

tripadvisor.com/Travel-g154913-s405/Calgary:…

There's a Sheraton in Canmore ...

http://www.fourpointscanmore.com/

... could you stay there -- or does it have to be Calgary? I can't begin to imagine driving back and forth to Calgary every day with teenagers in the party.

If it does have to be Calgary, perhaps you could just centre your trip there, do all the things that Calgary has to offer, and make one or two day trips to Banff during your stay.

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. I will re-consider Edmonton mall.

We have Starwood as our first choice due to special discounted associate rate. I checked the Starwood hotel and found the Fourpoint not available (both Calgary west and Canmore). We're left with pretty much three choices:

1. Sheraton Eau Claire at Barclay Parade

2. Westin Calgary at 4th Avenue

3. Sheraton at 32nd Avenue

If we have to pick one among these three, which would you recommend?

Thanks again for your advice.

Drove past (what was) the Sheraton in Canmore and the signs are all covered up - it is no longer a Sheraton. It is now a privately owned hotel... Rocky Mountain...

bestofbanff

The Sheraton Cavalier on 32 Ave is in the NE; you would be better off staying downtown (Eau Claire or Westin). The Sheraton Eau Claire is a new building, only 2-3 years old IIRC, and garnered very favourable reviews last time I checked. The Westin is only a few blocks away from the Sheraton Eau Claire; check the reviews, but I think it's still fine although it's a much older building.

As long as you avoid rush hour travel, you shouldn't find staying downtown to be too much of a hassle, but it will add about 20 minutes onto the travel times I gave for the Four Points.

It is slightly ambitious to drive to Banff everyday for 1.5 hours to sight see. IN order to really enjoy Banff stay there or else you'll miss out on the town at night - dining, free interpretive wildlife shows at the campgrounds, bands, and more!

Not sure what your "special" prices are but the cost of gas will probably make staying in Banff worth it.

If you choose to stay in Banff... head into banff for 2 to 3 nights, drive up the icefields parkway, spend 1 night in jasper, and then drive to Edmonton for one night with your "special hotel rate"

banfflakelouise

CCLPDX,

I have to agree with Banfflakelouise; if you must stay in downtown Calgary (as being the nearest Sheraton to Banff), I would do the math very carefully. A few years ago, we were visiting Toronto by RV and was forced to use a campground which was almost 90 minutes from everywhere we wanted to go in Toronto. We enjoyed the trip - but that daily "commute" on our holidays, day after day, did become a bit of a grind. Of course, you shouldn't be stuck in the big-city traffic jams we encountered in Toronto, but in hindsight, I should've looked harder for a closer campground.

Thanks for all your reply. I'll search around the hotel again in the Banff/Jasper area to see if anything reasonable pops up :)

CCL

Hi,

Considering all the factors this would be my new plan. Comments appreciated. One thing I didn't mention in my original post was that we're driving from Portland, Oregon and after our Banff visit we're driving to Vancouver, BC to attend a conference. We have two families, with 2 teenagers and 3 pre-schoolers. Making it more relaxing is probably better.

Thursday: depart early morning and drive to Radium Hot Spring (considering it's 1.5 hours less drive and it seems the hotels there a little cheaper than Banff). Is it worth to swim in the hotspring?

Spend two nights (Friday/Saturday) in Banff. Visit Lake Louise, Icefield and other major attractions. I suppose it's summer time but does it matter which one may be more crowded on Saturdays that we should visit first thing Friday morning? I probably will book a hotel in Banff with swimming pool to make the kids happy.

Sunday afternoon: book a hotel in Calgary and let the ladies do some shopping there.

Monday: yet more shopping. Drive towards Vancouver in the afternoon. Stay at some mid-point town. (Suggestions?)

Tuesday: drive all the way to Vancouver and prepare for the conference starting Wednesday.

How does this itinerary sound? Thank you again for your previous suggestions. It has been very helpful.

Best regards,

CCL

Hi again:

This seems a bit more manageable. I do wonder about adding the overnight in Calgary just before heading in the opposite direction for Vancouver. Maybe the ladies should consider doing their shopping in Banff -- lots of Calgarians do! And, of course, you'll be in Vancouver right after -- perhaps they could do their shopping there, leaving your time in the mountains to do mountain-type things?