Itinerary · 3 Days · Canada
Banff and Lake Louise in a long weekend, timed to beat the parking-lot crowds and skip nothing that matters.
Land, settle into Banff town, and use the afternoon light for the Sulphur Mountain gondola or the hiking trail up it if your legs are willing. Dinner in town before the weekend crowds arrive.
Arrive at Lake Louise before sunrise. It sounds extreme until you see the parking lot at 9am. Walk the lakeshore trail, then catch the shuttle to Moraine Lake for the view everyone's seen a photo of, minus the photo's crowd. Afternoon free for the Plain of Six Glaciers trail if you've got the legs left.
On the way out of the park, most guides send you straight to the airport. Don't. The pull-off 20 minutes past the main viewpoints has the same peaks, an empty shoulder to park on, and nobody else there. Ten minutes, free, no ticket required.
Split a rental car three or four ways, cook breakfasts in the room, and the biggest single cost becomes the one splurge dinner — which is exactly how we'd plan it again.