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Itinerary · 3 Days · Canada

The Weekend Rockies Run

Banff and Lake Louise in a long weekend, timed to beat the parking-lot crowds and skip nothing that matters.

Day 1 — Town + Sulphur Mountain

Land, settle into Banff town, and use the afternoon light for the Sulphur Mountain gondola or the hiking trail up it. Dinner in town before the weekend crowds arrive.

Book Lake Louise parking or the shuttle the night before — the lot fills before 7am most of the year.

Day 2 — Lake Louise & Moraine Lake, early

Arrive at Lake Louise before sunrise. Walk the lakeshore trail, then catch the shuttle to Moraine Lake for the view minus the crowd.

Day 3 — The ridge nobody stops for

On the way out, the pull-off 20 minutes past the main viewpoints has the same peaks, an empty shoulder to park on, and nobody else there.

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