Planning a trip to Banff during the summer

You are in for a treat with this trip! We did this 10 yrs ago. No kids and we had 8-9 days. Take at least 10 days if you have the time. Flew into Calgary, drove down to Glacier for the first half of the trip, then drove up to Banff for the second half. Flew out of Calgary. We did this because it made the rental car situation easier and was more cost effective.

We stopped in Canada on the way to Glacier for food/snacks. US agents wouldn’t let oranges through lol.

I wouldn’t try to stay in between them the entire time as it’s a pretty long drive to each. We took the Chief Mtn entry to Canada, and drove the Kannanaskis Hwy. Beautiful drive and there’s a nice Jerkey shop along the way. Can also swing through Waterton Nat Park on the way, but it was significantly underwhelming comparatively speaking. We stayed in the East side of Glacier, then at Baker Creek Mountain Resort just North of Banff. Baker has new ownership and is ridiculously expensive now… used to be pretty reasonable. But it is an excellent location between Banff, LL and the Icefields.

If you do go the route of visiting one park after the other, go to Glacier first. Glacier is my favorite park in the country. But Banff will offer some new and interesting sights, and your trip will continue to crescendo that way.

ETA: not everyday I run into a fellow gamer handle.

•Should we fly into Calgary or Vancouver?

Calgary.

•What town would be a good central location to stay to see Banff and Glacier National Park?

They are too far apart to stay in a central location. Split the trip between each park. Stay in Banff, but Canmore is a cheaper option with less frills that will only add 10-15 min to your commute every day. For Glacier, the best parts of the park are on the east side but there is more/better lodging, eateries and civilization on the west side. And it's not that easy to get between the two sides, so plan your hikes and activities first before you commit to lodging. You also might want to stop and spend a night somewhere in between and check out Waterton Lakes.

•Is a week enough time to spend up there?[/quote]

You need at least a week if you want to visit both.

Wow, thank you for sharing! Beautiful pictures!!

We are planning our summer trip to Banff and Jasper as well. Just booked a cabin 15 minutes from Lake Louise for 3 nights, then heading to Jasper for 2 nights then to Banff for a night then back to Calgary.
What we have found so far is you need to book now as lots are already booked for summer. If planning to go to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, you need to buy shuttle passes as limited parking for L Louise and no cars at Moraine lake. Pre purchase your National Park pass as well. Get the Discovery one if doing more one park.