It is a rare thing to have a town in the center of a national park, but such is the case for Banff. And for being such a small town it is packed with things to do and sites of interest to visit. We spent most of a day walking through town and seeing what makes it such a unique place to be.
Train Station
The beginning and end to any visit to Banff is the train station. This train station is the meeting place for any tour of the national park and the main point for public transportation. It is also the only place that offers free parking for visitors and then from there you can walk through the rest of town.
This train station still welcomes trains running on the Royal Canadian Pacific Rail and before that the Rocky Mountaineer Rail. And in 1991 it joined the list of Heritage Railway Stations for the important part it has played in bringing visitors to experience Banff National Park- the first of Canada’s national parks.
While the building has been updated, they still have all the original wooden train seats. In the winter they offer ice skating right outside the front entrance.
Downtown
Banff is a very walkable city with everything close to each other and an array of beautiful building to see along the way. The city is full of château style buildings that seem perfectly fitting with the mountains surrounding it.
Because the city is within the national park, there are specific requirements that all buildings must adhere to such as restrictions of height, style, and services offered. In order to live there you must complete paperwork specifying that you have a need to reside in the city. You can’t have a vacation home or rental home here but you must actually live and work here and have been approved by the committee that you have a need to reside here.
The downtown area is full of boutique shops and restaurants and it is fun to just walk through and see what is there. In the winter they have chairs around fires throughout the city with stacks of logs that anyone can use to stoke the fire.
Banff Park Museum National Historic Site
Banff has two national historic sites within the city. The first is the Banff Park Museum National Historic Site right in the center of downtown. This museum is one of the oldest natural history museums in Canada. The museum is full of nearly 5,000 biological and zoological specimens that have been found within the park.
The museum was built in 1903 and is the oldest surviving federal building in all of Canada’s national parks. It is open on a limited basis of weekends and holidays only. So if you want to visit, be sure to plan ahead.
By the Bow River
Through Banff flows the Bow River and it provides a lovely place to walk. With multiple pedestrian bridges that cross the water and walking paths on both sides of the water, it is a place to recharge from the busy of the day.
Canada Place
The most beautiful building in the city is the Canada Place that sits at the top of the hill. This impressive building is home to the park administration offices. The gardens behind it are open to the public and in the spring and summer are full of beautiful colors and variety of flowers.
Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum
Close to the Canada Place is the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum which gives an understanding of the First Nation tribes that lived in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plain areas. This museum looks at the history of the people and the influences of the changing times.
With a large display of art, clothing, and other articles visitors come to really understand the people who first called this area home. According to the museum, it is a “cultural display that celebrates the richness, diversity, continuity and, above all, the resilience of the native peoples of this area”.
Cave and Basin National Historic Site
The other historic site is the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. In 1883 three railway workers came upon a hot spring here and saw an opportunity to bring people to the area. They opened a hotel so people could come and soak in the thermal waters. This was the first of a series of events that led this area becoming Canada’s first national park.
We walked along the boardwalk that surround the hot springs with the smell of Sulphur in the air. This makes up the basin of the name of the site. Below visitors can go into the cave to see the springs at its source, however this part is closed off in the winter.
These days, visitors can enjoy the warm water of the pool next to the site. From the visitor center at the bottom of the hill you first come to the swimming area. You have to walk up the stairs on the outside of the pool to get to the historic site itself. The pool is outdoors and the lovely brick building surrounding it has terraces that look out to the mountains as well as down to the swimming area.
But my favorite part of visiting this site was finally getting to see the Canada Parks red chairs. My blogging friend The Wandering Canadians have a series of posts highlighting the national parks of Canada and have featured these red chairs set out by view points of the parks. After seeing their beautiful pictures including the red chairs, I was so excited to see them for myself.
There are over 200 red chairs throughout the parks. Some are easy to find while others require a little more searching. But all of the locations are listed at Parks Canada Red Chairs.
After a day exploring the town of Banff, we stopped for dinner at The Maple Leaf in downtown. The food was excellent and it was a perfect ending to the day. We fell in love with this town and definitely will be making plans to come back here.
If you enjoyed this tour of Banff, then you may be interested in these other cities:
Thanks for coming along to the town of Banff in Banff National Park. May you enjoy a moment of peace from the comfort of a red chair.
Looks like a great day in Banff. You know I have never been to the train station! Parking used to be free everywhere but with so many visitors lately they had to make changes to traffic in the town. Did you not see Banff Springs Hotel? It’s a beautiful building and one of the original CP hotels in the country. Next time… Maggie
I’m so sad that I missed seeing the hotel! I always love to admire beautiful old buildings. Next time for sure! Someone told us that Banff has become so popular that now there is no shoulder season or off season. Probably why parking is more enforced now.
Living in a town located right in the middle of a national park sounds to me like winning a lottery in this life. Love the vintage wooden train seats at the station. It is indeed a handsome city, very interesting architecturally. Such a charming custom to have public fires throughout the city that anyone can enjoy and help maintain. Lots to do here as you say. A walk by the river sounds and looks absolutely lovely.
It would be like a lottery win to get to live there and be surrounded by the beautiful park. I think I could happily spend my free time exploring the mountains there. I wonder though if you live in a national park, does it start to lose some of the charm. I loved the town but I think I would tire of all the people coming in and out all the time.
Because of your posts, I have fallen in love with Banff. Mike and I have wanted to visit there for a long time, so it’s on our list, but you’ve really brought it to life for us. It sounds like visitors to the town of Banff could spend a couple of day exploring there. One day in the not-too-distant future, we’re going to hitch up our trailer and head that way. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
Thank you, that is so kind 🙂 You will absolutely love Banff! There are 4 national parks all by each other there. We got to see Banff and a little bit of Yoho but we would love to go back and see the other 2. What an amazing road trip that will be to get there!!! I’ll be looking out for your posts on it 🙂
Yes, we’re excited about seeing Jasper National Park too, but we’re still working on the US National Parks. We’ve talked about going to Banff and the others in conjunction with Glacier.
Oh I would love to see Glacier! You could see a lot of parks on that road trip 🙂
Yes, but it would be a long trip! Someday…
I’ve read about Banff on other blogs before and they all make it sound a brilliant destination, yours included. I would absolutely definitely want to arrive by train! It’s on the list if we ever make it to Canada.
We decided that the next time we go to Banff we want to go by train 🙂 I’m with you that train travel is a favorite mode of transportation. We want to see Banff in the other seasons now that we’ve seen it in winter.
It’s very convenient how there’s a town located in Banff National Park. And it’s very charming. While I love camping, sometimes it’s nice to get a taste of civilization again and eat some good food. Glad to see that you’ve spotted some of the Parks Canada Red Chairs!!
I was so excited about seeing the chairs- it had the same thrill as seeing a celebrity or something 🙂 It makes me all the more anxious to see all the parks up there and see more of the red chairs!
Oh I know. It’s fun to try to find them all! They are usually placed at a nice viewpoint or overlook too.
New life goal- find all the red chairs 🙂
Banff is a beautiful city, and how unique that it’s located in a national park! I love the chalet style buildings, and the chairs. The many activities make it even more enticing. Great post Meg!
Thank you 🙂 It was a great town packed with beauty and interest. The buildings made my architecture loving heart very happy!
I love everything about Banff from its gorgeous old railway station to the museum and other beautiful,old buildings. I want to visit there even more now after reading your post.
I loved the old railway statin too. We decided that next time we go up there we are going to take the train. I hope you make it to Banff one day because I think you would really love it 🙂
It looks lovely – what a beautiful building to be home to a Starbucks! I love the idea of the log fires and cosy chairs in the winter, it would be such a perfect place to relax and rest. There’s so much to do here as well, I’d love to explore more of Canada and visit here.
Who knew a Starbucks could be found in such a beautiful building! And having the chairs and log fires throughout the city really gave the feeling that they wanted you to enjoy their town no matter the weather. I would say Banff is one of my favorite cities now 🙂
This brings back memories Meg, we visited the Rockies many years ago but stayed in Canmore. Banff was too expensive! We enjoyed our day there but were disappointed not to go up in the cable car as a snow storm had just blew in. It was a very dreary day so the fires were very welcome!
We stayed in Canmore too! We drove into Banff everyday to save some money. The cable car wasn’t running when we visited either because of some ice on the cords I think. How great that we had such similar experiences in Banff 🙂
Haha yes I’ve got some great photos of Banff and Canmore
We had a fantastic apartment there too
I like the Alpine look of the houses:) very nice
me too, I loved the beautiful buildings set against the mountains 🙂