Banff Hop On Hop Off bus – 30/08/2025
This is not a traditional hop on hop off bus as you would find in a city, rather it was an old yellow school bus. Dominique provided an interesting commentary and excellent advice on planning your day.
There was then a slight pause at Mordants Curve.
Then there was a break and the opportunity to get a coffee at the lodge at the base of the Lake Louise Gondola.
The bus then went to Lake Louise before heading upto Moraine Lake. This, according to my watch, had taken 1hr 45min but due to the commentary and the amazing scenery, it didn’t feel like it.
It was great on the bus being able to get an elevated view of the mountains behind the lake.
The lake was already getting busy and the canoes were popular and pricey.
We reached Moraine Lake about 10 and the sun had not risen over the mountains.
First we walked down the Lakeside. The view opened up as the light got higher, the lake changed colour and the mountains became more majestic.
Then the colour started to appear in the water
Then it was onto the most famous vantage point for the lake. The Rockpile. As it’s name suggests it is a pile of rocks.
This gives probable the most widely seen view of the lake.
But nipping over the wall gives a view not obscured by trees.
It was stunning, a picture can not do it justice.
The only downside was that I could not believe just how many people were there.
About 2 hours after we arrived the big yellow school bus pulled into the parking lot and it was off to Lake Louise.
Lake Louise
We had plans to do the hike to the Little Beehive, but then thought better of it when we saw the numbers going up the track and just took a leisurely walk along the lake shore. It turned out to have glorious views.
Before long the crowds thinned out, and more of the mountain came into view, and the hotel disappeared into the distance.
The walk to the end of the lake was flat and well maintained.
We had a snack with one of the friendliest chipmunks we came across – it was most disappointed when it got on Tina’s knee and she still wouldn’t feed it.
At the end of the lake there was a large sandbar, that could be walked on.
This gave a very unusual view of the hotel.
We walked a little further to boardwalk at the start of the Six Glaciers walk.
All along the walk we had the ever-changing woodland, streams and rocky outcrops, to one side and then glorious views over the lake to the other which was never static as the sunlight played across the landscape.
After about three hours we caught the big yellow bus back to Banff.
We had the opportunity to either go to the gondola or to Johnstone’s Canyon but decided to go back to Banff.
Being a school bus the windows opened so there was the chance to take a few photos, out of the open windows of Vermillion Lakes on the way back.
The Hop-On, Hop-Off had none of the stress of trying to book shuttles, rather, a very distinctive bus on a schedule with excellent guides. We might have been able to see more under our own steam, but we knew we could not see everything.
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