Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours exceeded my expectations and provided me with a bucket-list experience…read morethat will be a lasting memory. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Motorhead (retired sled dog). He was so friendly, sweet, and engaging. The shop space is open and offers a slue of gift shop items and rentable gear (snow boots and snow pants are a must!). Clean bathrooms are available because once you get to the top of the mountain, there are only porta-potties. I loved my dog team (Ghost, Poblano, Ivar, Mayday, Gomez, and Kannicky). They are definitely professionals and they commit to running. However, when we had some breaks, they were very sweet and enjoyed positive affirmation and pets. Driving the sled is more physically intense than I expected. You will need to do some running up the hill with the dogs. However, the thrill of the experience, wind in your hair, and breathtaking views is beyond words. In my experience, Snowy Owl treats their dogs well. I appreciate their use of colored collars to signal whether the dogs are shy or overly friendly. One of my tour guides for another excursion affirmed this sentiment as well and spoke of them in high regards. This is a must-do experience (expensive, but well worth it). Also, 2 printed photos available at the end for $50 canadian dollars. They will also transfer a digital file and I found this to be well worth it.

Surprised my girlfriend with the summer dog carting tour out of Boundary Ranch and it was awesome…read more 14 dogs showed up and they were all so sweet and lovable. The workers were friendly and knowledgeable. We got to pet the dogs, go for a ride, unharness them, and give them treats! It was all so great. We didn't care it was raining or we were getting muddy.

The Fairmont concierge recommended the ebike to Johnston Canyon with White Mountain Adventures…read more I've never been on an ebike and always wanted to try one so I was game. There were 6 members of our group and we meet at the White Mountain Adventures office in town. Four of us started off on the ebikes while the other 2 drove to Johnston Canyon and hiked first...and then rode the bikes home. Luke from Australia was the guide for the 4 of us who started off on the ebikes. We did a little test run around a nearby parking lot to make sure we could handle the bikes, although he assured us if we could ride a bike we could be OK. At first i found it a little tricky because it was a little scary how the bike would just take off, but as the ride went on I got more comfortable. I found myself lagging behind the group at first and Luke would nicely come join me. Once I asked what gear everyone was on (6) and adjusted min to be the same I was keeping up with no issues. I actually loved the bike ride. You definitely don't get as much exercise as you do on a normal bike, but i think this 15 mile hilly trip would have been too much for me on normal bike...and it was perfectly enjoyable on a ebike. We also stopped about every 10-15 minutes to take in the beautiful scenery and get some pics. It took about 90 minutes to get to Johnston Canyon and I was a little bummed when the ebike adventure was over. My husband and I were such fans that we talked about buying them for our annual vacations in Sun Valley, Idaho- another place where it is so fun to bike, but can be difficult with all the hilly terrain. The hike itself was probably my least favorite hike that we did in Lake Louise and Banff. Luke was a great guide and the canyon itself was beautiful, but it was sooo crowded which made it less enjoyable. It was also pretty easy in comparison to some of the other hikes we did on the trip (tunnel mountain, agnes tea house). But if you're looking for an easy hike with little incline and don't mind the crowds this is recommended. I don't recommend parking though since it's super crowded so rent a ebike to get there! We were lucky enough to be with White Mountain Adventures so they had a van waiting for us after our hike to get us back to town. I would have loved to e-bike back, but we had our next adventure waiting (a trip up the gondola) so driving back was super convenient. While we could have easily rented an ebike on our own I do think it was helpful to have Luke get us there safely, especially since we were riding along the highway for quite a bit of it. It was also great to hear about Luke's adventures living in Banff and learn a little more about the area from him. While I didn't love the hike itself I thought the company did a great job and it was one of my favorite activities of our trip.

From the owner: With over 30 years of experience, White Mountain Adventures is Banff’s premier guided outdoor…read moreadventure specialist. We provide our clients with lasting connection to nature through innovative, tailored active-adventure experiences. White Mountain Adventures offers activities in Banff, Lake Louise, Canmore/Kananaskis and beyond, including guided public and private hiking, larch hiking, heli-hiking, guided e-bike tours, multiday hiking programs, snowshoeing activities, nature tours, walking tours, as well as custom events for individuals, families, and corporate groups. If you are looking for things to do in Banff, give us a call!

Very informative visitors center. Staff is friendly and helpful. Great first stop when visiting the…read morearea to get acquainted with the surroundings. They can help you figure out what sites are best for you, and help you book adventures. They have clean restrooms and souvenirs for sale. They even have a stamp for those of us with National Park passport books! Would recommend.

An old school auditorium from 1939 is now the Parks Canada Info Centre. Lots of maps and websites…read morepresented by friendly knowledgeable, volunteers, The information center is next to St Paul's Church on the corner of Wolf and Banff Avenues.

Thanks to Banff Cycle+Sport, We just had the most scenic and fun rides EVER! We rented a pair of…read moreTrek Domane for multiple days and put some miles on them (7+ hour rides each day through countless climbs and descents). While we brought our own supplies, the rental includes helmets, pedals and repair kit. The bikes were adjusted to our measurements before we hit the road. Tom and the team gave us great suggestions on routes. These bikes are very well maintained, which is evident in our smooth and issue free rides. We'll definitely rent from them again if we are back in the area!

Tom and the staff at Banff Cycle are top notch; this is definitely the top shop in the Banff area…read moreif you are into road biking. We rented a pair of Trek Domane's and took them out for multiple days of 7+ hour rides without any mechanical issues on every climb in the area. You pay for what you get; the service on the bikes and the fact that the shop takes care to maintain their equipment made the difference for us.

We did a two-hour e-bike tour with Bike Banff and really enjoyed it! It was a fun, easy-going way…read moreto see the more forested side of Banff and explore spots many tourists miss. Our guide was knowledgeable and gave great tips. The only suggestion would be to add headsets so we could hear the guide while riding--it would make the experience even better. Highly recommend for a unique and low-stress activity in Banff!

Great bike tour today with Briar and Hannah! Lots of great information about Banff. Highly…read morerecommend!

Extremely Disappointing Experience - Safety Should Never Take a Back Seat…read more My family visited the Columbia Icefield this year, and I returned for my second visit after a great experience last year. Unfortunately, this visit was very different and raised serious safety concerns. Our group had 13 people. When it was time to return from the glacier, 9 family members plus five other guests were left behind on the ice by our driver, Chad, without warning. I had already told the driver that there were people who had yet to board, and as the vehicle pulled away he could see our group waving, including children aged 5 and 11, yet he continued driving. We were stranded on the glacier for 90 minutes, exposed to cold conditions with no clear communication or emergency response. During this time, we repeatedly asked other Ice Explorer drivers for help. Despite several buses having available seats, multiple drivers refused to take us, even with young children visibly cold. It appeared that strict scheduling prevented them from assisting stranded guests, even in a clear safety situation. After 90 minutes, one compassionate driver finally stopped and brought our family back. We are very grateful to that individual for preventing an even worse outcome. This raises serious concerns about procedures and training. No guests should be left on a glacier due to scheduling constraints. A simple head count, final check, or empowering drivers to assist stranded guests could prevent this from happening again. We came back because of a great prior experience, but this visit has left us questioning whether guest safety is truly the top priority--or whether operational efficiency and profit are being placed ahead of basic safety processes.

We booked a tour with Columbia Icefield Adventures online. The process was smooth…read more On the day of our tour, we drove from Banff up to the icefield area near Jasper. The drive was a trip highlight. We did many stops along the way to enjoy the mountain views. The tour was awesome. You get on a bus which takes you to the glacier mobile and up to the glacier you go. What a unique experience. Our driver was knowledgeable and answered many questions. After you return to the bus, you are taken to the skywalk which is a glass bottom walkway over a gorge. So cool. I had almost as much fun watching people who were nervous about stepping on the platform as I did looking into the gorge. Parking at the icefield was a nightmare. We ended up parking in the RV lot or we would have missed our timeslot. It was also unfortunate that the digital tickets did not have your timestamp on them as we held up the line looking for confirmation of our timeslot.

We had a great river float down the Bow River out of Canmore. The instructions on where to meet…read morewere clear and easily understandable. The workers, especially our guide Laura, were super helpful and fun. It started out a little rainy and cold, but they provided some water proof blankets, which were great. The weather cleared a bit and we got some great views! Highly recommend.

Laura was our guide--fun, friendly, and knowledgeable. Great float saw some nice fauna. All staff…read moreare helpful and congenial.

It was my first time "caving", and what an experience! I must admit it was a bit more intense than…read moreexpected, and I am glad my husband didn't join me, he would not have enjoyed the pulling on ropes, rapelling or squeezing into tight spots (you can opt out though). We were lucky that our group was just four people; I can imagine it would not be as enjoyable in full season with multiple groups of eight (the maximum size) in the cave. I was surprised they run the tours year-round, as the hike to the cave must be a little challenging with snow and ice on the ground. Although they provide all the equipment: knee pads, crampons etc. And believe me, you will need all of it! My upper body was sore the following day; you certainly want to be in good shape to tackle this advendure! You also need your own car to drive first to the office, and then to the start of the hike. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable, and I am glad I did this tour. An experience I won't forget!

My family did the adventure tour -- two late forties parents, two teenagers and a young adult. I…read moreadmit I am scared of heights so was terrified about the rappelling but once I was actually doing it I was okay and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the tour once that was over with. My favorite part was squeezing through the small spaces. They provide knee pads, helmets, coveralls etc. and you will realize how needed they are as you keep bumping your head on the rocks and scrambling on your knees. Our guide, Brent, was so knowledgeable about cave history and formation and it was interesting to see the different areas of the cave. This tour was by far the highlight of our trip to Banff. All my kids loved it. Highly recommend.

We had a terrible experience with Discover Banff Tours and would never book through them again…read more We booked a dog sledding excursion for 6 people, including our family and our friends visiting from San Diego. We paid nearly $1,400 in full for 2 sleds, submitted all required guest information right away (weights, ages, etc.), and even received an email confirming that everything had been received and that we were fully confirmed for Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. Then on Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the excursion, they called asking for the same information all over again. We told them we had already submitted it and had the confirmation email to prove it. After putting us on hold, they came back and admitted there had been a miscommunication on their end and that the person who handled our booking failed to enter our information properly. Because of their mistake, our reservation was given away to someone else. So after taking our money, confirming our booking, and making us think everything was locked in, they left us with no dog sledding tour and no real solution on the only day that worked for our group. They did offer us Friday, but that did absolutely nothing for us because we leave Thursday and our friends fly home Wednesday. That is exactly why we booked this in advance the previous Friday. The kids were already excited for this experience, and we were left scrambling at the last minute trying to find another company because of their mistake. The only thing they could really offer was a refund or to push other excursions we had no interest in. That's not customer service -- that's damage control after they failed to do their job correctly. This was extremely unprofessional, careless, and a huge inconvenience during a family trip. Avoid the middleman and book directly with the actual dog sledding companies.

5 stars for Gabriel who was our evening Wildlife tour guide. He was so awesome, knowledgeable and…read morefun and we saw lots of wildlife local to the area. Highly recommended, with several choices on where to pick up/drop off before and after. My family and I really enjoyed the entire evening!

I searched around to find the best price on ski and snowboard rentals for our week in Banff and…read morethis was the best price. The quality did not disappoint either as they used a third party to fulfill our rental. We were unaware of this so went to the Banff Adventures office at first, and then was directed to the shop just down the street. I was happy that we were allowed to get fitted the day before our rental started and that they delivered the gear to our hotel free of charge. They also picked it up from our hotel when we were done. The third party was very reputable and I wrote a separate review for them. I would use Banff Adventures again for my rentals!

My friend and I bought the "Best of Banff" adventure package well in advance of our trip. The price…read morewas so reasonable for all that we were able to do. We were so excited to ride the Banff Gondola, Horseback ride along the Bow River and Kayak on the Bow river as well. The first issue we encountered was when my friend's flight was delayed on her way to Canada and we had to push all of our scheduled activities back a day. The service at Banff adventures was excellent- we had to call a few different times to move things around but each time the attendant was patient and super helpful in helping us to reschedule our experiences. The day of our experiences, we were able to pick the times of our Gondola ride and the kayak but the Horseback riding was the only activity with a hard time. We chose to ride the Gondola first and it was so easy to check-in and ride up the Gondola. The view was spectacular and so peaceful. At the top there was a super cute cafe, which was a nice touch. We didn't eat there but it was nice to know it was there. Next we headed to our Horseback riding appointment. We arrived early so we had time to sign our waivers, get weighed and fitted for our helmets before the safety speech was given. We were each assigned a horse and given a few minutes to get acquainted with our steed. This wasn't my first rodeo, so I was ready to get on the trail right away. Once we were on the trail, it was smooth riding. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and we were given opportunities for photos with our horses at the end of the ride. Finally, we went over to the Canoe place for our kayaks. It was easy to sign in and get our kayaks. We were given our life jackets and a quick lesson in kayaking. The weather was sunny and warm which made for a perfect day out on the water. The Bow river was especially calm on this day so we really enjoyed our float up river. Overall, each activity was the perfect little adventure. Everything was within a 10-20 minute car ride of each point so it was easy to navigate. We had an amazing day. We would absolutely buy this tour again.