Just after you get off the Trans Canada Highway or the Bow River Parkway and as you head towards…read moreLake Louise, there's a small mall on your right. There's also a Parks Canada Visitor Center nearby. Within this mall is a grocery store, a post office, some gifts places, a very nice bakery and Woodruff & Blum Booksellers. It's a relatively small book store, but I have always enjoyed coming here for its intimacy, a generous local parks book/map selection, and other browsing and buying opportunities.

OMG this cafe is so cute! I literally spent the whole day here when I went to Canmore! There is a…read moresection for new books and then another with used books with a cute cafe inside! I seriously fell in love with this space the moment I walked in. It has both the things that I love - books and tea :) The cafe had cute french music playing in the background and the seats were cozy with plenty of sunshine. I got the earl grey creme tea with a vanilla cupcake. The cupcake was the most adorable thing, it had an edible sugar treat shaped like a book on top! It was way too cute to eat seriously! The environment was so peaceful that I fell asleep - no joke! Haha Would love to go back again and try out their daily feature soups and their other teas. Would highly recommend a visit here if you are a book or cafe lover!

Super nice place to spend a hour. I just couldn't make up my mind what book to get. Certainly one…read moreof the great small book stores.

Quick pitstop for breakfast and coffee. Food was great, access to books during breakfast was even…read morebetter.

Bacchus is a funky, cool little spot located in the heart of Golden and is an absolute must visit…read moreif you find yourself in the area. It is an eclectic bookstore with a variety of local gifts and goods from local artists. There is also a little café upstairs that sells coffee and small bites to eat. We enjoyed a nice afternoon coffee upstairs, surrounded by shelves of books and thoroughly enjoyed taking it all in. We ended up purchasing some postcards, birthday cards, and other local goods made by some awesome Canadian artists. Definitely check this spot out!

Exciting to be in the shop once again. I really took the time to walk around & enjoy all it has to…read moreoffer. Lots of neat gift & art ideas. Items range from ideas for baby gifts to adult gifts. I also love that they feature so many Alberta products & artists. Found a few items this trip - part of a wedding gift, something for a birthday present & some beautiful local images on postcards (those are for me to enjoy some new wall art). Honestly, if you're looking for a gift, AB souvenir or just a lovely or special gift for yourself, this is the store to pop in. Extra bonus the staff & owner are well versed in the information of the products, sizing (I learned a lot about the blankets!) &/or background of the art. The owner especially knows where the artists are from and neat background stories. Personally, I encourage that kind of chatting energy, as I love to know the stories of how things have come to this point. Accessibility for in the store is easy for the first part of the store. The second part has 4 steps down. Staff are really great & super friendly. So just ask if you need something (or another colour options) in case you want something but physically can't make it that far. Also, no fault to any of the 8 st stores & restaurants, but the town decided that street is a safe walking/biking area (apparently some spring to fall). At first I thought maybe there was a festival they were setting up for. Nope. Just every day in Canmore. I can understand for many of the shop owners how that has impacted the flow of foot traffic. Especially as the accessible parking isn't plentiful or nearby. Not even several avenues/streets over. Sadly parking lots closer by didn't provide much more for handicap, I wouldn't have an issue on manning streets safer for enjoyment & shopping, but if I'm paying for parking as a handicap user & have to still walk a fair distance, you can bet my time is more limited in being in Canmore. For my situation, I strategized how far to walk, how much energy & time I have (including to return to vehicle as I move slower) & I still felt like I really limited myself for any extra shopping & skipped the lines for eating focusing on the few must stop places I had in mind. You would think the town would add extra benches & picnic tables that aren't restaurant run plus ramps (besides the natural sidewalk corner locations) to the street if this was truly to be an accessible & friendly walking area. This sadly was not is the case. So long story short, if you're struggling with energy, start at the top of the street by Alberta's Own & maybe if you've got someone that can park further down the opposite side streets/avenues, you can walk one direction to your vehicle without worrying too much about your energy. Lastly, a cuteness heads up... there are two wonderful little dogs as store mascots that will seek all attention & love! They're not fully out all the time but will make their presence known once they are.

This is by far the best gift shop we've stopped by in Canmore / Banff. From the moment we walked in…read morethe service was over the top, kind, and not pushy. This is not a place for your regular run of the mill t-shirts or trinkets. This is a place with truly creative pieces, art, and unique ways to remember a trip to this area if you're visiting. It's super well kept, nothing was cheap but also not overpriced and the owner Laura was someone who is just so in tune with people. My wife and I are so glad we stopped and left with a bunch of things. Added bonus- her two tiny Australian Shepherds that follow her around

On the road to Lake Louise is this shopping mall. Samson Mall has a restaurant, grocery store and…read morelittle shops and is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges. It also has a visitor center that will provide information if you don't know your way around the area. It is a nice place to stop for supplies, food or gifts. Unfortunately, the power went out while we were here and all of the stores had to temporarily close up. But it is a nice place to stop while in the park if you need anything.

I'm just thankful there was something. Could there be more stores? Sure. But is the community large…read moreenough to support it when it isn't tourist season? Dunno. There was a sports store to get winter or hiking gear that you forgot. I can't remember though if there were swim suits. There was a cute gift store with some stuff for the kiddies, books, etc. There was a more kitschy souvenir shop with all your souvenir doodads. There was also a rock store with some fossils and jewelry. The mall is run by the local tribe, so at least you know you aren't supporting some faceless conglomerate. And a lot of the items sold at the stores were by locals, which I think is more unique. There was also a post office, a liquor store, a grocery store, a boba cafe (of all things), and a normal cafe. Behind the cafe are some picnic tables you can sit at. There were also a lot of tour buses coming in. If you aren't on one of these buses, be prepared for the crowds. If you're on one of these buses, I hope this isn't your final stop - I hope you have a stop at Lake Louise. I didn't really understand the effort of the tour bus groups to take photos of the river by the parking lot. Or of the parking lot. There will be better photo opportunities, I promise.

The guy who helped us rent skates was very personable. I wish the offered figure skates as well as…read moreI know this is Canada hockey is "the" sport, but my daughter had never used hockey skates-/luckily I played a million years ago. She would have done better with her familiar figure skates . They were great about the return times. Great store, just wished they offered this additional rental Price was reasonable and cheaper than Chateau price.

Long up hill ride to the lake with no bike lane cars. And buses passing you inches away terrible…read moreexperience would not recommend