A Little Background
Hello, my friends! I had every intention of writing a detailed post for every day of our trip to Banff National Park, in Alberta, Canada, but it didn’t happen. I got one post in and then life got busy- and I got lazy. It happens. It’s part of my process at this point. So, in lieu of detailed stories about our time in Banff, I decided to condense this into a series of “listicles” of my top tips to see Banff. In this one, we will be exploring the costs at Banff National Park and some tips on what you can do to save a few dollars on your trip.
We went to Banff for our one-year wedding anniversary in 2016. It had been our goal to visit for a couple of years, and getting to go there was just as exciting as we had imagined. I think we did a good amount of planning in preparation, but we still found ourselves blind-sighted by some different things.
The Costs
I’m not going to lie to you, Banff is expensive. It was way more expensive than I anticipated, even for things as small as food. Usually, wherever we have traveled to, we have been able to find things at our price point. This wasn’t the case for us in Canada. Granted, when we went, we were poor college kids, living on a single income, paying too much for rent… and I am now realizing that not much has changed in that time. Ah, life. Okay, moving on.
So, Banff National Park is expensive in many ways, including, but not limited to:
- Entrance fees
- Food in and around the park
- Gas
- Excursions
- Hotels
Entrance Fees
Like most national parks across the globe, there are entrance fees. The fees for the parks are important because they help fund preservation efforts that keep the parks beautiful. Still, those costs can stack up for the lowly traveler. Compared to many of the national parks I have visited in the US, I don’t think these costs are outrageous. I think they are pretty fair.
For a day pass into the park, you can expect to pay $10 per adult or $20 for a family/group pass.
If you are only visiting for a day or are lodging within the park for the duration of your trip, this isn’t a problem. That’s easy. However, if you are like us, and you stayed outside of the park in order to save money on your hotel (see the bullet point on “hotels”) during your week-long trip, then this could be a problem. Furthermore, if you are planning on visiting Jasper National Park, which borders the northern edge of Banff National Park, you can count on paying your fees multiple times over.
When we went into Banff, we did some quick math and realized that it would be more economical to get the year-long Parks Canada Discovery Pass for $140. The family Discovery Pass allows you and your family members to easily pass through all of the national parks without paying additional fees. We actually saved $5 by doing that for our week-long trip. Plus, with the pass, you can skip the long lines of cars to enter the park.
Like I said; if you are only going for a couple of days, the pass may not be right for you, but if you are going for a week or more, it is more affordable to buy the year-long pass for your group.
Food in and Around the Park
You guys, food is what killed us. It really did. I wish I had some life-changing recommendations for you about how to save money when eating out, but I don’t. This is more of a cautionary tale. Everything costs more in Banff. Even Wendy’s costs more. Buying only a couple of burgers cost over $30. At most restaurants, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we left the place at a minimum of $50 check for two people. I’m fine with paying that every once in awhile, but when every meal is that pricy, it adds up quickly, especially when you’re poor, to begin with.
It reached a point where we decided that we were tired of spending so much on meals that we bought groceries. We bought bread, fruit, peanut butter, jam, honey, etc., so we could make sandwiches for lunch and fruit for snacks. So, I guess my advice would be to come prepared to spend more on food than you anticipated, and if you want to save money there, making little to-go lunches and breakfasts will help!
Gas
There’s not much to say about it. It is what it is. Gas is expensive everywhere and it is even more expensive near a national park, especially one as popular as Banff National Park. Although there are busses and shuttles that drive through the park, they are pretty inconvenient, especially if you want to go hiking or explore any other areas; so, you have to drive a car everywhere. We went through a lot of gas by driving through the park, as well as the amount of gas we expended driving the extra distance from our hotel to the park.
Excursions
This one is kind of a given. Excursions, tours, etc. cost money, and usually a pretty high cost. But, if you want to do one, and you find an excursion you want to do, it’s amazing. We decided to splurge a little bit and take a helicopter tour over Banff and Jasper National Parks. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and is a memory I will always cherish.
By looking online, you may be able to find some good deals or coupons on your excursions. If you find one you are interested in, I recommend contacting the group to confirm that they do, in fact, offer that price or accept that offer code. It also is a good idea to book the excursion a couple of weeks in advance, so you don’t miss out on an opportunity you are excited about. Alternatively, your hotel may have some tips or recommendations that can save you some money!
Hotels
Hotels are expensive everywhere. There usually are cheaper options, like motels, hostels, Airbnb’s, etc., but the ones around Banff still are more expensive than average. They can ring anywhere from $200-$2,000+ a night, although most sit at around the $300 a night range.
We ended up staying an hour outside of Banff in a casino in Kananaskis. It wasn’t anything special, but it was clean and the staff was friendly. Furthermore, it was cheaper than anything else we found. I think we spent close to $100-150 a night instead, which was a nice choice.
At the time that we went on this trip, we were leery of Airbnb’s because it was around the time that the news started reporting the scandals happening at these locations. We have since changed our tune and understand that there are safe ways to stay at an Airbnb. Had we gone now, we probably would have invested more time looking into that option. With just a quick search now (in 2020), it looks like there are some pretty awesome rentals you can get for a reasonable rate!
So that wraps up my tips regarding costs at Banff National Park.
Love,
Madison and Jordan
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