Start with the Whyte Museum but try and find time for the Banff Park Museum as well. It's a national historic site and a charming building, originally designed to use only natural light. The Parks Canada website has details of this and many other things to do in the Banff townsite.
In winter, Banff is a skier's heaven. Sunshine Village http://www.skibanff.com/ offers on-hill accommodation; Mount Norquay http://www.banffnorquay.com/ is a favourite with the locals (they'll tell you the hill is steeper); and just up the road is Lake Louise Ski Resort http://www.skilouise.com/ where you might just see a World Cup race. For exile and exhilaration combined, it has to be heli-skiing and heli-hiking http://www.cmhski.com/. (Dare you!)
Banff is most popular with tourists during summer (July-August) and the ski season (November through March /April, depending on snowfall). Don't be afraid to exile yourself there in the less busy seasons. The mountains are just as scenic and you'll have more room to Exhale.
At any time of year, a bite of luxury costs about $2.00 at Bernard Callebaut Chocolates, www.bernardcallebaut.com, in the Harmony Lane Mall (on Banff Avenue). It's top quality Belgian chocolate, sincerely sinful. The store is at the back of the mall and you have to pass too many competing tempting treat places to find it – but it's worth it. If you get hooked on Bernard, don't worry. He has another store at the Calgary International Airport (near the D gates).
For such a tiny town, Banff offers any number of experiences. Wrap it all up with high tea back at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, dainty sandwiches on a three-tiered tray, custom-blended heavenly tea poured from a silver pot… close your eyes. You'll feel like a princess again.
Jill Browne lives in Calgary, the nearest major city to Banff. Like many other Canadians, she fell in love with the Rocky Mountains at first sight. She says, "I hope this guide to Banff entices you to come and see one of Canada's most beautiful places." Jill writes fiction and non-fiction, travels whenever possible, and has worked at almost every job there is. For a short time as a youngster she was an elevator operator at the Banff Springs Hotel but had to quit due to motion sickness. The job had its ups and downs
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