It was last year when I decided it is the right time to fulfill my travel dream and booked the flight tickets to Calgary. Planning the trip more than a half a year in advance gave me enough time to read all the travel guides, google countless photos of Canada and prepare for the amazing Canadian Rockies.

The Canadian Rockies indeed are marvelous. I can tell you with clean conscience that every single place we’ve visited was beautiful. However, there are some I would like to highlight. Continue reading to reveal my 8 favorite places in the Canadian Rockies.

Canada in general is known for its magnificent lakes. Yet Peyto Lake is my number one! (At least so far 😊). Located approximately one hour long drive from Banff, it is most famous for the color of its water. Caused by glacial rock flour flow into the lake in the summer, it is bright turquoise. I personally love its shape the most, as it reminds of a wolf or a fox. Plus, one part of the cliff on the opposite side of the lake looks like a head of a chamois to me (unfortunately not visible on the photos below).

Peyto Lake is easily accessible from the Icefields Parkway. You can take a good look and great photos from the lower lookout (approx. 4-minute walk from parking lot). Or you can take a trail to the Bow Summit and enjoy even better views.

Moraine Lake is another glacially fed lake with amazing turquoise color. It is situated in the Banff National Park and you can access it by a steep serpentine road. I recommend you visit the lake in the early morning, as the parking lot is hopelessly full at 10am even if it’s raining. There are couple trails around the lake to enjoy its beauty from all possible angles. To get warmer and relax, you can buy a cup of coffee in the Moraine lodge nearby. When the weather is nice, you can rent a canoe.

Many tourists heading to Lake Louise take only the easiest trail around the lake without knowing what beauty is hidden in the hills above them. To reach Lake Agnes you have to take a 4,4 km hike leading up the hills. Compared to most of the famous Canadian lakes, Lake Agnes is relatively small. Surrounded by mountains, it is covered with ice also at the end of June. We enjoyed its beauty from the terrace of Lake Agnes Teahouse. As we reached the lake in the late afternoon, many tourists have already left and chipmunks were our only company 😊.

Lake Louise is on every list of the most popular and beautiful places within the Canadian Rockies. In my ranking, it is on the 5th place. It looks magnificent from lookouts around and offers amazing views on the shores and Fairmont Chateau Hotel from the boat. There are two little disadvantages – renting a canoe is more expensive than on Moraine and Maligne lakes and it is far more crowded. But still, it is amazing and worth the visit 🙂

If you plan a trip to Jasper, allocate at least 3 hours for Whistler Mountains. It takes 10 minutes to reach the Jasper Skytram from the town by car. As always, I recommend you to come in the early morning. We arrived shortly after 9am. There was no queue at the ticket office and we caught the gondola that just arrived. Once we got to the upper station, we set off on a little hike. There are couple trails you can choose from. Doesn’t really matter which one you take, the views are amazing from everywhere! I liked it more that Sulphur Mountain as it was more natural and wasn’t that crowded. You can see little Jasper town from the top and mountains covered in snow all around.

Even if you are visiting in June, take into account unpredictable weather conditions. There is still snow in the mountains, therefore take warmer clothes. As it was super windy there, I recommend to take wind breaker jacket 😉

To see what else you can see in while your stay in Jasper, read my Canadian Rockies Itinerary: From Calgary to Vancouver in 2 weeks.

The tour to Athabasca Glacier with Brewster company was really an iconic adventure. Massive Ice Explorer takes you to the one of the largest non-polar ice fields in the world. Conquering steep slope and entering the glacier in top speed of 20km/h are part of the adventure 🙂 The stay at the glacier itself takes about half an hour, giving you plenty time to enjoy the area allowed for tourists (elsewhere it’s too risky and unsafe) and take amazing photos. We had unique conditions to take apocalyptic photos as storm arrived at the same time. This was an experience like no other, again thanks to the awesome unpredictable Canadian weather 🙂 However, I think it is worth the visit also during a sunny day 😉

For its popularity, don’t forget to buy your ticket and reserve the timing that suits you best well in advance. Visit the official Brewster website.

Connecting Banff National Park with Jasper National Park, Icefields Parkway is a scenic route stretching through the Canadian Rockies. On its full length of 232 km it hides countless points of interest, attractions and viewpoints, that make sure your drive will take one whole day 😉. I enjoyed views on the mountains towering to the sky, dense forests and wildlife by the road. On your drive, you will pass many turns hiding trails with spectacular views.

We stopped at the Peyto Lake, Athabasca Glacier and Glacier Skywalk. We also made a short stop to take photos of a bear family. To stay safe around bears, better read my blog on 8 tips how to survive exploring the Canadian Rockies.

Field is a little village located in the Yoho National Park, BC. I fell in love with this place because of its magical atmosphere. To enter Field, you have to cross the Kicking Horse River and railway crossing, which is not always easy. Canadian freight trains cross this village in short intervals and are way too long 🙂 It leaves you with enough time to get off your car and enjoy the views on the surrounding mountains. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t best when we were visiting, therefore the peaks were well hidden in the fog. I think this made Field very mystical and worth the visit 🙂

Love & happy travels,
RLT

P.S.: If you have any questions that popped up in your head during reading, different experience or suggestion, please share it in a comment below 😉