As the snow melts and the temperatures start to rise here in Western Canada, it is time to start planning your spring, summer and fall vacations to beautiful Banff National Park. With so much information on the internet with varying degrees of accuracy, depending on the website owner’s intentions, where do you start?

Firstly, don’t just submit your information to every website you come across. It is always best to call for information as most reputable companies are able to provide detailed Banff National Park information over the phone. If you are satisfied with the knowledge of the agent you spoke to about Banff National Park, and require more information, then submit your information through their website. Whenever you see the offer of things that are “FREE” without you having to book anything or part with any money, you have to ask yourself if this is really the case? Why would a company, out of their own pocket, send you something for “free”? This is one technique some website owners may use to harvest your personal information.

This brings me onto my next recommendation when looking up information on Banff National Park. The following three (3) OFFICIAL websites relating to Banff National Park offer up-to-date and accurate information. These websites should provide all the information you need to plan a successful stay in beautiful Banff National Park.

• www.pc.gc.ca – This is the OFFICIAL website for all National Parks in Canada including Banff National Park. It is the official Banff National Park website and contains up-to-date information including trail updates. There is also an information centre located right in the centre of Banff at 224 Banff Avenue.
• www.banff.ca - This is the OFFICIAL website of the Town of Banff. The information on this website is true and factual and includes information such as the Banff Roam transit schedule.
• www.banfflakelouise.com – This is the OFFICIAL website for Banff and Lake Louise tourism in Banff National Park. This is an excellent website for viewing up-to-date information such as events in Banff and Lake Louise in Banff National Park.

These three websites should be your “go-to” sites to start your Banff vacation planning.

I hope you find this information useful and for many of you, clarified which sites are, in fact, “official” for Banff National Park. Feel free to contact us or post comments below if you require any further clarification or assistance. I have been helping guests with their Banff vacations for well over 10 years.

Melissa’s
Home of the infamous $2.75 high ball, Mel’s is a lively bar with a great atmosphere. A firm favourite with both Banff locals and visitors alike due to its chameleon nature; Mel’s is a sports bar, steak house, and party bar all rolled into one!
The ground floor restaurant serves up huge slabs of meat, chargrilled to perfection, while the 2nd Floor bar caters for all your sport watching and party needs. It’s also a great spot to pick up breakfast if you’re feeling a little fragile the next day!
Quick tip: don’t forget to tip the barman if you want to get served quickly and never ask to change the channel from Ice Hockey!

The Storm Cellar
Situated on the ground floor of the Banff Alpine Lodge at Tunnel Mountain, this lively bar is a firm favourite with young travellers and locals alike. Offering some of the most reasonably priced drinks in town along with regular open mic and karaoke nights, this lively little bar is the perfect place to start a night out in Banff. There’s also a darts board, table football, big screen TV, and an Ice Climbing wall outside. So if you’re feeling adventurous why not see if you can scale this icy behemoth… just leave the beers for afterwards!

Trapper’s
This lively mountain bar can be found at the top of the Sunshine Village high speed gondola. Trapper’s boasts some of the finest food available on mountain; serving up huge plates of Nachos, delicious pulled pork sandwiches, as well as all the usual Canadian favourites. It’s also perfect for sunny days on the hill thanks to its extensive outdoor seating area and sun terrace.
There’s really no better place to grab a cold one after a hard day’s riding with your buddies!

Wild Bill’s Saloon
One of Banff’s more lively venues, Wild Bill’s hosts regular live music nights with both local and international acts passing through on a regular basis. As the name suggests there’s a bit of a western vibe going on here, where else can you cattle roping in the mountains?! So if you fancy playing cowboy/cowgirl for a night or just want to check out some awesome live bands head on down to Wild Bill’s! They also throw a mean Superbowl party…

The Dancing Sasquatch
Not only is this nightclub the number one contender for our “Best named club in the world. Ever” award, it’s also a great place for a night out. With local and international DJ’s gracing the decks playing the very best in Dubstep, Hip-hop, Techno and everything in between coupled with unbeatable drinks deals the Dancing Sasquatch is definitely the place to party after hours in Banff!

Aurora Nightclub
The other of Banff’s nightclubs, with a relaxed atmosphere and some of Canada’s finest DJs passing through Aurora is a great place to party. Complete with pool tables and its own take-away pizza stand Aurora ticks all the boxes for a great night out! It also throws a killer Australia Day party for all you Aussies out there!

The author, Nick Coates, recommends SnowSkool for snowboard instructor courses

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The ski resorts in Banff National Park received another good dosing of the white stuff today:

• Sunshine Village, Banff – 20cm in past 24 hrs. High of just -3°C (26.6°F) reached today.
• Banff Norquay received 7cm in the past 48 hours.
• Lake Louise received 9cm of fresh snow over the past 24 hours.

Sunshine Village still intends to open through to late May and Lake Louise intends to close May 1st. Banff Norquay just announced that they intend to extend their opening through to April 24th 2011. It seems that there is plenty of the white stuff for Easter – not only will we be skiing with the Easter bunny, you might want to look out for bears on skis too!

Happy spring to you all!

This will be one of the last Rocky Mountaineer train departures for 2010 but 2011 Rocky Mountaineer packages are now available for booking with early-bird savings of up to $1,400 per couple.

Book before February 15th for travel between

May 1 – July 16 and/or Sept 8 – Oct 31, 2008

Promotion Code: BeMyValentine2008

Prices are based per passenger when a round trip ticket is purchased. Visit flyzoom.com and enter the promotion code above prior to booking and fly to romance with Zoom!

Remember for the rest of your banff ski holiday or banff summer vacation in Canada, be sure to contact rocky-peak Holidays!