2-Day Lake Louise Itinerary for Summer

If you’re looking for a Lake Louise itinerary that helps you make the most of a short trip, this 2-day plan covers many of the best things to do in Lake Louise without trying to cram in everything. While we believe there’s so much more to do around Lake Louise that could easily fill much more than 2 days, we also recognize that not everyone has unlimited time.

We recently spent a weekend in Lake Louise to enjoy many of the top Lake Louise attractions. Even though we’re locals and get to visit the Lake Louise area often, it’s still fun for us to make a staycation out of it and stay right in Lake Louise.

In this post, we’ll share how we spent 2 days in Lake Louise in summer, including scenic drives, easy hikes, lake views, and a few iconic experiences. This Lake Louise itinerary won’t cover everything in the area, but we’ll also share some alternatives and a few other places in or near Banff National Park to explore if you have more time.

This is a summer Lake Louise itinerary that works well as a standalone weekend trip or as part of a longer Banff itinerary.

This post contains compensated links.

Day 1: Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise

This 2-day Lake Louise itinerary can begin from Calgary or the Town of Banff. We begin this short trip to Lake Louise driving west on the Trans-Canada Highway just past the Town of Banff. If you’d like a tour guide in your car as you drive to Lake Louise, we highly recommend the GuideAlong app.

Bow Valley Parkway Scenic Drive

The Bow Valley Parkway is a scenic drive in Banff National Park that gives visitors a good chance at spotting wildlife. The Bow Valley Parkway parallels the Trans-Canada Highway from just outside the Town of Banff to Whitehorn Road (near Lake Louise).

As you can see from our guide to the Bow Valley Parkway, there are many excellent places to stop. The two Bow Valley Parkway stops we recommend for this itinerary are the Johnston Canyon hike and Silverton Falls hike.

Johnston Canyon Hike

The Johnston Canyon hike is one of the most popular attractions in Banff National Park. Johnston Canyon hike is an easy walk that takes visitors through a deep canyon along elevated boardwalks to both the Lower Falls and the Upper Falls. Starting the Johnston Canyon hike early on Day 1 of your Lake Louise itinerary is the perfect time to help avoid the mid-day crowds.

The hike is easiest to the Lower Falls then it gets steeper to the Upper Falls. The one-way hiking distance from the main parking lot to the Johnston Canyon Lower Falls is 1.2 km. It’s an additional 1.3 km to hike to the Johnston Canyon Upper Falls (for a total of 2.5 km one-way).

Depending on how early of a start you get, you can continue on past the Upper Falls and hike to the Ink Pots. Hiking to the Ink Pots is a total of 12 km return from the parking lot.

Silverton Falls Hike

Continuing west on the Bow Valley Parkway, you’ll make a quick stop for the Silverton Falls hike; a very short hike with a great payoff! Not only will enjoy some views across the valley, but there’s a beautiful waterfall too. You’ll find the Silverton Falls hike along the Bow Valley Parkway near Castle Junction. If the parking lot is full, there’s another parking lot directly across the parkway.

This 2.1 km round-trip hike is considered easy because of the short distance, though be aware the final section is a little steep. It’s one of the best family-friendly hikes in Banff, just watch your kids closely as you get closer to the falls.

After Silverton Falls, we recommend continuing on the Bow Valley Parkway to enjoy this scenic drive. Its a great spot in Banff to see wildlife; help protect these beautiful animals by obeying the posted speed limit! One of the great things about the Bow Valley Parkway is the slower speed limit and getting to enjoy this drive in Banff National Park.

You’ll pass one of Banff’s famous viewpoints, Morant’s Curve, along the way. Make a stop here if you have the time.

Lake Louise Summer Gondola

When you come to the end of the Bow Valley Parkway at Whitehorn Road, turn right to the Lake Louise Ski Resort (the Lake Louise Village is to the left).

The Lake Louise Summer Gondola is another opportunity to spot some wildlife as the chairlift passes over a wildlife corridor. While it’s never guaranteed, grizzly bears can be spotted from the chairlift.

We’ve been twice, but haven’t spotted a grizzly bear yet. We did get to see a lynx on our most recent visit which was almost more exciting to see since we don’t often get to see the wild cats that live in the mountains.

We recommend grabbing some lunch at the Lake Louise Gondola (either a packed lunch from the base or at one of the excellent restaurants). The Whitehorn Bistro has some of the best lunch views around; we took our daughter there for her birthday a few years ago.

Take some time at the top to visit the viewing platform, then head down to the interpretive centre to learn more about the local wildlife! If you have time, you can do a short hike from the Lake Louise gondola, just make sure you have bear spray!

We love that you can see Lake Louise from across the valley here at the top of the Lake Louise Gondola! The ride down offers spectacular views the entire way!

Getting to the Lake Louise Lakeshore

We’re now at the part of this 2-day Lake Louise itinerary where we actually need to go to the actual lake. This is a good time to talk about how to get to Lake Louise. The most important things to know is the Lake Louise Lakeshore parking is very expensive, and the lot typically fills by sunrise in summer. This means most visitors need to find an alternate way of visiting Lake Louise instead of driving.

Most visitors will be able to visit Lake Louise with a Parks Canada shuttle. But, there are other options such as tours, private shuttle operators, etc., which we discuss in our post on how to get to Lake Louise. If you wish to visit Lake Louise during your trip to Banff, this is required reading.

We stayed at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise during our 2-days in Lake Louise. This is the most convenient place to stay in Lake Louise as is located on the lake and we didn’t need to worry about finding parking or shuttle tickets.

Fairview Lookout Hike

After checking into the Chateau Lake Louise, we ventured out for our first adventure around the lake. In our experience, one of the best ways to get the lay of the land for first time visitors to Lake Louise is to hike the Fairview Lookout Trail.

Leaving the hotel, the first viewpoint along the lakeshore was incredibly busy (as usual), and the canoe rentals had a huge lineup. The secret to avoiding crowds at Lake Louise is to get away from this highly congested area; thankfully you don’t need to go far.

Even on a warm Saturday afternoon in June, we had most of this short Lake Louise hike to ourselves! We passed a couple of groups coming down and there was a group at the top when we arrived, but they left shortly after and we had it all to ourselves.

The hike to Fairview Lookout is similar to Silverton Falls: short, steep, and worth it! The views of Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise rival the views from more difficult hikes around, but with far less effort or time required! While we love the other lake Louise hikes, like the Big Beehive hike or Plain of Six Glaciers hike, it’s not always easy to fit it all in!

Lake Louise Lakeshore Trail

If the Fairview Lookout hike isn’t for you or you have more time, then the Lake Louise lakeshore trail is a great alternative. This easy walking trail is one of the very best easy hikes in Banff.

It takes visitors along the shores of Lake Louise for just over 2 km before you’ll turn around and return the way you came. The Lake Louise Lakeshore trail easily has the best views for minimal effort in the national park.

Optional Itinerary Activity

You will be visiting the Lake Louise lakeshore again on day 2 of this itinerary. If you don’t wish to take a shuttle to the lakeshore two days in a row, you can skip the Fairview Lookout hike and do a hike from the top of the Lake Louise Gondola instead. We recommend the Pika Trail; you can get details in our post about the best hikes in Lake Louise.

Take in Scenic Views at Chateau Lake Louise

The evening is the perfect time to take in the scenic views from Chateau Lake Louise. As guests of the hotel, we enjoyed a meal at the Louiza restaurant. After dinner, we returned back outside to walk along the shores of Lake Louise, enjoying the more peaceful surroundings, now that most of the day trippers had left.

Day 2: Moraine Lake Sunrise and Lake Louise

Moraine Lake Sunrise

One of the most sought-after experiences in Lake Louise is to visit Moraine Lake for sunrise. Given how far north Banff National Park is, the sun rises very early in the summer, so enjoying a Moraine Lake sunrise involves getting up very, very early in the morning.

Given there is no parking at Moraine Lake, the best way to see sunrise at Moraine Lake is with a shuttle. One of the perks of staying in Lake Louise is that we got to sleep in a little longer compared to people coming from Calgary, Canmore or Banff.

Even still, for our Moraine Lake sunrise experience, we set our alarms for 3:20 am to give us enough time to get to Lake Louise village to catch our shuttle.

We had a perfect warm morning without much wind. The sky was clear and we were able to see the sunrise light the peaks of the mountains. While seeing the sunrise at Moraine Lake wasn’t overly interesting for the kids, even they could appreciate the beauty! We were pleasantly surprised how quiet it felt at Moraine Lake at this early hour.

This is such a popular experience that we wrote a post covering all of your options on how to see Moraine Lake at sunrise. If sunrise is too early for you, we also have a post on how to get to Moraine Lake.

Rent a Canoe on Lake Louise

We had thought about renting a canoe at Lake Louise on the previous afternoon, but after seeing the line up, we decided to put this off for the next day.

We could have also done it in the evening, but given we were travelling with kids who needed to be up at 3:20 am for the Moraine Lake shuttle, we knew it would be best to prioritize sleep at this point!

When we returned from our Moraine Lake sunrise experience, we went for breakfast at the Fairmont Lake Louise. The buffet breakfast was exactly what we all needed after being up for several hours!

By around 9 am, we were ready to go canoeing on Lake Louise. While we knew this wasn’t as early as we wanted, it was the only way for us to fit it in. As we approached the Lake Louise Boathouse, we could see that it was already lined up on this beautiful Sunday morning. Thankfully, with a hotel guest priority line, we were able to walk right up to the front of the line.

After our safety briefing, we were in our canoe (the fifth last one available) and on our way. We rented the canoe for one hour rather than 30 minutes, as we felt the 30 minutes would have been too short. With one hour, we were able to go to the end of the lake and back.

The views were just spectacular on the lake with the mountains surrounding us and the Victoria Glacier as the backdrop.

There id always a large number of canoes on the lake, but to be honest, it didn’t feel crowded once we were on the lake.

Enjoy a Classic Lake Louise Hike

To finish up this two-day itinerary at Lake Louise, we recommend doing one of the Lake Louise hikes that leaves from the shores of Lake Louise.

Option 1: Lake Agnes Tea House Hike

The Lake Agnes Tea House hike is the shorter of our two options, and is likely the most popular hike in Lake Louise. It takes hikers up past Mirror Lake then on to Lake Agnes and the historic Lake Agnes Tea House, where you can enjoy a tea and snack (don’t forget cash).

If you have more time, you can continue past Lake Agnes to Little Beehive or Big Beehive, both are hikes with impressive views. The Big Beehive hike takes you to the end of Lake Agnes then up to a viewpoint with some of the best views in all of Lake Louise. The Little Beehive hike is easier and shorter and also rewards hikers with spectacular views over the valley.

Option 2: Plain of Six Glaciers Hike

The Plain of Six Glaciers hike is one of our favourite Lake Louise hikes. It begins along the easy Lake Louise Lakeshore trail, then continues into a glacier-filled valley. As with the Lake Agnes hike, you can also visit a historic tea house near the end of the hike.

You can continue past the Plain of Six Glaciers tea house to get an amazing, up-close view of the glaciers before turning around and returning the same way you came.

If you were feeling very ambitious and wanted to see it all, you can hike the entire Beehive Circuit (we describe it fully in this link). This Plain of Six Glaciers and the Beehive hike on Alltrails has a map of exactly this. It’s 20 km round-trip and 1,140 m elevation gain. It would be an epic day of Lake Louise hiking but you’ll get to see it all!

If You Have More Time Near Lake Louise

Option #1: Icefields Parkway to Jasper

If you have extra time after your two days in Lake Louise, a very popular option is to head north up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park. The Icefields Parkway is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world.

If you don’t have enough time to go all the way to Jasper, you can still visit a portion of the Icefields Parkway and stop at places like the Columbia Icefield (a must-do!), Herbert Lake, Peyto Lake, Bow Lake and Bow Glacier Falls before driving back.

Option #2: Yoho National Park

Another alternative is to spend a day visiting Yoho National Park, which is so close to Lake Louise that you could just spend one more night there. In Yoho National Park, you can visit some of the most incredible natural attractions in the Canadian Rockies, including Emerald Lake, Wapta Falls, Natural Bridge, Takakkaw Falls and the Spiral Tunnels.

Park Passes You Need for Lake Louise

For this Lake Louise itinerary, you’ll need to purchase a Banff park pass. There are two types of Banff park passes you can purchase:

1. Daily Admission Fees: Daily admission fees are good for Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Kootenay National Park, Yoho National Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park, Glacier National Park, Waterton National Park and Elk Island National Park. The Banff day pass is good until 4pm the following day, regardless of time of purchase.
   
            
2. Annual Discovery Pass: Valid for an entire year, the annual Discovery Pass will get you entry into ALL national parks in Canada plus National Marine Conservation Areas and National Historic Sites.

Get all your Banff Park Pass questions answered in our comprehensive post that includes who needs it and where to buy it.

Where to Stay in Lake Louise

There are plenty of options for where to stay in Lake Louise. We’ve rounded up the best Lake Louise hotels in this post, but here are a few we recommend for this 2-day Lake Louise itinerary.

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise (Luxury Lake Louise Hotel)

Surrounded on all sides by towering Rocky Mountains, the Chateau Lake Louise is the only hotel on Lake Louise. This envious lakeside location offers guests magnificent views of the massive Victoria Glacier and the emerald waters of Lake Louise itself.

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise hotel has the ideal location for this itinerary. You don’t have to worry about finding parking or booking shuttles, allowing you to enjoy Lake Louise with less crowds! If you’d like to learn more about this hotel, you can read our full review of the Chateau Lake Louise.

Paradise Lodge and Bungalows (Close to Lake Louise)

If you are looking for the best non-luxury hotel in Lake Louise, take a good look at the Paradise Lodge and Bungalows. A family run business for over a half-century, the Paradise Lodge offers guests a choice between cozy, spacious hotel suites and newly renovated, luxurious cabins.

With its log construction and natural building materials, the Paradise Lodge blends in perfectly with its beautiful flower garden and evergreen forest surroundings.

HI Lake Louise Alpine Centre (Budget Hotel in Lake Louise)

Located next door to the posh Post Hotel, the HI Lake Louise hostel has a wide variety of room offerings. As you’d expect with a Lake Louise hostel, the standard offering here is shared accommodation with 4-6 beds per room. But, this Lake Louise hostel also offers private rooms ranging from a basic double bed, rooms with a private washroom.

Guests looking for affordable, comfort food will enjoy having Bill Peyto’s cafe onsite. If you are looking to self-cater during your visit to Lake Louise (a great way to travel to Lake Louise on a budget), you are free to use one of the two onsite guest kitchens.

Lake Louise Inn (Family-friendly Lake Louise Hotel)

We stayed at the Chateau Lake Louise for our 2-day trip to Lake Louise, but that isn’t where we normally stay. When we typically visit Lake Louise with kids, we look for an affordable, kid-friendly Lake Louise hotel.

The Lake Louise Inn is a large, kid-friendly Lake Louise hotel with a heated indoor pool and hot tubs. There are a wide variety of room options available at the Lake Louise Inn. As a family, we appreciate the ability to rent a 1-bedroom apartment, as the extra space helps everyone get a better night’s sleep.

---

Looking for the PERFECT Lake Louise Souvenir?

If you love Lake Louise as much as we do, you’ll want to bring a piece of it home with you. This Lake Louise in Summer illustration by Diana Boyle at Rooftop Illustrations is the PERFECT souvenir!

See more Banff Souvenirs by local artists here.

---