Hey guys! So I just got back from the most amazing trip in Canada. I was in Alberta & British Columbia visiting some of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I had all thanks to my aunt and uncle for inviting me on this trip. If it weren’t for them, I probably would have never visited Canada because I do not function well in cold weather. I love the sunny & warm San Diego weather, so it was really a reach out of my comfort zone to travel somewhere so cold… but I am so glad I did (get yourself an aunt who challenges you).

I managed to pack everything I needed in a carry on luggage (shocker! since I am an over packer this was no easy task). I will share in a different blog post everything I packed to stay warm and stylish at the same time.

I am going to share my top 5 places to visit with you! Travel tip: A lot of these places you have to arrive to the parking lot no later than 7 am because once it’s full they close it down and you have to park in the overflow lots and take buses which is a lot more difficult.

Moraine Lake ( & Consolation Lake)

This lake was by far my FAVORITE lake of the entire trip. Sure, Canada is filled with gorgeous lakes, but this one was just breathtaking. The water was so refreshingly blue from the glaciers & the mountains reflection in the water was just so majestic. At this lake, you are able to see it from so many different vantage points. You can do a small hike to a lookout, you can hike down the side and go right up to the lake, and/or you can rent a canoe. If I am ever back, I will do the canoe. For me, this was the bluest and prettiest lake I had ever seen

We were going to hike another part of the lake, but ended up following some other tourists on the hike to Consolation Lake. This hike was so pretty because there was snow falling. It was cold, but it wasn’t too much. Not many people take this trail, and you have to hike in a large group in order to scare off bears (oh my!).

Peyto Lake

This lake was another beautiful lake with a view. This lake requires a small hike to get to and is crowded. A lot of people are trying to take a picture in one spot. But, there is a side hike, if you are up for it, to a different vantage point. This vantage point was one of my favorite views of the entire trip. It was way less crowded with even better views. If you are not afraid of heights, you can get some pretty cool photos on the rocks & edges. This lake was very blue with glacier water as well.

Lake Louise (Tea house, Plain of 6 glaciers)

This lake is probably the most popular one that you see all the bloggers go to. It is very accessible. Again, you have to get to this lot pretty early for parking or take the shuttle. This lake you can just park and walk up to. There is no hiking for it. Depending on how the light hits it during the day it will reflect green and blue colors. You can rent canoes here as well.

If you are up for an adventure, there is a 9 mile (in and out) hike up to a tea house in the mountains. It’s a pretty large elevation gain but definitely worth it. This tea house is ran by staff who hikes supplies in there (or a helicopter will fly in the non perishables). When we went, they were about to close down for the season because it was getting too cold. I ordered a carmel creme tea & tea biscuits. That tea was so nice to drink because it was 20 degrees when we were eating. The staff was super friendly and I would recommend hiking to this point.

If you want to go even further (which you do), there is a hike not much further to see the plain of six glaciers. This was such a pretty view. You get to see Lake Louise from the back side, you are in/above the clouds, and you can see Canadian glaciers (which I think is pretty cool - they are very interesting & dangerous!). It was very cold, but I was bundled up so just make sure you research the weather when you are hiking in this area!

Jasper (Mount Robson, Kinney Lake, Whistlers Summit)

Jasper is about 5 hours from Canmore where I was staying right outside of Banff. It is a very scenic drive with beautiful mountains on each side of you with green/orange/yellow trees and the occasional lake. A funny story - when you are driving around in Canada, and you see a bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, there is probably some really cool wildlife in the area. This was the case when we got to see a bear (oh my!). We also got to see a lot of deer crossing the road with their families.

Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. It is a gigantic mountain that is very majestic. Some people attempt to hike it, but you have to go through intense training for it. The hike we took was 13 miles (in and out) and we went to Kinney Lake. This lake is another pretty blue lake, but less accessible. The hike to it increased in elevation for the majority of it. We decided to walk all the way around it and towards the back to where the base of Mount Robson was. We would have gone further but we were losing sunlight so we decided to head back. This was the longest hike we did on the trip and I was extremely sore the next day. My knees, feet & hips were feeling it so make sure you stretch before & after, because I didn’t and felt the pain the next day.

Whistlers Summit was definitely a fun experience! We took a gondola up to the mountain and you could see so many mountain peaks. It was incredible. This mountain was very cold. After the gondola dropped us off, we hiked to the top. This hiked increased the most in elevation in the shortest amount of distance that we did. It was tough - some parts we had to walk sideways because the snow was so slippery. Once we were at the top, we got some really cool photos. You could see so many different lakes, mountains, & the town of Jasper (that is actually in the shape of a ‘J’). This was the coldest I was the entire trip. We took some layers off to take photos and my fingers were freezing, but other than that it was a great experience.

Banff

Banff is the cutest little town. There was a lot of fun shopping there! Tons of souvenir stores, boutiques & lots of restaurants. My absolute favorite boutique was Cabin 108. They had a lot of the brands I love such as BB Dakota, Brunette the Label & a tons more. They also had cute jewelry and bags & accessories as well. I loved all the souvenir shops. They had such cute tshirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, everything! And of course, they had some of the best restaurants. If you are in the area, you can definitely spend an entire day exploring in Banff.

Thank you for reading about my Canadian adventures and if you’ve been to Canada, let me know your favorite adventures or places you went in the comments!

Special shoutout to my Aunt Leah & Uncle Chad for taking me on this amazing vacation and showing me all the cool places to visit. Love you guys!

xoxo Allysa