Dear reader, we have just returned from a refreshing family holiday. We visited 2 countries: Canada and Italy and in this travel article I will write part 1 of the holiday details for a trip to Calgary, Canada. In the second post, I’ll cover our trip to Italy to Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice. My third and final travel journal this summer will be about visiting the Vatican, Cinque Terre, Milan and Lake Como in Italy.
background
We love traveling as a family and consider ourselves travel lovers. We usually have two family vacations a year—one in the summer, one in the winter, and sometimes during the spring or Thanksgiving break. Luckily, I work in the education sector, summer vacation and two weeks off in December. We visited Pittsburgh and New York City last summer, and San Francisco and Yosemite National Park in California in the winter. If interested, read my post on each of them here – Visit Pittsburgh after the pandemic, Explore New York City, California Winter Tour and Yosemite tour.
introduce
Canada is the second largest country in the world by area, but because of the severe cold weather in the north, about 70% of Canadians live in the south. Compared to the 50 states in the United States, Canada has provinces and territories. The 10 Canadian provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec Province and Saskatchewan. The three territories are the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.
Both my sisters and their families live in Calgary, Alberta. Calgary is picturesque all year round. I had the opportunity to visit in summer 2013 and winter 2015. Winters can be harsh, but the frozen lakes and snow around them really make our winter trips worthwhile. Read on for today’s post about our most recent visit to Calgary in the summer of 2022.
Calgary Attractions
If you’re visiting beautiful Calgary, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Jasper National Park and Banff National Park are must-sees. I visited three national parks, Calgary-Jasper National Park, Banff National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park, each with their own charm and natural beauty of mountains, lakes and wildlife. Banff is Canada’s first national park and the third in the world. Calgary is about 150 kilometers away, less than 2 hours by car. Alternatively, you can head to picturesque Vancouver, which is 971 kilometers from Calgary, about a 12-hour drive. Waterton and Edmonton are two other nearby places you’ll love. Unlike other lakes, Waterton has a lake that is probably the only one out there that doesn’t freeze over in winter.For more information on Waterton Lakes National Park visit their official website here. Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, has an indoor water park that we played in the winter of 2015!
Our experience
We flew from Houston to Calgary on June 23rd. The flight was at 6:30pm and we got there at 10:06pm local time. My sister, brother-in-law and their son came to pick us up at the airport. It was great to see them after 3 years. The last time we saw them was July 2019 when they visited us in Houston. We took 2 large suitcases, 1 small suitcase and 3 backpacks as carry-on luggage. I believe we are travelling light as we are also going to Italy after Canada, but I am sure some people may disagree with us 🙂 I am surprised that some people only carry a suitcase on vacation with every piece of clothing/tool worth! That will never be us.
We went to their house, had dinner, had a few chats, and went to bed around 1am. Their eldest child has fallen asleep because he is next to school, while the younger child ends up skipping school due to the late night. The next day, the 24th, was our 20th wedding anniversary. We planned this so I could celebrate the anniversary with my family – both my sisters were in Calgary and then my grown-up birthday after 5 days in Europe. We went to my sister’s house for lunch. In the evening we sliced a cake and ordered an exquisite takeaway Indian dinner, and overall I am grateful to be with the family!
The next day was Saturday and we planned to go to Jasper, visiting Lake Louise and Moraine Lake on the way. It’s a well-known fact to locals, and those who’ve been there, that to park in either of these places, you have to be there earlier in the day, otherwise all the parking spaces are full and they’ll take a detour And go. As we are a family of three with 6 adults and 5 children ranging in age from 7 to 19 years old, we decided not to leave early and there was no way to park after noon. But wait, we got lucky the next day! After we got back from Jasper on Sunday night, we were able to park, explore and enjoy the stunning views of Lake Louise and Moraine.
The drive from Calgary to Jasper and Banff is spectacular in many ways. Surrounded by mountains, lakes and greenery, you will almost always end up with a glimpse of wildlife. During our drive we saw rams, goats and bears! We stopped for a camping lunch around 3pm and it was so much fun! The food was leftovers from last night but the experience of having a picnic outdoors with the family was amazing. We also stopped at three waterfalls along the way and they were absolutely stunning. We saw a rainbow in the falling waterfall and it was a nice climb and exploration experience. As expected, we arrived in Jasper late at night with multiple stops in between to explore and take pictures. We had takeaway dinner in our hotel room and went to bed after the kids played in the hotel pool for a while.
The next Sunday we started our return before 11am because we wanted to stop by the lake on the way back to Calgary. We were really lucky because we were able to find parking at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake! Moraine Lake is only open for a few months of the year, so it’s generally always crowded when it’s open from June to August. Moraine Lake is glacier-fed and takes on a brilliant blue-green color due to light refraction from the rocks. It’s best viewed from the top, but you can also walk and hike around the lake to soak up all the beauty and nature.You can read more about Moraine Lake here.
According to the official website banfflakelouise.com, Lake Louise is world-famous for its turquoise lakes, Victoria Glaciers, towering mountain backdrops, palatial hotels and incredible hiking and skiing. In winter, the lake is completely frozen but open to the public. In December 2015, the Lake Louise Ice Devils Festival we were able to attend was amazing. The ice sculptures of Lake Louise and the ice skating rink on the ice lake are loved and attended by countless tourists. Just remember to bring lots of warm clothes at night!You can find out more about activities in Lake Louise here. Icefields Parkway is another activity you should definitely do there. Rated as one of the top lanes in the world, it is a 232-kilometer two-lane highway that winds along the Continental Divide through towering Rocky peaks, ice fields and vast valleys.For more information click here here.
Winter travel comparison chart:
wrap up
All in all, we had a great holiday visiting family and exploring Calgary. I highly recommend visiting Banff and Jasper National Parks to explore Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Lake Louise is open year-round, but Moraine Lake is only open during the summer months, around June-August. You can also explore Stampede in July, but in today’s post I’ve only written about the great outdoors and scenic beauty you can explore in Calgary.
Dear readers, we would love to hear from you. Have you been to Calgary or anywhere else in Canada? Which is your favorite of my posts today? Share your favorite vacation spots or vacation memories.
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