Calgary, Alberta Canada

Traveling to Banff has been a dream of mine for years!!  Although definitely worth every bit of travel, here are the logistics for actually getting there.  

We flew from Toronto into Calgary which is the hub for travelers to Banff.  It is a big city that is definitely worth checking out if you have time.  They were the hosts of the 1988 Winter Olympics, so if you are interested in Olympic history, there are some interesting things you can explore!  Also, Calgary is an hour and a half away from Banff!  If you arrive late in the day or have an early morning departure flight, I would would recommend staying in Calgary for a night.  It worked great for us!   

Car Rental
You will need to rent a car in your travels to Banff (unless you want to travel around by bus, however probably not with little kids). J  We chose Europcar, and it was very reasonably priced!  We decided to bring our own car seats.  Renting car seats an get expensive so whenever possible we like to bring our own.  Basically the only time we don’t bring our own car seats is when we aren’t renting a car the entire time.  It’s SUPER annoying to lug around car seats onto trains and what not.  If you decide to bring your own car seats for the car rental it is free to stow them under the plane (unlike luggage if you are flying domestic) so that is a huge perk! 

When we arrived in Calgary we picked up our car seats and waited at a designated spot to take a bus from the airport over to the car rental office.  It is about a 5-10 minute drive away.  There were car rental offices right at the airport, so if you don’t want to have to wait for a bus transfer, I would recommend choosing a different company.  However, we really loved our Europcar rental and they even upgraded us to a minivan which was so spacious!
Hotel
We stayed at the Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel, which was sooo close to the airport, it was perfect! Our room was fantastic!  A family suite including a big living area with a pull out couch and table, huge bathroom, and a separate master bedroom.  Matt and I LOVE having a separate room from the boys because generally we like to stay up a little later than them and it’s nice to keep a light on and not have to whisper!  By far, the best part of the hotel (and the whole vacation, according to Dylan) is their two huge water slides!  Dylan had a BLAST taking the two story slides down and splashing in the water, Matt and I even enjoyed it as well!  I also really appreciated that the hotel provided life jackets for our non-swimmers.  Bringing “swimmies” for the boys would have taken up way too much space in our luggage.  It is always so helpful when the hotel provides everything you need, and that is how we felt about the Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel. 

Some places with kids we would recommend visiting from the Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel are: 
I really could not say enough good things about our trip to the Canadian Rockies and I can't wait to share with you more sights and attractions in the beautiful district of Calgary!  





Comments

  1. I love this post. I’m extremely curious about travelling to Canada 🇨🇦 great photos and tips of places to visit.

    Rach

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  2. Love the info, pictures and the useful links at the end!

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  3. This is such a great family outing, great pictures to consider base on your travel there.

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  4. I visited Canada 4 times, but I never went to Calgary. I hope to visit this place in next year :)

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  5. My gf just back from Banff and loved it. Great story with beautiful pics!

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  6. I've only been to Ontario, Canada half day and there seems to be lots of beautiful places! Hope to visit Alberta, Canada soon!

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  7. Recently a friend of mine had been to Canada. He had also been to Banff. I so envy him now. Looks like you all had a lot of fun. All the pics are amazing.

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  8. I love Calgary! My family took a camping trip through Glacier/Waterton, up to Calgary and then back through Jasper and Banff. It is so beautiful.

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  9. I have always thought of going to Banff since a long time. But somehow things did'nt work out. Maybe this post is the inspiration I need!

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  10. How fun! And those are some cute kids!!

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  11. Alberta is a pretty cool place. I visited it when my family and I moved to Alaska from the lower 48 by car. Glad you enjoyed it!

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  12. Canada is one of our favorite places to visit, we visited Vancouver and Whistler and it was beyond amazing!

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  13. I really liked your post. Liked the idea of carrying car seats when hiring car. Hotel pictures are too cool.

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  14. Thanks for sharing. It's always good to learn from someone else's experience when traveling.

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  15. What a great family vacation. Canada is one of my favorite place and I really want to visit someday "Crossfingers" I love your photos.

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  16. Calgary looks so beautiful. Calgary is beautiful. Canada really does offer a lot of surprises! Thanks for posting and loving all your photos.

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  17. Calgary looks stunning! Those views are absolutely incredible, your photos are fab x

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  18. My best friend from college lives in Calgary. He has been asking us to come visit...Your pictures are stunning

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  19. i m from montreal. Was hoping to visit Alberta this summer but didnt have the time with sudden other plans. This made me really regret not coming

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  20. i love canada! never been to banff but I will definitely be making my way up there again real soon. I am from the East Coast, NY but live in Cali now so I'll be interest to see what's on the west coast of Canada

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  21. This place looks so beautiful. Great tips and useful review. Well done

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  22. Enjoyed reading your beautiful narrative...you have described your experience in such details...will surely help the people planning to visit..lovely pics..
    Thank you

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  23. Incredible places explained on the above post. Nowadays, you can search for deals and save a huge amount of money. Spend money wisely and travel smartly.
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