Lonely Planet Banff, Jasper and Glacier National Parks

by Lonely Planet, Brendan Sainsbury, Michael Grosberg

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Lonely Planet Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Go hiking and camping in the Backcountry in Banff; mountain-biking and horseback riding in Jasper, or wildlife spotting in Glacier; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks and begin your journey now!

Inside the Lonely Planet Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks Travel Guide:



User-friendly highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices, emergency information, park seasonality, hiking trail junctions, viewpoints, landscapes, elevations, distances, difficulty levels, and durations

Focused on the best - hikes, drives, and cycling tours

Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, camping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, summer and winter activities, and hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

Contextual insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, geology, wildlife, and conservation

Over 52 full-color trail and park maps and full-color images throughout

Useful features - Travel with Children, Clothing and Equipment, and Day and Overnight Hikes

Covers Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Glacier National Park, Lake Louise, Lake Minnewanka, Bow Valley, Backcountry, Kananaskis Country, Lake O'Hara, Jasper Town, Blackfeet Indian Reservation and more
The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks, our most comprehensive guide to these Canadian national parks, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveler community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards winner in Favorite Travel Guide category for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Guidebook, Canada

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this four stars because the book succeeds at what it tries to do, which is to provide an offline resource for vacation planning in these parks and surrounding areas. (Fair warning: I visited Glacier National Park this summer but I can't speak to the quality of the book regarding Banff or Jasper.) That being said, it's not at all a replacement for the maps you get in the park or the detailed hike/stay/restaurant reviews you can find online, which are more detailed and up-to-date.

So I'd say it was absolutely worth it for me in the "I want to go to Glacier but I've never been there and I don't know what to do or where to say" phase of my vacation planning. If you're already familiar with the area and/or are looking for a specific recommendation on which hike to take on which day or which place to eat, go online.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really useful guide for planning and visiting Banff, Jasper & Yoho National Parks. Definitely do supplement with internet resources for additional lodging and restaurant options. A lot of the recommendations were useful and let us to some lovely spots that were a bit less frequented by the average tourist. Hope to go back!

The one thing I heartily disagree with is about the pizza place in Canmore where they were rude and disorganized when we tried to eat there.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loney Planet does great books and this rating in not a reflection on the content only on usefulness of traveling to remote locations with an ebook. I read a lot of ebooks but using an ebook for travel is not as good as a physical copy. We traveled with a physical Yellowstone book and this book for Banff and Glacier and I will only get physical copies from now on.

[Katy Koivastik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough, but poorly arranged. I found my self going back and forth through the section on Glacier National Park looking for the historic Glacier Lodge on a map, to no avail. I would have a section devoted to each type of lodging (camping, hostel, lodge) with a map and a numbered list corresponding to the map.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful for planning our trip to Jasper.

[Anita Elder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this to help plan my road trip to Banff in July 2020.

[Denise Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good travel guide that covered the major sights and things to do.

[Curlysue · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good explanations of hikes and scenic drives available.

[JC Cornell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Lonely Planet travel books. Great way to work out the not to miss sights before deep diving the internet.

[Barbara Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great source of inspiration

Thorough guide, extremely helpful source of information which helped us prepare our family for our trip to Glacier, Banff and Jasper.

[Ryan Logrieco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to find some dope hikes in Glacier!

[Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A version of this review was originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.

There is plenty of good information on where to stay, where to eat, and what to do in this travel guide, but since we were renting an RV and doing most of our own cooking, the food and lodging information was less important to us than suggestions on what to do and see. I found the layout of the Frommer's Banff & Canadian Rockies Day by Day easier to use for activity planning, though some of the trail descriptions here were helpful. I would definitely recommend this book if you're planning to stay in hotels or cabins or if you enjoy dining out.

FCC disclosure: I bought this book.

You can read more of my reviews at The Bookwyrm’s Hoard.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/4/2019
Time to brush up on my favorite part of Canada. LOL, or what is certainly one of my favorite parts of Canada.

And, upon reflection, I'm bumping this down to 3 stars. It has a heavy focus on hikes, which is fine if that wasn't covered just as well other places. I wanted a more rounded guide. [I mean, what I really wanted was a travel guide to Alberta, but that seems an impossible dream on my part.]
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2017 review

I'm not one to over plan a vacation, lol, so this was just what I needed because it had all the highlights that I was looking for. That includes hikes, because let's face it, I'm not a hardcore hiker either. The activities covered meshed well with what I was looking to do on vacation.

[Jenny GB · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're going to vacation in Banff soon and this was a valuable resource for planning our trip. Lonely Planet guides are usually good quality and this is no exception. There are several good maps, helpful comparison charts, detailed descriptions of trails and driving tours, and suggestions for other activities. I'm not sure if I should evaluate it's accuracy until after the trip, but according to a coworker who has been in the area a lot of the information presented is good. I feel well prepared now to choose how to spend our vacation and my husband and I are excited to hike, white water raft, and even walk on a glacier!

[Vicky Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Lonely Planet books are fantastic, especially when you get the ones that are specialized enough to where you're going (the Canada one, for example, was so broad that it was nearly useless). 5 stars to the destination!

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caveat: I do not usually “count” travel guides in my reading, but I referenced this one so thoroughly both before and after our trip that I felt it warranted a rating. Useful for maps, trails descriptions, directions, and food recommendations. Less useful for accommodations.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so helpful! I got it from the library and actually brought it with me on the trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks. The food recs were on point. Good info on hikes, camping, driving trips, and surprisingly cycling routes!

[Grace Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took this on my recent trip to Banff. Great food and hiking recommendations, as well as helpful info on the areas surrounding the national park such as Canmore and Kananaskis. I also enjoyed reading about Jasper and Waterton National Parks for future travel inspo.

[Chris Fong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not actually useful for traveling. When you go to Banff, you go to hike and there is practically no information about hikes - no distances, descriptions, or trailheads beyond the basic ones. Minimal restaurants. Ultimately just not a good travel guide.

[nasrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

i heart glacier national park.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good food recommendations, but doesn't tell you how to get to any of the hikes/drives.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed Guide

Detailed guide that I used to help plan our trip to Glacier. I like that it provides information for things to do outside the park as well.

[JSL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful book

[Eileen Hyett · Rating 5 out of 5]

informative

[Kelly Whitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information, though it probably had more on Jasper and Banff than Glacier and Waterton. Fortunately I’ve been to the last 2 already so I didn’t need as much on those.