Banff Avenue, Banff

Banff Avenue is littered with various resteraunts and gift shops. One offered ostrich, bison and rattlesnake!

The Banff museum is worth a visit, especially if you are continuing on through the Rockies, as it will help you identify the myriad of wildlife you will encounter along the way.

The museum is full of stuffed animals from years ago, some huge ravens were a highlight!

If you walk down Banff Avenue, towards the Cascade Gardens, you will have to cross this bridge that spans the Bow River.

Either side of this pretty river are places to sit, admire the view, have a picnic etc.

You will have a view such as this one of the surrounding mountains, everywhere you look when you are in Banff, are mountain views.

On one side of the river is a museum, I will put this on another tip.

Banff Avenue is the main street in Banff. It is a very lively street and you will find plenty of restaurants, pubs and novelty/souvenir boutiques (including my favorite: Banff Fudge Factory!). Walking up and down the street and hopping in and out of the different shops is a lot of fun - but keep in mind that just about everything there is slightly overpriced.

During summer time when there does not seem to be any room to walk on main street, head to the back alley. That is the highways for the locals duing the summer months and it will take less time to go anywhere.

Strolling Banff avenue is a great way to spend the afternoon. Be warned it can be quite crowded at times, but if you're a people watcher it's great. The avenue is filled with tons of shopping, from mainstream stores to funky little candy stores. Great coffee shops and places to stop for lunch and beverage - a little bit of urban bliss in the mountains.

Hans and I loved to walk down Banff Avenue. Banff Avenue is the main street where you will find unique specialty shops, souvenir shops and restaurants and the views on either side of the avenue were awesome.

There is so much to do and see in Banff. Visit CANADA PLACE Walk through the CASCADE GARDENS with its gazebos,colourful flower beds and cascading waterfalls. Or maybe stop and see the SIKSIKA NATION INTERPRETIVE CENTRE where you can enter a traditional tepee, talk to native interpreters and gain insight into the customs and spiritual beliefs of the Siksika Nation(Blackfoot)

Nobody in Alberta goes to Banff without planning to buy some fudge and candy from the candy store on Banff Ave. Once you step in, its like being in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and they have everything from fist sized jawbreakers (many a comrade has lost his teeth on one of these suckers), to giant chocolate covered caramel pecan logs (my friend managed to have hers last the whole weekend...and end up in her hair after a late night out...), to every pez dispenser ever created (I don't even like fudge and I ended up falling hard for an oreo cookie/chocolate medley....some of it is a bit pricey, however if you plan to travel anywhere in Alberta after Banff, be prepared to suffer the wrath of the Albertans if you say you bypassed the sugar rush....