Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks

by Lonely Planet, Oliver Berry, Brendan Sainsbury

A guide to traveling to Banff, Jasper, and Glacier National Parks that provides information on fifty-two hiking routes, ranger walks, junior programs, summer camps, outdoor recreations, campsites, hotels, and more; and including detailed itineraries.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Guidebook, Canada

296 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.

[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.

[Carol Kressen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summaries of history, geology and wildlife at the end of the book. Restaurant and hotel recommendations are more sparse than other similar books. Devotes more space to hikes and outdoor activities than I need at this time.

[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.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful travel guide for our upcoming trip (fall 2026)!

[Ryan Logrieco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to find some dope hikes in Glacier!

[Kara Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helped to plan my trip to Banff/Jasper.

[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!

[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.

[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.