Bear with me, I'll probably end up blathering on and on about Banff... one of my very favourite places to be in the whole world! (and I've travelled a lot) I used to be a member of the Sunshine Village ski centre, so I'd usually head to Banff once or twice a month to soak my aching muscles in the hot springs pool or hit the pub for a drink to unwind.

First, let me touch upon a couple things from others already mentioned:

strid's right, Radium Hot Springs is pretty cool to drive through with the road snaking through the mountains and then soaking up in the Hot Springs pool watching the mountain goats bouncing around 200 feet above you. Though, it's a hour and half away so probably not worth your time when you can also soak in Banff's own Hot Springs pool. The pool is a MUST, regardless of the weather -- you don't have to worry about freezing as the water is WARM regardless of the weather. Nothing's wilder than sitting outside in a bathing suit and soaking up the environment in the midst of a whiteout blizzard.

Weather -- there's a saying in western Alberta: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it'll change." Be prepared for both 0F and 60F weather -- it's always possible to get both in the same day, especially in April. It'll mostly be in the 35-45F range, though. The wind can pick up so good idea to always have ear/head protection handy in case. There's a *lot* of sunshine in between the occasional snowstorm or rainy day, so quite often it can be quite pleasant to the point of being able to leave your coat in your hotel room and only have a light sweatshirt, so here's hoping it's like that for you!

Hiking - there's something like 1500 km (1000 miles) of hiking trails surrounding Banff, so if you like hiking, be sure to grab some time to do so! One of my favourite spots is Tunnel Mountain, off Tunnel Mountain Road, but you really can't go wrong with any of the other trails.

Food... CG has touched on a couple of restaurants that I also like, such as the Aardvark Pizza and Grizzly House fondue. There's a couple of good steak places such as the Barbary Coast steakhouse and The Keg, both are pretty reasonable in price as legit steakhouses go -- if you're there, be sure to try the bison, more tender and tastier than regular beef!

Here's a Banff restaurant map in pdf... it'll help you find all of the popular restaurants in town.

Shopping - don't miss any of the stores on Banff Ave. Always something interesting and varied, fun to windowshop even if you're not buying anything. Tons of candy, fudge, and souvenir shops, plus designer clothing stores.

Banff Springs Hotel? Ooooo lucky you! It's an unbelievable hotel and even with a person to show you around, you'll still need a map to find your way around the hotel! It can get bewildering just trying to find your room depending on which part of the hotel you're in. Lots of nice designer shops within the hotel as well.

There's a trail right behind the Banff Springs Hotel that leads to the very spot by the Bow River where the Amazing Race people went to in the fifth season -- even if you're not a fan of the show, it's still a nice and brief stroll to take in some nature if you just need a five or ten minute breather from the stresses of conference life. If you're lucky, you can sometimes see a family of elk grazing the grass in an open field beside the hotel.

If you're renting a car, be sure to NOT leave freshly cooked food in the car -- grizzly bears can sniff it a mile away and may come and sit on the car trying to figure out how to get inside.

One thing that Nookie brought up is a definite DO NOT MISS ... take the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain. It's not scary at all (at least in my mind) and the scenery is quite awesome and you can easily spend a hour at the top. If you're truly adventurous, there's a trail to hike up or down, but it can take hours! I haven't done the hike, only the gondola ride.

I could tell you much more, but you'd be better off waiting until you get there and picking up some tourism guides -- I recommend the Where magazine -- while you're there as they'll have some more updated stuff than what I might have since it's been a few years since I moved to Ontario.

Have fun and let us know how it goes!

Scratch and sniff
"Tsk, tsk. Pepe's messing with the newbies again." Spidey, 3/30/05

Thanks Pepe, that is really helful. I'll definitely let you all know how it goes when I get back.

Slice and Dice Chop Shop 2004
I am getting really excited about this trip after hearing all of your suggestions.

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