How to visit Lake Louise

Another iconic and wildly popular lake located in Banff National Park.

Here I am going to tell you everything you need to know for visiting.

Lake Louise has its own small parking lot, so unlike Moraine Lake, personal vehicles are allowed here.

Unless you visit in the off season (October - May), you will need to arrive here before 8am or in the evening after 7pm in order to get a parking spot. Once the lot fills up for the day, they will NOT let you in. You will wait in a long line just to be told there is no parking and you need to leave.

Parking costs $36.75 per vehicle and is good for the entire day.

Sunrise at Lake Louise is absolutely stunning, so if you can make it for sunrise, highly recommend!

Others way to visit:

If you don't want to drive yourself, you can book the Parks Canada shuttle to take you here for less money than the parking fees!

Book the Parks Canada shuttle Here ($8)

Booking the Parks Canada shuttle also allows you to visit Moraine Lake on the same day. Please read "How to visit Moraine Lake" for more info!

You can also take public transportation to Lake Louise. The public transportation in Banff is called "Roam". There are 2 options for the roam public transport. First option is to just book a single one way ticket from Banff to Lake Louise (so you would need to book 2 tickets in order for it to be round-trip). Price is $12.50 per trip.

Second option is to book the "Reservable Super Pass". This option is unlimited travel on all Roam Transit services and includes a round-trip on Parks Canada’s Lake Connector Shuttle, which goes between the Lake Louise Lakeshore to Moraine Lake during the Shuttle’s operating hours. This is a great option if you want to take the roam to multiple locations (like Johnson Canyon or Moraine Lake). You can book this ahead of time to secure your spot to the lakes. This is only good for one day. This pass would be a good option if you didn't want to do any hiking and wanted to see a bunch of spots in one single day. The cost is $30 per person, per day. For more information on this or to book this pass, click Here

The main viewing area from the parking lot is all paved so it is completely accessible for all. You will pass by the bathrooms before getting to the lake. Unless you plan on doing some hiking, this is the only bathroom.

There is a mostly paved path around the lake called the Lakeshore Trail. It's 4.5KM long and relatively easy to complete. We highly suggest you go past the main viewing platform. That area is always going to be the most crowded, the longer you walk, the more the people thin out and you get different views of the lake.

You can rent a canoe here and go out on the lake for $160 per canoe for 1 hour.

Lake Louise has tons of different hiking options, these are our favourites:

The Big Beehive 10KM Hard

The Little Beehive 9.5KM Hard

The Plain of Six Glaciers 13.9 KM Moderate - there is a tea house half way where you can get coffee/hot chocolate and light snacks + a bathroom

Lake Ages Trail 7.5 Moderate - there is a tea house half way where you can get coffee/hot chocolate and light snacks + a bathroom

There is a fairmont hotel at the lake you can stay in overnight if you wish or you can go in and get lunch here. It will be pricier than down the road but it will have the best view of the lake if that's what you want!

You can easily spend an entire day here hiking. If you don't want to do much hiking, consider booking the Parks Canada lake connector shuttle so you can visit Lake Louise & Moraine Lake in the same day.