Disclosure: Advertising and affiliate services, including Amazon Associates, help the cost of running my blog. Clicking ads or making purchases through affiliate links may, at no additional cost to you, earn me a small commission. I appreciate your support.
Canada is a big country. So even though Alberta and the Canadian Rockies are only the next province over from British Columbia, that’s still a long drive. It’s over 9 hours, and almost 900km (500+ miles) from Vancouver to Banff by car. Sure, you could drive it in one day. One very long day. But, why would you want to when there are so many amazing stops along the way?
Driving from Vancouver to Banff
Road trips aren’t just about getting somewhere but the places you can see on the journey. If you plan on visiting the Canadian Rockies from Vancouver, why not drive? It’s cheaper than flying, and way more fun. Stop when you want, get lots of fresh air and see some cool sights along the way. If you do decide to drive from Vancouver to Banff, check out some of these 20 incredible stops.
Fort Langley and the National Historic Site
Fort Langley, a short detour from the Trans-Canada Highway, is just 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver. The village of Fort Langley makes you feel like you’ve been transported back in time with it’s cute boutique stores, antique emporiums and 50s style diner. At the former Hudson’s Bay fur trading post Fort Langley National Historic site it feels like the 1800s.
Cultus Lake
About 20 minutes from the highway, Cultus Lake Provincial Park is a beautiful detour stop. Spend a night if you have time in this lovely holiday home area in the Fraser Valley, with cabin rentals for a range of budgets.
Enjoy some water sports on the lake which is much warmer than some of the surrounding glacier fed lakes. Alternatively there are some lovely trails around the lake and even a water park nearby.
Bridal Veil Falls
There’s a Shell gas station just off the highway, a convenient place to refuel on your road trip from Vancouver to Banff. But the road behind the gas station leads to Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park, only a few minutes away.
Park and walk about 10-15 minutes to the gorgeous falls viewpoint. The falls are named Bridal Veil because the water cascades down in such a way it looks like a bride’s veil.
Harrison Hot Springs
Vancouver residents love to visit Harrison Hot Springs, or more specifically the Harrison Hot Springs Resort. Situated on the edge of Harrison Lake, the historic resort has multiple thermal mineral pools for guests to soak in and relax in this beautiful location.
Spend a night to really enjoy the experience, or take to the public pool for a cheaper option. Beautiful trails and incredible camping sites are close by.
The town of Hope, BC
The small town of Hope is the last real town before you leave the Fraser Valley and start to enter the BC Interior. Close to a number of Provincial Parks, you have to go through Hope to get to the popular attraction Hell’s Gate (see below).
Stop for a rest and admire some of the scenic spots or unique shops along the main street where mountains and hills are at every turn. Hope has also been the filming site of many TV shows and movies, most famously First Blood (Rambo).
Hell’s Gate Airtram
About a 45 minute drive further away from the highway and Hope, is Hells Gate. So named because of the treacherous nature of the river here. But nowadays you can take the airtram above the white rapids and discover stories of the explorers who went through this area.
Check out the suspension bridge over the roaring water, visit the fudge shop with 100 flavors and try your hand at gold panning.
The Othello Tunnels
Just past Hope is Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park where you’ll find the popular Othello Tunnels. The old tunnels of the Kettle Valley Railway from the early 1900s are now part of a trail from a large parking lot.
The trail through the tunnels is only 3.5km long and rather flat. Plus the tunnels are incredible and have some spectacular views.
Ladner Creek Trestle Bridge
One of my favorite stops on the way to Banff is one of the most unique. The Ladner Creek Trestle Bridge is an old, disused railway bridge a short hike from the highway.
The hike requires a bit of effort but can be done in an hour or just longer but the scene is spectacular. Since the trailhead for the hike isn’t the most obvious, check out this post about the Ladner Trestle Bridge hike and how to find it.
City of Merritt
About an hour before you arrive at Kamloops is the small town of Merritt. The biggest town you’ll have passed for a while, it’s a good place for food or gas. Try some bannock (a type of bread) or more at the Indigenous Cuisine restaurant Kekuli Cafe.
And if you have some time why not check out the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, complete with the town’s very own Walk of Stars. Merritt has also been the location for a number of big movies including the most recent Jurassic World.
City of Kamloops
If you don’t want to drive the full 9-10 hours in one day, I recommend you spend a night in Kamloops, almost the mid-way point.
The desert city of Kamloops is nestled in the BC Interior and is popular for rail travel, outdoor hikes, amazing breweries and their eerie ghost town, Tranquille. They also have some impressive street art so be sure to wander some of the back streets too.
Salmon Arm – Shuswap Lake
Salmon Arm is beside the impressively large, and beautiful, Shuswap Lake. For a unique activity, certainly popular with kids, visit the R.J. Haney Heritage Village and Museum. An open air museum with buildings dating back to the 1800s.
For some local crafts, produce and other food items make a stop at DeMille’s Farm Market full of wonderful shops. And of course Shuswap Lake is well worth a visit.
Craigellachie – The Last Spike
One of the most historical, and inspiring stops on your Canadian Rockies road trip is Craigellachie. The village is home to the historic “last spike” in the Canadian Pacific Railway where Canada’s East and West were connected in 1885. Nowadays you can see the signs and plaques commemorating the historic event. A worthwhile photo stop.
Three Valley Gap
Three Valley Gap is an unique (and maybe unbeatable) combination of lakeside hotel property and heritage ghost town. Explore the ghost town complete with goldrush era historic buildings, museum and gift shop, or stay longer at the Three Valley Lake Chateau with a lakefront view room at the.
Unique Stay Idea: The property has a cave-style specialty suite for a room with a difference.
The town of Revelstoke
Popular for skiing in the winter but Revelstoke is a lovely little town any time of year. ith some cute shops and fantastic restaurants. It’s an ideal place to refuel on your Kamloops to Banff leg of the road trip.
Make a stop at the The Modern Bakeshop & Cafe. Perfect for a light lunch and some delicious snacks. Just outside of Revelstoke make a detour to Mt. Begbie Brewing Co. to stock up for your road trip.
Giant Cedars Trail
The Giant Cedars Trail is part of the Mount Revelstoke National Park just outside of Revelstoke. A great place to stretch your legs on your road trip from Vancouver to Banff.
Get out and walk the well-maintained boardwalk through the (you guessed it) giant cedar trees as well as western Hemlock trees. The trail consists of trees dating back 500+ years and is an easy nature walk for the whole family.
The town of Golden, BC
Shining bright in the midst of six national parks is the cute town of Golden, BC. Surrounded by dozens of incredible hikes, wonderous views, mountains, lakes and waterfalls, it’s an outdoor adventurer playground. But all without the touristy-ness of Banff.
Stop off for a bite to eat, hit the trails or view some wildlife. Just 15 minutes from town there’s the Grizzly Bear Interpretive Centre at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. Or in the opposite direction there’s the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre.
Wapta Falls
Between the towns of Golden and Field are a number of incredible hikes. And one of the easier of these hikes (with a beautiful waterfalls reward) is the short 5km walk to Wapta Falls.
The road to the falls parking lot is just off the Trans-Canada Highway. There are restrooms too. It takes about 60-90 minutes round trip to the falls viewpoint and is easy for even the lazy hiker.
The town of Field, BC
The tiny town of Field, BC is in Yoho National Park just before the Alberta border. With less than 200 residents you can expect a quiet place. Well, except all the trains. The train line runs right along the border of the town.
But Field has a lot of cute little guest houses and lodges and is also where you’ll find the Yoho National Park visitor center as your first information point about the Canadian Rockies. Take a detour to Emerald Lake for a picture perfect view.
Kicking Horse Pass and Spiral Tunnels
How do you connect western Canada with the rest of the country when there are huge mountains in the way? You go through them of course. The Spiral Tunnels at Kicking Horse Pass are an engineering marvel.
Stop at one of the viewpoints and hopefully you can time it right to see a train going through them. To see the same really long train in both the upper and lower tunnels at the same time is an amazing sight.
Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau
While this is technically a place you can stop on the way from Vancouver to Banff, I would recommend you take a day trip once you’re settled into your Banff hotel during your Canadian Rockies adventure.
The turquoise blue beauty that is Lake Louise will impress even the harshest critics and is fully worth a stop. Arrive early for parking or plan to hike one of the trails around the lake. Read more about staying at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise hotel.
The best stops while driving Vancouver to Banff
These are just 20 of my favorite stops on the way from Vancouver to Banff. But British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies have limitless incredible places to explore.
Whether unique roadside attractions, shopping, beautiful lakes or challenging hikes are your thing, BC has it all. Make sure to take your time on your summer road trip through British Columbia, and plan some fun stops.
If you’ve enjoyed this post leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. Where are you excited to stop off on your Vancouver to Banff road trip?
We love Vancouver. One of our favorite places and enjoyed our drive on the sea to sky highway when we visited several years back. This looks like another excuse to visit Vancouver and make our way to banff.
Looks like a fun road trip! I think if definitely want to stop at Harrison Hot Springs. That would really make it the perfect road trip
I love this guide, and I have been wanting to do this road trip from Vancouver to Banff – So many beautiful places to visit and see. A very useful guide and I am saving it for when I can take this trip and be able to explore more of beautiful Canada.
This is a cool road trip that I want to do in Canada. Hopefully after covid. Vancouver is top on my list.
Wow there are so many great stops from Vancouver to Banff. I would definitely stop at Ladner Creek Trestle Bridge and Emerald Lake. Can’t wait to visit Canada one day!
My trip to Canada keeps getting canceled for years but I’m definitely going to see family as soon as the borders reopen (fingers crossed).. But I’m definitely doing this road trip because I’m dying to go to Banff and my family’s in Vancouver! So, this will definitely come in handy 🙂
Oh my goodness I DREAM of doing this road trip. I can’t wait until I have the opportunity to see all these places. I’m pinning these terrific recommendations for where to stop on a road trip from Banff to Vancouver — hopefully won’t be long til I get to see them for myself!
What a great angle for a post! I love how you covered the best stops along the way. My favorite was Ladner Creek Trestle Bridge – I hope to visit some day and to follow your helpful insight 🙂
I love the way you’ve arranged a made-to-order itinerary with descriptions of stops to take in along the route. We’ve talked about doing this trip in reverse – flying into Calgary, renting a car, and ending up with a stay in Vancouver. Thank you for such an excellent resource.
This is such a great list! Love the drive and you mentioned so many great stops. We actually finally recently got to the Ladner Creek Trestle — that last rock scramble to the trestle is super sketchy!
Yeah that’s the point where I stopped and thought about seeing my name in the news. Decided it was better to look at it from afar as I think a big rock slide had just happened. Amazing place though
Oh my I’m dying to discover Canada and Vancouver & Banff have been on my list for so long! All the spots look so amazing, especially the Bridal Veil Falls *w*
I would love to do this road trip when I get back to Canada! Thanks for sharing all of these great stops along the route.
I would so love to do that roadtrip! Sounds and looks amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Banff is suuuuper high up on my travel bucket list so I’m really hoping to get to go there someday soon! Saved + will be referring back to this later for when I finally get to go!! *-*
Your post really makes me want to road-trip from Vancouver to Banff. I really need to explore more in Canada. There looks like there are so many great places to visit. I was surprised to read that there is a Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame!
Had heard of Emerald Lake and Lake Louise, but so many sights are completely new to me, thanks for sharing. Those hot springs, the Othello Tunnels, Ladner Trestle Bridge and the waterfalls all look like fabulous stops on the way.
Thank you for this super handy guide! I love breaking up road trips with nice stops so this is perfect for me. Lakes, hot springs, waterfalls, history, food – what more could you want?
A Canadian roadtrip has been on my bucket list for years so this article is right up my alley. Lots of things I’d never heard of before and I love the look of the trestle bridge.
I would love to do this road trip some day. There is more to see along the way than I thought.
I will definitely stop at Merritt and take a big bite of bannock. All stops are incredible. Great guide!
Wow, so many places I need to stop next time! Three Valley Gap sounds really cool. I’m a bit annoyed that we didn’t get to stop in Revelstoke because I forgot about the time change between BC and Alberta so I’m hoping we get to make that another time. Also – bannock?! I thought that was a Scottish thing but I’ve just looked it up and it’s Canadian too! That’s really interesting, there’s a lot of Scottish influence there so I wonder if it originated here.
I love Vancouver and Banff but have never thought about driving between them. These stops are absolutely beautiful and would be such a fabulous experience!
I did this exact road trip in 2018. I wish I had known about some of these places. I wondered about spending the ngiht in Kamloops, but I opted for Revelstoke instead. I just wandered the town, but thought next time I would spend 2 nights as it was so beautiful. I was driving alone and I white knuckled it through the mountains lol, but the views were stunning the entire way! This part of Canada has been my favourite destination to date (even more so than Bora Bora)
That’s a pretty comprehensive list of things to do in the area. The Bridal Falls and that Airtram would be on my list of things to experience for sure.
A drive of 9 hours just to get across one province of a country – wow. That’s about how long it would take me to drive from one end of the UK to the other! Kinda puts things into perspective.
The Fairmont Hotel at the end of this trip would certainly be my preferred destination!
We’ve been thinking about doing a Canada road trip for a couple of years now. I visited the area as a child, and loved it, we have never visited as a couple. We love road trips. We would probably make the journey in reverse but this post is absolutely brilliant for showing how many different things there are to see on the way. The scenery is just stunning. The Ladner Creek Trestle Bridge and giant cedars trail particularly appeal because of the hiking opportunities. I remember the gorgeous turquoise of Lake Louise and would love to return. Thank you -will bookmark for the future!
wow, 900km from Vancouver to Banf is huge! Canada had my attention years ago as a place to live in and this post makes me remember why. Such beauty and an array of places to go. Emerald Lake looks truly beautiful and it attracts a lot of attention and rightly so. A few people I know spent some time there and loved it. I would enjoy shooting some photos at Bridal Veil Falls
Every time I see a post about road trip I think “sign me in” 🙂
In Portugal, specifically on the island of Madeira, we also have a waterfall called the bridal veil!
The Three Valley Gap seems to be so quaint. I would totally love to stay here, it has a vibe for sure!
When it comes to the other stops to enjoy the views, there are no possible adjectives for so much beauty! I loved the post!
I never though about driving between the two as I just imagined there wasn’t much to do between the two places haha. Clearly, there is plenty to do in between. Kamloops sounds like a great place to spend the night – ghost stories and breweries! Sign me up!
I love a good road trip and even more so, if the route leads through magnificient nature. You made an extensive list of all the cool highlights in the areas along the way so this is very helpful for trip planners and I’m sure they won’t miss out on any of the highlights if they follow your guide. The area around Hope would be very high on my list to explore and spend some hours hiking there. The abandoned railway bridge in Ladner Creek looks mysterious, too.
Carolin | Solo Travel Story
I’ve done this drive a few times, but it seems that I need to get more creative with my stops! I don’t think I’ve done the Giant Cedar Trail yet, but it looks like a beautiful place to stretch the legs. I’ve also never been to Three Valley Gap. I’ve stopped in Hope lots of times but I haven’t done the nearby Hell’s Gate tram, but it looks fun. Thanks for the inspo!
Wow, what an awesome road trip!
Since we’ve watched Race Across The World, Russ won’t shut up about going to Canada & Vancouver. Send help.
There’s not a single thing I’d want to miss on this post/trip, but The Ladner Creek Trestle Bridge is calling me big time. Wapta Falls is also so beautiful and magical.
I don’t think I’ll ever get over how beautiful Canada is, especially British Columbia.
Amazing post!
Luke.
Haha, the only way to get it to stop is to make the trip! And even then…
The Trestle bridge is definitely one of my favorites. Not easy to find though so if you do end up doing it I’ve got a separate post just about that trail with specific directions to it