Calgary | Jasper Columbia Icefield

Calgary | Jasper Columbia Icefield Banff and Jasper, Canada's most renowned national parks, truly live up to their fame 🩷🩵💙💚🧡💛 ▪️ Ticket Booking ⚠️ You can book the Columbia Icefield Ice Explorer + Skywalk package on the official website for around CAD 105 per person, but we found a ticket agent offering it for less than CNY 350 🥹 ▪️ Car Rental via Turo After arriving in Calgary and resting for a day, we rented an Infiniti on Turo for a self-drive trip to Banff National Park. The total cost for three days was CAD 490, and we purchased full premium insurance. ⚠️ A reminder: Always buy full insurance when renting a car! While Turo is affordable, many vehicles don’t include premium full insurance. For young travelers with limited experience but plenty of enthusiasm, we recommend being cautious with your choices ‼️ ▪️ Itinerary We stayed near Canmore. Departing around 11 AM, it took nearly 2.5 hours to drive to the Columbia Icefield Visitor Centre (with some stops along the way). Our Ice Explorer ticket was for 1:15 PM, but we arrived at the visitor centre at 1:30 PM. The front desk staff checked and rearranged us for the 2 PM departure. So, being a little late seems manageable (but not recommended—always leave plenty of time!). ⚠️ There’s absolutely no cell service for long stretches of road between national parks! Download offline maps before departure or keep your navigation app open ‼️ ▪️ Columbia Icefield After ticket exchange, take a regular bus for about 5 minutes, then transfer to the Ice Explorer. The Ice Explorer takes around 15 minutes to reach the glacier. You’ll have 30 minutes of free time on the glacier (no extra time allowed), then return via Ice Explorer to transfer back to the regular bus, which goes directly to the Skywalk. You can stay at the Skywalk as long as you like—buses come every 15-20 minutes; just queue up to return to the visitor centre. ▪️ Bow Lake We noticed this small lake on the way and thought it was stunning. We decided to stop by on our way back due to time constraints. Self-drive travelers can take a short break here to enjoy the views～ #TravelGuide #AroundTheWorld #Canada #Calgary #BanffNationalPark #Jasper #ColumbiaIcefield #Banff #Glacier #RoadTrip