Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife
4.5
Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife
By Discover Banff Tours
About
from per adult
C$88.25
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 0-99, max of 24 per group
Duration: 3h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
English
Features animals
- Professional guide
- Maple cookie snack, fresh water
- Small group size (up to 24 guests per guide)
- Hands on interpretive tools
- Pick up from the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel
What's not included- Optional gratuities
- Departure details
- Mount Royal Hotel, 138 Banff Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1A7, Canada All guests must wait at the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel at 138 Banff Ave. You must be ready 5 minutes prior to the 8:15am departure time.
Return details- Returns to original departure point
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 3827DB- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Most travellers can participate
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travellers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- Which attractions will I visit with Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife?
- During this experience, places you will visit include:Discover and book Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife on Tripadvisor
- How much is Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife?
- Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife price starts from C$90.39. Discover and book Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife on Tripadvisor
- What is the Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife cancellation policy?
- Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife cancellation policy: For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience. Discover and book Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife on Tripadvisor
- Which company provides Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife?
- Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife is hosted by Discover Banff Tours. Read reviews, discover additonal experiences or contact Discover Banff Tours on Tripadvisor. Discover and book Summer Tour: Banff and its Wildlife on Tripadvisor
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 3827DB
Reserve your spot
Similar experiences
Itinerary
- You'll start atMount Royal Hotel138 Banff Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1A7, CanadaAll guests must wait at the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel at 138 Banff Ave. You must be ready 5 minutes prior to the 8:15am departure time.See address & details
- 1Lake MinnewankaStop: 15 minutesSee details
- 2Bow FallsStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 3Surprise CornerStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 4Hoodoos TrailStop: 20 minutesSee details
- 5Bankhead Ghost TownStop: 10 minutesSee details
- You'll return to the starting point
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About the operator
Discover Banff Tours
3,894
Banff, Alberta, Canada
Joined in November 2007
#11 of 85 Outdoor Activities in Banff
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- mercurylane00Awesome day seeing famous lakes!The bus a little late arriving but guide apologized. After that guide was friendly, informative and very pleasant. She gave lots of helpful tips! The scenery was stunning! Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Sandra from NB Canada
- jerryg26400A great experience - run by a friendly experienced teamThis was a great experience so see and actually stand on a glacier. The journey up was in two stages coach to the 1st staging post then the specially terrain trucks to the glacier. Good commentary on the way up on the history and geography and our driver was excellent. Views excellent from the top only negative was would have valued a little more time on the glacier.
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- bjsvaughn00The lakesNeil was a wonderful tour guide. He gave advice as to which direction to go when at the lakes. As we travelled there and back he told many historical stories about the mountain ranges and people that visited the area.
- D732XWlorrainew00Bucket list fulfilledHad the most amazing day, our bus driver Jeff and ice explorer driver Avery were very informative and pleasant
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- Corinne P00A Glacier visit is a must in the Banff area and this is a well prepared company to do it!A must do before the glaciers are all gone! Tex was a great guide who answered all questions and helped with everything from getting drinking water on the glaciers to becoming photographer for anyone on the Glacier, even if not part of his group! This was.an awesome experience. Bring a jacket and be careful not to slip on the ice!
- BobCintheBurgh00Discover Banff Tours = High Quality5 out of 5 stars!! Our guide Nicole was incredibly knowledgeable on all things Banff and added great historic information to our tour of these beautiful lakes. Her skills make me recommend discover Banff tours!! You're allowed 45 minutes at each lake and our guide communicated everything we needed to know! Note we did go on a rainy day, but we still had a smooth drive through Banff to Lake Louis and Moraine lake.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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4.5
54 reviews
Excellent
36
Very good
9
Average
1
Poor
4
Terrible
4
Rohan S
1 contribution
Oct. 2021 • Couples
Disappointed and waste of time . We booked discover banff and wildlife morning tour and we’re excited to see some wildlife . Tour guide Andrew was knowledgeable about areas but he came late to pick up and then he had 2 more stops to pick up other people . Tour time says 3 hours but another group in our party had 11:30 appointment for Banff Gondola so over all we just got 2 and half hours . Wild life spotting is usually good in the morning and I have been to several such tours before in different national parks and while no one guarantees it but every one before tried their best to show some wildlife however in this tour first half of the tour was for locations in banff and which reminded me my school field trip and he didn’t try to search for wildlife and that’s my biggest issue with the tour if you don’t find it’s fine but at least try. Any one can go on this location by their own and you don’t necessarily need this tour . It was such a nice weather that day ( October 11th) and I felt we wasted our morning just going around Banff town rather than looking for wildlife, we saw Elk and I could have seen those on my own with better visibility. I would not recommend this tour at all , save your money and go to Bow valley or other locations on your own in the morning to see wildlife . If you want to know history or how Banff was developed then yeah follow your heart and waste money otherwise you can get that info online too .
Written January 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Rohan,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback on the Discover Banff & Its Wildlife Tour with Andrew. There's a 15 minute pickup window for all of our tours, to help ensure that tours start on time (and at 8:30am in the case of this tour). This morning sightseeing tour runs from 8:30am - 11:30am, so that guests are returned to their pickup point 3 hours later at 11:30am. While we can't confirm what happened back in October on the morning of your tour, it is certainly possible that if some guests were late for their 8:15am meeting time prior to picking up yourselves, that the tour started a few minutes later than 8:30am once all of the stops were made. However, the tour always ends at 11:30am back at their pickup point and our Banff Gondola upload time is not until 12:20pm for this morning tour, so as to not affect guests that aren't continuing on with this portion of the extended tour.
This morning tour is designed as a sightseeing tour, where guests can also learn about the local wildlife. We're often lucky to see wildlife such as elk, deer and bighorn sheep but can't guarantee this as while we know many of their favorite spots they are wild animals and move around.
You're correct that this tour can be self-driven by anyone, as with all of our tours. However, many of our guests appreciate a local guide to share stories and interesting information about the park and wildlife with them, as it's far more interesting to hear about this from a professional guide rather than trying to read it online as you drive around. And certainly wildlife such as elk can be seen in Banff if you're lucky, although please bear in mind that you do need to stay a safe distance from elk, especially during the rut season in fall.
We're sorry to hear that this tour wasn't what you're looking for, and we'd be more than happy to recommend some wildlife-specific tours for your next visit.
Written January 18, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
marathonman33
Bradenton, FL335 contributions
Aug. 2022
This tour was almost a total wast of time. Let's start with the only good part of the tour. They got us to the gondola on time for our ride up the mountain. They were 45 minutes late picking us up. The tour guide, who they said was new, was not good at all. It was not just because he did not know some of his facts, as he was corrected by other passengers on the bus, his delivery was poor. The stops we made were OK. All in all just not a positive experience.
Written August 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello David,
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. Unfortunately, like many other businesses, recovering from Covid has been a challenge. We are trying to overcome challenges by hiring new guides to deliver the best possible tours. We appreciate your understanding with our new hire. Your guide is well versed in biology and the Banff ecosystem but we will keep training him to provide the most accurate information.
Traffic in Banff has been worse this year then in years prior, we are working on staggering pick-ups for guests to make pick-up times more smooth for the future. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to strive to provide the best tour experiences.
Written August 12, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Rita S
Indiana61 contributions
Jul. 2023 • Couples
We went on the wildlife tour and were hoping to see some wildlife. We did see some elk, and then the tour went to places we had seen the day before like Bow Fall, and surprise corner, and Lake Minnewanka. I had thought the tour would take us different places to see wildlife. The leaders were great tho! Piper you are awesome!
Written July 27, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We're delighted to hear that you had a great experience on our wildlife tour. While we do our best to spot wildlife during the tour, it can be unpredictable as to where they'll be around town. To ensure our guests have an enjoyable and informative experience, we also focus on showcasing the highlights of Banff, including Bow Fall, Surprise Corner, and Lake Minnewanka. This allows us to share the rich history and fascinating wildlife facts of the area.
Written August 1, 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Sandra C
Finland29 contributions
I would recommend this trip if you are a first time visitor to Banff and surrounds. Unfortunately the trip I took didn’t discover much wildlife, we did see a bear, but the elk and mountain goats remained elusive. Our driver/guide Annik was excellent, very knowledgeable on history and peculiarities of Banff. Very enjoyable trip. I also included the Mt. Sulphur gondola ride with the wildlife tour, Annik dropped us off after arranging our tickets for the ride and we were picked up at designated time and transported back to our accomodation. The gondola ride was exhilarating for one who doesn’t enjoy heights, the scenery of Banff and surrounds incredible, and I also indulged in a delicious lunch at the Sky Bistro.
Written August 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MrsDonnaW
Blairgowrie, UK116 contributions
Jul. 2023 • Family
We got picked up from our hotel and off we went, collecting other guests. Bus was full. Stopped off at (in no particular order) Bow Falls, which was beautiful, had a whirl round the outside of the Fairmont Hotel, Surprise Corner, Lake Minniewanka where we were had refreshments if so desired, Hoodoos trail where we saw Elk in the distance and Bankhead Ghost Town.
Our driver was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He did say at the beginning that this was essentially a tour of Banff - if we saw any wildlife it was a bonus. If you are doing this tour purely for spotting a plethora of wildlife, you may be disappointed.
A fantastic way to spend half a day.
Our driver was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He did say at the beginning that this was essentially a tour of Banff - if we saw any wildlife it was a bonus. If you are doing this tour purely for spotting a plethora of wildlife, you may be disappointed.
A fantastic way to spend half a day.
Written August 8, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cacoleman12
3 contributions
Sep. 2022 • Couples
Had a medical issue at the last moment and tried to cancel just short of 24 hours. Tried to call numerous times and never got anyone to answer. Charged us full amount. Would have been happy with a partial refund.
Written September 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello,
I apologize for your experience. Medical emergencies do happen and we try to honour a refund in these situations when we can.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at 403-760-5007 or info@banfftours.com and we will see if there is anything we could do for you.
Written September 13, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Alan
Southport, UK2 contributions
A great morning with Elle & Tanner. Stopping where it was safe for us all to view deer and moose. Frequent stops to allow pictures of stunning areas. Very knowledgeable guide & driver with lots of information on habitats and life of the animals (& some anecdotes). Thank you both.
Written June 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Good afternoon,
thank you for leaving a 5 star review - we are happy to hear you enjoyed your time with those two! we hope to see you back again soon.
Written June 13, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Mary G
Potters Bar, UK24 contributions
Lively informative guide, Emma who knew her subject and most importantly found us wildlife. Emma demonstrated real respect for the wildlife at all times which was great to see.
The bus however, wasn’t great - quite old with dirty windows. Given we wanted to take photos through them it wasn’t ideal. One window was completely misted up, although luckily we weren’t sitting in that one. There was no air conditioning either and given the bus was full it was a little uncomfortable.
In summary, a good tour but they need a new bus with clean windows!
The bus however, wasn’t great - quite old with dirty windows. Given we wanted to take photos through them it wasn’t ideal. One window was completely misted up, although luckily we weren’t sitting in that one. There was no air conditioning either and given the bus was full it was a little uncomfortable.
In summary, a good tour but they need a new bus with clean windows!
Written September 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We appreciate your detailed feedback regarding your recent tour experience with us. We're delighted to hear that Emma, our guide, made your tour informative and lively, going the extra mile to spot wildlife while maintaining respect for the animals and their habitats. Emma's dedication to responsible wildlife viewing aligns with our commitment to eco-conscious tours.
We apologize for any discomfort on our tour. Maintaining a comfortable and enjoyable environment is essential to us, and we're actively addressing these issues. We're investing in upgrading our fleet to ensure cleaner windows and better climate control, enhancing the overall tour experience for our valued guests.
Written September 18, 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
JimofAC
Atlantic City, NJ12 contributions
Aug. 2018 • Couples
The tour of Banff National Park obviously can only scratch the surface in three hours. However the excellent story telling of Norm the driver made for a wonderful experience. Norm’s knowledge of where animals might be found paid off with a great view of MuleDeer bucks and later families of Longhorn sheep. At the same time he gave interesting educational talks as he drove from site to site. For a photographer even using a cell phone there were some great opportunities. Well done a Discover Tours!
Written August 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi JIm,
Thank you for joining us on the Discover Banff & Its Wildlife Tour with Norm. While this is primarily a sightseeing tour, that's wonderful that you were lucky to spot wildlife as well! We're glad that you enjoyed the tour and were able to get some good photos, and hope to see you back in Banff again soon.
Written August 24, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Tauna D
Sarasota, Florida, United States77 contributions
Jun. 2018 • Friends
This was a great small group tour of Banff and the area. There were only 12 people on our small bus. Our guide, Norm, made the tour great. He didn't rush us, explained everything we saw, answered lots of questions and was was very familiar with the area so was able to share lots of interesting stories. We made many stops so didn't spend much time in the bus which was great. We even enjoyed some Canadian maple cookies at our last stop. I highly recommend getting Norm as your guide!
Written June 30, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello Tauna,
Thank you for sharing your experience on the Discover Banff & Its Wildlife Tour with Norm. We love this morning sightseeing tour of Banff, as there's so many places to see just a short distance from downtown! Plus, we agree, the maple cookies are delicious.
We're so glad you enjoyed the tour and hope to see you back in Banff again soon.
Written July 3, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Is this tour wheelchair accessible? If not, are there any other Discover Banff Tours accessible?
DiscoverBanffTours
Banff, Canada2 contributions
Hello,
Thank you for your question.
We can usually accommodate small, collapsible wheelchairs or walking aids with advance notice, although it will depend on the vehicle/tour etc. Please note that guests must be able to embark/disembark the vehicle on their own, or with the assistance of a travel companion.
Ligia gerti fle... F
Porto Alegre, RS
Em agosto e necessário roupa quente no passeio de gôndola??
DiscoverBanffTours
Banff, Canada2 contributions
Hello,
Thank you for your question. We'd certainly recommend bringing a jacket with you on the Banff Gondola. You will be inside the gondola on the way up, but will likely find that it's a little cooler at the top if you wish to enjoy the viewing deck or the boardwalk.
Ursula J
Toowoomba, Australia62 contributions
Is there an opportunity to actually get out of the bus and walk, & for how long, & at what locations?
DiscoverBanffTours
Banff, Canada2 contributions
Hello,
Thank you for your question. This tour has various sightseeing stops including Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka, Surprise Corner, the Hoodoos and Bankhead. The timing for each stop is approximately 10-20 minutes, depending on the location.
We hope that helps!