Last week, I spent a few hours in Banff. It’s been a few years since I travelled through there. Despite the greyish skies, cool air and slower autumn pace, the outstanding beauty is always captivating.

You cannot visit Banff without noticing it’s most famous landmark: the Banff Springs Hotel. The hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and opened to the public on June 1, 1888. However, construction of the stone building that stands today was built in stages between 1911 and 1914, expanding the hotel from 100 rooms to 300 rooms.

To give you an idea of the cost to stay, it ranges from $300 to $500 per night, depending on the season. Be careful when they tell you you’re getting a room with a “partial mountain view”, though. I stayed at the hotel one night as a treat back in the mid-90s. The room was tiny and cramped, and it was more like a roof view with a tiny glimpse of a speck of mountain (if you craned your neck out the window and twisted it to one side). But it is worth a walk up to the building to see the architectural detail and poke your nose inside for a look.

It’s fascinating to have a close look at the rock of the Rockies.

All these years I’ve been going to Banff, and this was the first time I knew of, and saw, Bow Falls, situated a short way down a road from the hotel.

The beauty of the area is spectacular, every which way you turn.

Not all of the Rocky Mountains are “rocky”. This peculiar one is unusually rounded.

Back in the town, looking for a place to have lunch, this car caught my eye.

Finished off the trip with lunch at Coyote’s Deli and Grill with Monika Siebert. You can read more about this trip on Monika’s Banff blog post.