Introduction Banff is situated at a height of 1384 m and is the highest city in Canada. The town is situated in the middle of Banff National Park in the valley of the Bow River and looks like a place in the Alps. Because of this, it is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Canada. In the summer it is mostly visited by mountain walkers and in the winter many winter sports people enjoy their après-ski here. The busy centre is very contradictory to the surrounding peaceful countryside. Those who visit Banff do not need to become bored. In the neighbourhood there are all kinds of places of interest. Just outside the town you can see “Hoodoos”. At the other side of the town you go to the top of the Sulphur Mountain by gondola. Right at the top you can visit a weather station. Furthermore you can visit the hot spring at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. To this, the Banff National Park owes its existence. Other hot springs are to be found at the Upper Hot Springs.

History About 11,000 years ago there were the first inhabitants. Only in the beginning of the 19th century the first Europeans travelled across the mountains.

In 1883 the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the territory of the Rocky Mountains. On 8th November 1883 3 railway workers discovered a hot spring at Sulphur Mountain. In 1885 the Canadian government declared the hot spring and a surrounding territory of 10 miles the Hot Springs Reserve. In 1887 the territory was enlarged and, moreover, renamed the Rocky Mountain Park. After Canada began with the system of National Parks in 1930, the park was renamed Banff National Park. Nowadays this park takes up a territory of 6641 km².


William Cornelius Van Horne, the director of the Canadian Pacific Railway, expected a lot of visitors after the discovery of the hot spring and had the Banff Springs Hotel built in 1888. The hotel, built in the style of a Scottish castle, currently has about 600 rooms and was, in those days, one of the biggest in the world. The hot water spring and the good railway connection made it possible for the town to expand rapidly. The name of the town comes from Banffshire in Scotland, this was the home town of 2 directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway and is pronounced as “Bamph”.
<Click here to see Banff map>