Introduction
Alberta is the Canadian Rockies — the province holds the country's most famous mountain landscapes, from the turquoise lakes of Banff and Lake Louise to the glaciers and waterfalls of the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper. It pairs that alpine grandeur with wide prairie, a pair of fast-growing cities, and one of the world's richest dinosaur fossil grounds. For travellers it is, above all, a national-parks destination: Banff and Jasper draw visitors from around the world, linked by one of the most scenic drives on earth. But the Stampede in Calgary, the badlands around Drumheller and the big-sky prairie give the province more range than its mountain reputation suggests.
Discover Alberta
Banff National Park is the heart of any Alberta trip. The town of Banff sits in the Bow Valley beneath Cascade Mountain, with the Banff Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain, the historic Cave and Basin hot springs that gave the park its origin, and elk wandering the streets. Half an hour north, Lake Louise stuns first-time visitors with its glacier-fed turquoise water beneath the Victoria Glacier, with a lakeshore walk and tea-house hikes above it; nearby Moraine Lake, in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, is even more vivid (its road is now access-controlled, so plan the shuttle or a tour). The park's hiking ranges from easy lakeshore strolls to serious alpine days; in winter the same terrain becomes the ski resorts of Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and Norquay. Wildlife is part of the experience — keep your distance from elk, sheep and bears, and never feed them.
Ways to Experience This Destination
Banff and Jasper, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, and hiking, gondolas and hot springs in the Bow Valley.
The Icefields Parkway, the Columbia Icefield and a walk onto the Athabasca Glacier.
The Calgary Stampede's rodeo and chuckwagon races, and the festival calendar of Edmonton.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum at Drumheller and the UNESCO fossil grounds of Dinosaur Provincial Park.
The ski resorts of Lake Louise, Sunshine Village and Norquay, and winter in the Rockies.
Frequently asked questions
Cities in Alberta
Visaja keeps this page's contact details and visa guidance under continuous review — still, requirements can change at short notice, so confirm the essentials with the mission or the official government portal before you travel.