If you caught Day 3 of our family vacation, you would know that the adrenaline is starting to wear off. We needed something to get the kids excited again (and not yet another hike).
Enter: the Banff Gondola early morning family discount.
Bribing the Kids (and Ourselves) at the Banff Gondola
We kicked things off early at the Banff Gondola. Pro-tip: if you can manage to herd everyone out the door before the crowds, they actually give you a family discount, and kids are free.
For the uninitiated, the gondola is a fully enclosed, glass-walled cable car that sweeps you up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. The panoramic views of the Rockies are genuinely stunning. But let’s be real—the actual lifesaver was the Starbucks strategically located right at the base. Grabbing a mandatory caffeine pick-me-up before trapping three kids in a glass box suspended 7,400 feet in the air is just good parenting.
Once you step out of the gondola cabin, you are corralled into a massive, four-level state-of-the-art summit building. There are many kid-friendly activities at the top, such as:
- The Rooftop Observation Deck: This is where you get those mind-blowing, 360-degree panoramic views of six different mountain ranges. It’s the perfect spot to force your kids to take a family photo before someone inevitably complains about the wind.
- The Sulphur Mountain Boardwalk: This is a 1-kilometer wooden boardwalk that stretches across the ridge over to Sanson’s Peak. It’s an incredibly scenic, relatively easy walk that burned off some of that pent-up kid energy. At the end, there is a tiny, historic weather observatory dating back to 1903.
- The Interpretive Centre: This was a lifesaver. Inside the summit building, there is a completely free, interactive discovery center. They also have a free “Rockies Rangers” scavenger hunt that gets them a prize at the end.
- The Multi-Sensory Theatre: Also included with admission, there is a cinematic theater that does a fly-over video of the Rockies. It’s warm, it has seats, and it requires zero walking. Need I say more?
Lunch: The Budget Pivot
After the summit, we needed a lunch option that didn’t require a second mortgage. Banff is gorgeous, but it is not cheap. Enter Barburrito in downtown Banff on Bear Street.
We bypassed the expensive sit-down spots and opted for this Canadian fast-casual Tex-Mex chain. It is basically an assembly-line style setup (think Chipotle, but with more fry options), which makes it the ultimate hack for feeding a crowd of highly opinionated, picky children.
Here is why it works so perfectly for kids:
- The “Point and Get” System: Because you walk down the line and build your meal, there are no hidden surprises. If they only want a tortilla, plain white rice, mild chicken, and an excessive amount of cheese, that is exactly what they get. No rogue cilantro or hidden diced tomatoes to cause a meltdown.
- The Menu is Foolproof: If a burrito is too complicated, they have plain cheese quesadillas and build-your-own taco plates.
- They Have Fries: Not just tortilla chips. Real, actual, crispy french fries. You can get them plain for the kids, or “Extreme” (loaded with ground beef, queso, sour cream, and jalapeños) for the adults who need to stress-eat some carbs.
- The Bribe Potential is High: They sell warm cinnamon churros and Oreo-stuffed churros right at the register. Nothing gets my kids to hike back to the car faster than the promise of an Oreo churro.
The Most Important Itinerary Item: Naps
After lunch came the most critical phase of the entire trip: retreating to our place in Canmore for mandatory downtime. Do not skip this step. The vacation edition of the Third Shift requires strict enforcement of naps, even if the “nap” is just everyone staring quietly at iPads in different corners of the room.
The Afternoon Rally: Grassi Lakes & Whitemans Pond
Once everyone was somewhat human again, we rallied for the Grassi Lakes hike in Canmore. It’s a great, manageable trail for families that actually pays off with these incredibly clear, jewel-toned turquoise lakes at the top.
We wrapped up the day by driving just a bit further up the road to Whitemans Pond to catch one last sweeping view before calling it quits.
Proof that you can survive a major family trip with enough coffee, budget burritos, and strictly enforced downtime.
Stay tuned for Day 5 of the series, where we venture out on the Icefields Parkway and do our favorite hike of the trip!