Wheatless Wanderers

 

In the beginnings…early planning & transportation.

Each year for Christmas we take a trip to a snowy destination. This year we decided on Banff, Alberta, Canada. I normally have a whole process I go through to pick and plan, that was thrown out the window this year and we just asked the kids. They wanted snow and not a little snow, a lot of snow. There are several places that meet those criteria on the continent, but we’ve been to most. We try for a new destination at least twice a year. We had not been to Canada and Banff National Park is incredibly beautiful in pictures so that was our chosen destination.

As I started to research, I determined the nearest airport to Banff is Calgary((YYC). It is about 1 hour and 20 minutes away, super simple. From Atlanta direct to Calgary, West Jet has incredible rates, other airlines have several options for flights as well. We decided a rental car was the most convenient method of transportation during the winter season. I booked our rental car through Expedia, checking the dimensions of the hatch of course since winter clothing and ski gear are bulky, and we wanted all our luggage to fit. A standard size SUV like a Ford Explore was perfect. This accommodated our family of 4 comfortably with 5 suitcases. By choosing a private vehicle we were able to explore freely but know that parking in Banff National Park and downtown Banff is limited. This can be a headache. Leave 15 to 20 minutes in your schedule for parking. I do not recommend taking your car to ski. Take advantage of Skibig3 shuttle service. Parking is limited at the ski resorts and is a hike depending on where you end up, especially at Lake Louise. One last detail about driving a rental car is the gas station fill ups. To prevent fraud the gas stations put a hold of $150 to $250 CAD on your card, so either pay with cash or know this will occur when using a credit card. It fell off our cards quickly, but it was an unexpected little detail we didn’t know about.

If you decide you do not want to drive in Canada or the snowy conditions, you can avoid driving, and still enjoy all Banff has to offer. There are pros and cons to this decision. It just requires a little more planning and maybe a little less freedom. It does help avoid the headaches and stress of parking in Banff and at the local attractions. Transports from Calgary airport run through VIATOR, Brewster Express, and some hotels provide them with a reservation. Once you arrive in downtown Banff there is a public bus system, Roam Public Transit (roamtransit.com.) Some Banff hotels provide free Roam transit passes for routes 1, 2, 4, & 6 for registered guests. The transit buses run to many major attractions in winter including Lake Louise Village, Banff Gondola, Johnston Canyon (weekends only in winter), and Tunnel Mountain area. During some of the more popular times and dates you will want to schedule your bus tickets. Rates and multiday pass prices vary by route. It is easy to schedule through the website.

Shuttles such as Ski Big 3(http://skibig3.com) are free with lift tickets and run shuttles daily to Lake Louise, Sunshine, and Norquay ski resorts. Highly recommend due to parking being limited.

Transportation if staying in Canmore is similar of course. If you have a private vehicle, it’s the exact same. You will just have 20 more minutes to drive to Banff, but with the money you save on accommodations you won’t mind. The one bit of advice is after you buy your Banff National Park admission for the time period of your stay, your receipt will be taped to your windshield showing proof of entry. When heading north from Canmore into Banff stay to the right on the TransCanada highway, and you do not have to enter the pay lanes, this keeps traffic moving.

For those visiting and who chose not to rent a car you can still take advantage of the Roam transit system. Buses run daily from Canmore to Banff from 6am until midnight. Once you are in Banff town you can then use the parks Canada shuttles and skibig 3 shuttles from the downtown area. Again, in Summer and during peak season make reservations.

If you are reading this for a Summer/Fall visit I cannot stress enough scheduling your transit tickets in advance for Lake Moraine (open June 1 -October 14) and Lake Louise. According to Parks Canada ( https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/parkbus/louise ) some tickets will release April 16th, 2025, and then 60% are released in a rolling window at 8am MDT two days prior to departure date. These run around $8 CAD per adult and kids under 17 are free, with a $3 nonrefundable booking fee online. There are no private vehicles allowed at Lake Moraine. So public transit and private tours are the only access, and transit doesn’t run to Lake Moraine in winter, only private tour. We chose a private tour through VIATOR to visit Lake Moraine since we were visiting in winter and that was our only choice.

Lodging in the Banff National Park areas of Canmore and Banff.

When considering lodging options for our family it used to be simple. A double queen room in the best location and maybe a restaurant on site for breakfast. Now it’s more complicated. We have teens who need more space and more privacy. We need a place to store food and maybe heat up a food source for meals in case we are in an area with very few gluten free options. We now opt for a condo, if possible, it just simply makes the trip more enjoyable.  

I found Canmore to have many condo options that were incredibly affordable for a family of 4. I noticed Banff was pricier and lacked an abundance of condos, this is related to building restrictions inside the park. The town just isn’t allowed to construct much or expand, which is understandable its inside a national park. So, Canmore gave us more options to choose from with a better price tag. The condos were newer construction as well with more amenities and luxury.

We ultimately chose a condo in Spring Creek Vacations 107A Tarmack Lodge premier condo. It was a 2 bedroom/2 bath with lots of luxury including geothermal heating/cooling, a heated underground parking garage with an elevator, full kitchen, dining room, grill, fireplace, 24/7 concierge, free wifi, full sized laundry room in-suite, and fitness center on site. The condo village has a corner store, restaurants, walking paths, and even its own outdoor hockey rink in winter. 

• Spring Creek Vacations https://www.springcreekvacations.com/
• Solara Resort https://www.solararesort.ca/
• Silver Creek Lodge https://www.silvercreekcanmore.ca/

Hotels in downtown Banff that I visited and would recommend. They do not have kitchens but are in Banff close to town and bus routes. Plenty of safe gluten free meals available for breakfast, lunch and dinner around town

• Moxy Hotel https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/yycbm-moxy-banff/overview/?msockid=1a9b1148b8d468ea3a6404c0b9c3692b
• Otter Hotel otterhotel.com
• Banff Park Lodge Resort & Hotel banffparklodge.com
• Elk & Avenue Hotel https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/hotels/elk-avenue-hotel/
• Mount Royal Hotel https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/hotels/mount-royal-hotel/
• Hotel Canoe & Suites https://hotelcanoeandsuites.com/

Now for the important part, FOOD!

We like to have the kitchen in the condo for many reasons including breakfast, cold nights when we don’t want to leave for dinner, if there aren’t many restaurants in the area with gluten free options, and it helps save money as well. Breakfast is always crazy at vacation destinations, just for the average person the wait times can be insane. Breakfast is a big meal for us. We are southern after all! So having instant access to the most important meal of the day just makes vacation more enjoyable, as it sets the tone for the day.

Anyhoo, we always make a grocery store run for breakfast items, snacks, drinks, and a few meals. For the Banff/Canmore trip we made a grocery store run in Calgary. Larger city means more options. We visited The Canadian Superstore at 5251 Country Hills Blvd NW in Calgary. We were able to get our basics meats, fruits, veggies, drinks etc. They also have gluten free options for items like pasta, frozen pizzas, snacks, wraps and a Canadian delicacy, poutine! Remember the foods will be marked “Sans Gluten” or GFCP for gluten free certification program, in Canada foods labeled gluten free must contain less than 20ppm. 

If you stay in Canmore as we did and prefer to pick up groceries there or just need to refresh the pantry there is a Safeway and a Save-on-Foods in downtown Canmore, both on Railway Avenue.

We reserved meals in Canmore to our condo with the exception of 2 meals both dinners. both were tasty meals, but one restaurant we were not completely comfortable with the menu due to our server just not being knowledgeable on the subject of celiac disease, which I understand not everyone is going to be an expert on. From our perspective we just have to be cautious of cross contamination, especially when on vacation.

• Blake great restaurant with a diverse menu with many gluten free options. Deemed “Gluten friendly” and they have a dedicated fryer. The masala fries were incredible, burgers, and lettuce wraps were delicious.
• The Grizzly Paw Pub unfortunately I can’t recommend. We did not have much faith in the server due to their responses to questions. The only menu item that felt safe was the burger option.

When researching restaurants with gluten free items and menus I use one of 2 apps. Atly or Find Me Gluten Free. I mainly use the Find me gluten free app and my husband uses Atly. Personally, I just like Find me gluten free better. I have found it has accurate and detailed reviews. The reviews are so detailed we even found a server in a bistro in Ireland that was mentioned in a review related to her knowledge of the gluten free menu.

In Banff we were pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of restaurants with not only gluten free items, dedicated fryers, but also entire gluten free menus. We definitely found some favorites that we visited more than once. Listed below are the restaurants we tried and found safe to eat at during that visit. Of course I can’t guarantee any futures visits, I can only speak to our experiences.

• Tooloulou’s : marketed as “Gluten Friendly” was a cute and cozy breakfast spot off Caribou Street. It is creole and Cajun themed and has a separate gluten free menu. We visited twice for breakfast and found the menu to have loads of options like GF French toast, GF pancakes, GF bread, omelets, eggs benedict, and many more options. Though there is NOT a dedicated fryer. The servers are very cautious and knowledgeable. The food was tasty, and we never had any issues or symptoms after eating. It is a very popular breakfast spot, so get there early.
• Coyote’s Southwestern Grill: “Gluten Friendly” and next to Tooloulou’s. If the wait is too long at one you can just, try next door. They also have many breakfast items that can be GF on the menu. We were there for lunch and had the pizza and pasta. They were good. When talking to people in passing, their breakfast rivals their neighbor Tooloulou’s so definitely check it out. We had no issues after eating here.
• Banff Avenue Brewing Co.: this was another quick little lunch spot we checked out. They are also “Gluten friendly”. They do have a dedicated fryer most of the time, but you do have to check. The manager and kitchen staff are consulted to determine if the fryer is currently safe. My kids had wings and fries, husband had a burger with a GF bun, and salad. All the items were delicious, and no one had a reaction. The server was knowledgeable and was a happy to check with kitchen staff to make sure the food was safe.
• Farm & Fire: this is a little nicer bistro type restaurant in the Elk & Avenue Hotel. They do not have a dedicated menu, but the items are clearly marked, and they were knowledgeable. They were honest about what items would be the highest risk for cross contamination, we stayed away from the fryer. We had pizza, pork sandwiches, and salad. Again, we had a great experience and the pizzas were incredible. No on experienced reactions or symptoms after.
• Magpie & Stump: hands down one of our favorite restaurants. Labeled “Gluten Friendly”, with a well-marked menu. The staff was knowledgeable and gave us options. They knew what could be made GF and the menu was marked for what already was. The chips can be GF but ask specifically because they use special ones from out of house, not in house fresh. They were still delicious. We enjoyed several items from the menu. Tex Mex Wings, suadero beef tacos, carnitas tacos, Tinga chicken, and Cauliflower tacos. All delicious but the LA Tacos on the apps menu you were amazing! The crispy cheese on the edges gave a nice crisp texture with some added flavor. I tend not to eat a lot of mean because I am a former lacto-ova vegetarian, so the Cauliflower tacos were perfect and had a nice tang with the pickled onions. We made repeat visits, and my husband still comments on the food.
• PARK Distillery Restaurant & Bar: my favorite place to eat of the whole trip. The staff were absolutely amazing! Again, “gluten friendly” with a well-marked menu, and a dedicated fryer. The staff is well informed on celiac disease and gluten allergies. They were more than willing to ask the chef questions for us. We also visited here a few times on our trip for lunch and NYE dinner. We had a variety of steaks, salmon, burgers, fries, rotisserie chicken, guacamole, etc. No one had any reaction. The wait staff was excellent!
• Brazen: “Gluten Friendly” with many, many options. Menu is clearly marked, and our wait staff was knowledgeable and friendly. They were willing to ask questions of the chef and answer questions. Our youngest is a self-proclaimed foodie. He enjoyed the beef tartare, and baby back Greek ribs, immensely. We also had prawn stuffed mushrooms that were great! The smoked striploin and fried chicken Caesar, which are GF, were good. Brazen had many options, more than the average restaurant, and they were very flexible. For the price it wasn’t our best meal, but it was incredibly nice to have multiple options.

 

Important detail to note when planning a ski day is getting up early and getting to the slopes if you are driving yourself. The parking lots fill up quickly and the walk in ski boots isn’t pleasant if you’re in row 14. There is a drop off area that allows for everyone to unload at both Sunshine and Lake Louise, but that one lone person will have to park the car and make the uncomfortable walk back. I highly suggest taking the Skibig3 shuttles with your ticket purchase.

Our family had an incredible time visiting Banff. The beauty and wonder of the area far exceeded our expectations.  We were pleasantly surprised by all the restaurants in the Banff and Canmore areas that had gluten free options that were not only safe but were incredibly tasty. I highly recommend visiting anytime of the year. I hope I have given you the basics to get started.

We were able to enjoy Banff and the surrounding area for 8 days, without running out of activities to enjoy. Our activities included downhill skiing, hiking, gondola rides, stargazing tours, shopping etc. It is such an incredibly beautiful place with a plethora of activities.  I highly encourage you to visit during any season of the year, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. I also hope that you will visit me back here on the blog for a follow up post including a detailed account of all the nonskiing activities we enjoyed while visiting the Canmore and Banff areas!