Athabasca Glacier Snow Trip from Banff

Fantastic day. Stunning stops to and from the glacier, and Ed was a lovely, informative guide with a lot of knowledge. This trip was the perfect first jaunt into the park. The glacier itself was a little touristy, but when on vacation, it's okay to be touristy.

The sites were stunning. Be prepared for a long drive with a few stops along the way for photos, washrooms and lunch. A little disappointed because the tour description mentioned a stop at Lake Louise, which didn't happen, not sure why as no reason was provided...we had to make our way there the next day a Saturday with tons of other visitors and had to park in the overflow lot and take the shuttle, and it wasn't even 9:00am. The glacier was an amazing experience, freezing, but amazing. Remember that when your Ice Explorer guide/driver gives you a time to be back on the bus, BE BACK ON THAT BUS, as our driver almost left the glacier without a couple who were too busy taking photos to keep track of the time. The buses run on a very precise schedule which is a well oiled machine. Be sure to do the hotel pick-up as there is no full day parking in the bus pick-up lot. Despite having spoken to someone from the tour company the previous day and being told that we could park in the lot, we returned from the tour to find a 50.00 parking ticket on our car, and we weren't the only ones from our tour who returned to this surprise. If you're good with driving and packing a lunch, I'd suggest doing the drive yourself, as there are tons of turnouts and washroom stops along the parkway for breaks and photos, all with signs and interpretive boards providing the history and explanations of everything. Driving yourself will also give you more or less time at each stop so you won't feel rushed or have to wait for others to load the bus.

Very pristine scenery surrounded by mountains and glacier ice/snow which has been there since the ice age time. The weather cooperates on the way up until we stepped on the glacier snow walk. Highly recommended for people who loves cold weather.

This was an amazing one-day tour. Our tour guide, Hugh, was great. He had lots of interesting information and stories about the geography and people who had discovered and developed these areas of the Canadian Rockies. He was very flexible on timing for stops along the way, and when weather and logistics issues required some minor changes. The scenery is beautiful. The experience on the glacier was one you will not want to miss. The next time we do this, I think we will consider the glacier ice walk. We ended up staying in Canmore, rather than Banff. They were very helpful to direct us to a centrally-located meeting place in Banff to meet the tour bus in the morning.

This was a very nice trip with a lot of great scenery and wonderful to be in such a small party. Our guide was very informative and helpful and I would highly recommend the store to anybody who wants to see the sights.

Tour was very good. Saw a lot more than we would have done trying to do it by car. Guide was very informative and the glacier ride well organised.

This tour was on a smaller bus with about 17 individuals. The smaller group size meant less time was spent waiting for individuals to return to the bus after the various stops. The reservation and boarding process went without a hitch. Our tour guide was Norm, he was very knowledgeable of the area and its wildlife and also very engaging. The glacier is a long ride from Banff however the stops at several scenic locations made it enjoyable. The park is beautiful! The walk on the glacier and ride to it in the Explorer vehicle was a unique experience in itself.

Fantastic Tour. Our tour guide Ben was friendly and knowledgeable and even handed out bottles of water throughout the day. The glacier is a must see. The lunch was delicious and fresh. We really enjoyed our day.

We took the full day Athabasca Glacier tour with Discover Banff Tours booked through Viator. The tour itself has some wonderful sites and the Columbia icefield was definitely worth seeing. However, our tour guide Terry was horrible. We were told to stand outside of our hotel for pickup. He did not bother to look for us and went straight to our concierge and then left without even calling out our name. We had to call the tour company to get him to come back. He was rushing through the whole tour and even skipped a stop that was on the itinerary. If anyone was 1 minute late he would berate them on the bus microphone. He also yelled at little kids for bringing on ice cream on the bus there was no sign or any mentioning of food not allowed . He made fun of a lady because she wants to make a restroom stop and told the couple in front of us that seat changes are not allowed. Even though there was no assigned seats. He also yelled at them for talking while he was talking. All this was done over the bus speaker in front of the whole group. He treated us like we are in kindergarten. I would do this tour again but not while Terry is a tour guide.

Felt very rushed. Not enough time during Lake Louise and Peyto Lake stop. Our guide Dale was very dismissive, not friendly except to select few passengers. He was indifferent for most of the tour. Even the Athbasca glacier stop felt too rushed. What a let down