How to Spend THREE Days in Canmore: The Best 3-Day Itinerary

Planning three days in Canmore? We’re so excited for you! 

We live in Canmore, so we’ve designed this itinerary to bring together some of our favorite local experiences with a few bucket-list Rocky Mountain highlights. Over three days, you’ll explore Canmore’s best hikes and lakes, as well as visit Banff National Park and its world-famous highlights. Oh, and of course we’ll make sure you stop off at some of Canmore’s best breweries along the way. 

And of course, we’ve included all of the timings and logistics to make this itinerary as easy to follow as possible. Ready to enjoy three epic days in Canmore? Let’s get into it! 

Itinerary Overview

Canmore is a compact town, but many of the best hikes and outdoor activities are spread beyond the center, so we recommend renting a car if possible. This itinerary includes plenty of hiking, caving, cycling, and exploring, but most activities are suitable for beginners, so no worries there. Just make sure to pack comfortable layers and sturdy shoes, because we’re going to be spending a lot of time outdoors! 

🏔️ Day 1: Explore Canmore & Take a Food Tour
Explore downtown Canmore and the Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk, then spend the afternoon cycling between local food stops on this food tour before finishing the day at some of our favorite breweries.

🪨 Day 2: Go Caving & Hike to Grassi Lakes
Go caving beneath Grotto Mountain, enjoy lunch at a local pub, and then hike to Grassi Lakes before treating yourself to dinner at Ankor.

🩵 Day 3: Discover Banff’s Famous Lakes
Take a full-day trip to Banff, including Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, then return to Canmore for dinner, dessert, and maybe a few drinks.

Day 1

Breakfast – Chez Francois Restaurant and Patio

Start your first morning in Canmore with breakfast at Chez Francois, one of the town’s best-loved spots for a hearty morning meal. It offers friendly service and lovely mountain views, especially if you can grab a table on the patio.

The menu covers all of the breakfast classics, but the omelets are a particular favorite. They’re fresh, generously filled, and served with crispy breakfast potatoes, fruit, and toast, so you definitely won’t leave hungry!

We recommend having a big breakfast here because lunch will come a little later today, during the food and bike tour. Chez Francois is a great place to fuel up before exploring downtown Canmore, so take your time and enjoy it.

Morning – Explore downtown Canmore

Check Out Main Street

It doesn’t matter how long we live in Canmore, we never get tired of exploring 8th Street! This is the town’s main shopping street, and it’s lined with independent boutiques, galleries, and gift shops. It’s a lovely place to wander around and pick up a few souvenirs.

Of course, one of the best things about Main Street is the scenery. Even in the middle of downtown, you’ll have gorgeous mountain views in the background. We particularly love it during the summer, when the street feels lively and you’ll often find buskers performing outside. It’s beautiful around Christmas too, when the town is decorated with twinkling lights.

Walk the Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk

Once you’ve explored Main Street, head over to the Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk for a gentle walk before lunch. The trail is right in town, so you can enjoy some classic Canmore scenery without committing to a long or challenging hike.

We love this walk because it offers fantastic views of the Three Sisters mountains, as well as the wetlands and surrounding peaks. It perfectly demonstrates why we chose to live in Canmore!

The route is around 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) long and takes roughly an hour at a leisurely pace. The path is mostly flat and follows a mixture of boardwalks and well-maintained trails, so it’s a relaxed and accessible introduction to Canmore’s beautiful surroundings.

Lunch/Afternoon – Discover local hotspots on a food and bike tour of Canmore

After spending the morning exploring downtown, make your way to the meeting point for this fantastic food and bike tour, which kicks off at 12:30 pm. We honestly can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon in Canmore, because it combines delicious local food with some of the town’s most beautiful scenery.

You’ll hop on an e-bike and cycle at a relaxed pace between three locally owned restaurants, stopping at each one to enjoy a chef-curated dish that’s much more substantial than your average food tour tasting. We also love that you’ll get to meet the people behind these local businesses and hear the stories that make Canmore’s food scene so special.

As you ride between stops, you’ll follow the Bow River, cross the historic Engine Bridge, and pass beautiful spots such as Policeman’s Creek and Spring Creek, all while enjoying incredible views of the Three Sisters. It’s sightseeing, lunch, and a scenic bike ride all rolled into one, so the four hours absolutely fly by!

Even if you’ve never ridden an e-bike before, don’t worry. They’re easy to use and make cycling around Canmore feel effortless, leaving you free to soak up the mountain views and focus on the food. We love this experience because it gives you a real feel for the town, rather than just ticking off the sights, and judging from the great reviews, we’re not the only ones who feel that way. 

Evening – Visit local breweries

After spending the afternoon eating your way around town, you’ll probably be pretty full, so we suggest keeping the evening nice and relaxed. Canmore has a fantastic craft beer scene, so this evening is the perfect time to sample a few local brews before grabbing dinner whenever you’re ready.

We recommend starting at Canmore Brewing Company, one of the town’s original craft breweries. There’s no food served here, but the taproom is a great place to enjoy a tasting flight or a pint, and they let you order food from nearby restaurants and eat it inside if you don’t feel like moving!

However, if you’re keen to explore a few different spots, we recommend continuing on to either The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company or Blake Brewhouse & Distillery for dinner. Both brew their own drinks and serve excellent food, but they offer different experiences. The Grizzly Paw is the more casual and budget-friendly option, with hearty pub classics and a lively atmosphere. Meanwhile, Blake is more upscale, with a gourmet menu and classy cocktails featuring their house-made spirits. 

You really can’t go wrong with either spot, so just choose the one that matches your vibe and enjoy your evening. However, we are going caving tomorrow morning, so don’t go too crazy with the drinks!

Day 2

Breakfast – Rocky Mountain Bagel Company

We love a breakfast bagel, and as far as we’re concerned, Rocky Mountain Bagel Company serves the best bagels not only in Canmore, but in the whole of Canada! Okay, we may be a little biased as Canmore locals, but once you try one for yourself, we’re pretty confident you’ll agree.

There are two locations in town, and we visit them both regularly. Our go-to order is the Greek breakfast bagel, which is packed with egg, feta, spinach, tomato, and tzatziki. It’s filling enough to fuel you for this morning’s adventure, but not too heavy before the caving tour.

Rocky Mountain Bagel Company opens at 7 am, so you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy breakfast before setting off. It’s also only around a 10-minute drive from the tour meeting point, making it a convenient stop before heading underground.

Morning – Go caving

After breakfast, make the short drive to the tour meeting point for a 9:30 am departure. This morning, you’ll be exploring Rat’s Nest Cave, a fascinating wild cave hidden beneath the Rocky Mountains and one of the most memorable adventures you can have in Canmore.

My dad actually used to bring me here as a kid, although these days you need to enter the cave with a professional guide for safety reasons. I recommend this top-rated tour, which includes all of the specialist equipment, instructions, and support you’ll need, even if you’ve never tried caving before!

Unlike a typical show cave with paved walkways and artificial lighting, Rat’s Nest Cave is completely wild. After hiking to the entrance, you’ll put on your helmet and caving gear before following your guide through a maze of narrow passages and underground chambers. Along the way, you’ll see ancient rock formations, stalactites, stalagmites, and even prehistoric animal bones.

There are even a few opportunities to squeeze through smaller passages, including openings around the size of a manhole cover, but the tightest sections are completely optional. Your guide will be on hand to support you, so you don’t have to do anything that goes beyond your comfort zone if you don’t want to! 

The tour finishes at around 1 pm, so it fits perfectly into this itinerary while still giving you plenty of time to experience the cave. Most visitors come to Canmore for the scenery above ground, but trust me, exploring the hidden world beneath the Rockies is every bit as exciting!

Lunch – The Drake Pub

After your morning underground, head back into downtown Canmore for a well-earned lunch at The Drake. This friendly local pub serves some of the best-value pub food in town, and we never need much convincing to stop by for a drink either!

We’re big fans of the smoked meat sandwiches, but the salads are a great option if you want something lighter before this afternoon’s hike. You’ll also find plenty of Canadian comfort food on the menu, including poutine, which is definitely worth trying if you haven’t already.

The Drake has a large outdoor patio with fantastic mountain views, so grab a table outside if the weather is good. Then, after lunch, pop back to your hotel to change into your hiking gear and collect anything you need for the trail before making your way to Grassi Lakes.

Afternoon – Hike to Grassi Lakes

Grassi Lakes is always one of the first places we take friends and family who come to visit us in Canmore, and everyone always loves it! These turquoise lakes are breathtakingly beautiful, and we definitely think that they give some of the lakes in Banff National Park a run for their money. 

The trailhead is just off the Smith Dorrien Spray Trail Road, just a 5-minute drive from downtown Canmore. From there, it’s a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) out-and-back hike with only 125 meters (410 feet) of elevation gain. It usually takes around two hours, including plenty of time to admire the lakes, although swimming isn’t allowed.

And while you start and finish in the same place, there are actually two different routes you can take. The trail splits shortly after you leave the parking lot, with the easier route heading to the right and the more difficult route heading to the left. The harder option is steeper, but it offers better views and passes a pretty waterfall, so this is usually the route we go for during the summer months!

Dinner – Ankor Restaurant

After your hike, head back to your hotel to freshen up and enjoy a well-earned rest before dinner. We’re heading somewhere a little upscale tonight, so you’ll definitely want to shower and change your clothes after exploring the lakes.

Ankor is one of our favorite places in Canmore for a special meal. The menu focuses on modern Canadian cuisine and uses seasonal ingredients from across the country, while the carefully curated drinks list shines a spotlight on local producers. 

The menu is fairly small, but you can tell that a lot of thought goes into every dish here. For the full experience, we recommend choosing the six-course tasting menu, which allows you to sample several of the kitchen’s best creations rather than having to pick just one thing! 

Oh, and don’t forget to make a reservation for Ankor, as it’s very popular and restaurant seating can book up weeks in advance during peak season!

Day 3

Breakfast – The Bankhead Restaurant and Lounge

If you’d like a full sit-down breakfast before today’s tour, head to The Bankhead Restaurant and Lounge. It opens at 7 am and is only a 3-minute drive, or around a 15-minute walk, from the meeting point, so you can enjoy a leisurely breakfast without having to rush. This spot serves hearty breakfast classics, and we think it’s a great choice if you want something substantial before a busy day of sightseeing. 

Alternatively, for something quicker and lighter, you can head back to Rocky Mountain Bagel Company. This time, visit its second Canmore location, which is right beside the tour starting point. It’s perfect if you’d rather just grab a quick breakfast bagel and coffee right before checking in.

Full-day – Take a day trip to Banff, Lake Louise, and Moraine Lake 

Of course, no trip to Canmore would be complete without venturing over to Banff National Park to see its world-famous lakes. It’s the reason most people come here in the first place! 

However, parking at the most popular sights can be an absolute nightmare, and Moraine Lake Road is closed to private vehicles altogether. For that reason, we recommend leaving the logistics to someone else and joining this full-day tour instead!

The tour departs at around 9 am and begins at Lake Louise, where you’ll have roughly an hour to admire the vivid turquoise water and the magnificent Fairmont Château Lake Louise. From there, you’ll continue to Moraine Lake, where we recommend climbing the Rockpile for the iconic view across the Valley of the Ten Peaks. This is actually where we got engaged, so it’s a special place for us!

Moraine Lake is only accessible during the warmer months. During winter, the tour usually visits Marble Canyon instead, where you can walk through the frozen landscape and admire the icy waterfalls.

Later, you’ll have free time on Banff Avenue to grab lunch and explore the town before visiting more Rocky Mountain highlights, including Surprise Corner, Bow Falls, and Lake Minnewanka.

You’ll return at around 5 pm after seeing several of Banff National Park’s most famous sights, so we think that this tour is an amazing way to make the most of your third and final day in Canmore. 

Dinner – Tavern 1883

After a full day of exploring, head to Tavern 1883 for dinner in one of Canmore’s most welcoming pubs. We come here regularly, and there’s almost always something going on, whether it’s a game night, live music, or one of their weekly food specials –  Taco Tuesday is our favorite! This place doesn’t take reservations, but we’ve never had trouble getting a table.

The menu is packed with hearty pub food, but we’re especially fond of the huge Alberta beef burgers. The prices are also very reasonable by Canmore standards, and the lively atmosphere is what keeps us coming back. And during the summer, we love to soak up the mountain views on a warm evening out on the patio. 

Evening – Dessert or drinks 

If you still have room after dinner, walk three minutes to Scoopin’ Moose for one of its famously indulgent waffle cones. There’s almost always a line outside during the summer months, but we promise you that the ice cream here is worth the wait. 

For drinks instead (or afterward), The Corner Pub is only a two-minute walk from Tavern 1883. It’s perfect for a laid-back beer or cocktail, but if you’d prefer something a bit more special to toast your last night in Canmore, you can drive or arrange a local taxi to Wild Life Distillery & Cocktail Bar, which is a 7-minute trip out of town. It’s a stylish spot, and it’s relatively unknown to tourists, but it does close at 9 pm, so if you want to check this place out, it’s best to head there soon after dinner rather than leaving it too late.

Related Read: Want even more ideas for your trip? Check out our guide to the best things to do in Canmore for all of our favorite local activities and adventures!

Where to Stay in Canmore

To make the most of this three-day Canmore itinerary, we recommend basing yourself downtown. It’s central, walkable, and puts you close to plenty of great places to eat and drink after a day of exploring.

Here are our top accommodation picks:

Luxury – $$$

Blackstone Mountain Lodge is a 4-star hotel offering condo-style suites with fully equipped kitchens and in-suite laundry facilities (a lifesaver after a muddy hike!). What we love most about this hotel, though, is the outdoor pool area, complete with two hot tubs and mountain views in every direction. It’s also just a 20-minute walk from Main Street.

You can expect rates to start around $100 CAD per night in the deep off-season and climb to $800+ CAD per night during peak summer and winter holidays. Check availability and book your stay here on Booking.com.

Mid-range – $$

Our absolute favorite hotel in downtown Canmore is the Coast Canmore Hotel & Conference Centre. Offering comfortable, pet-friendly rooms, a heated indoor pool and hot tub, and a fantastic location, just a short walk from Main Street and Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk.

Rates for this hotel typically start from around $250 CAD to $700+ CAD per night, which is excellent value for such a prime location in Canmore. Check availability and book this hotel on Booking.com.

Budget – $

Canmore Downtown Hostel is a great budget-friendly pick, offering dorm rooms or private rooms.

Don’t let the hostel label fool you, though. This is a clean and modern property that offers excellent value in the heart of Canmore. The hostel itself is located at The Shops of Canmore, so you’re just steps from Main Street and only a short walk from the Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk. 

In terms of pricing, you can expect rates to start from around $40 CAD for a dorm bed and climb to $350+ CAD for private rooms during peak season. Book your stay here!

For more options, see all of the hotels in Canmore!

Renting a Car in Alberta

If you’re arriving in Alberta via plane then I can’t recommend getting a rental car enough! Canada is a large country and traveling between cities and even just getting out to some of the best places to visit in Alberta requires transport. Although you can use public transport, on some occasions, it means your trip will not only require more time but more planning.

Renting a car will definitely make exploring all of the fun things to see and do in Alberta easier.

Car rental in Canada isn’t super cheap, but it isn’t overly expensive either, especially if you get a budget car. The cheapest car with pickup and drop-off in different locations is around $100 CAD per day. The price does vary though depending on the time of year and the type of car that you rent. For car rentals, I use the website DiscoverCars.com. It’s a search engine with lots of deals with good customer service. In fact, I’ve used them all over the world including in Chile, New Zealand, and Australia. Read our honest review of Discover Cars here for more details!

Check availability and prices on Discover Cars here!

Another popular option is to rent a campervan or motorhome (only for the brave in winter). Using Motorhome Republic you can search hundreds of deals across multiple companies to pick a great vehicle and the cheapest price. Having a motorhome is a stunning way to see Canada, and you can often camp for free or very cheap in the most beautiful places imaginable! Check out my review of Motorhome Republic here for tips before you book.

And if you’re planning to camp but don’t want to splurge on a huge RV, we highly recommend Smile Campervans. Based in Calgary, this local company provides compact campervans fully equipped with everything you need for a comfortable and affordable road trip adventure!

In fact, Smile Campervans has actually given us a special discount code for our readers! Use the code DESTINATIONLESSTRAVEL at checkout to get 5% off your campervan rental! Click here to browse availability, prices, and book with our discount code!

We hope you’re as excited for three days in Canmore as we are for you! This itinerary brings together so many things we love about living here, from mornings surrounded by mountain views to adventurous days outside and evenings spent at our favorite local restaurants and breweries.

There’s plenty more to discover around Canmore and the Canadian Rockies, so don’t stop planning here! Check out our other Canada travel blogs for even more local tips, activities, and itineraries. We’ve also linked a few of our favorites below to get you started!

Where to Stay in Cochrane, Alberta: Our Personal Recommendations

How to Spend THREE Days in Lake Louise in Summer: The Best 3-Day Summer Itinerary

10 BEST Hotels in Banff Town (Downtown!) for all Travelers and Budgets