Explore Moraine Lake and Lake Louise — A Half Day Tour
Description
Join us on an adventure through the stunning vistas of shimmering turquoise glacial lakes and breathtaking alpine scenery. Moraine Lake is one of the Canadian Rockies' most beautiful locations, but has since been closed to public vehicle access as of 2024. With new visitation restrictions in place, our half day tour is the best way to guarantee your spot in experiencing the beauty of Moraine Lake. Leave the driving to us and enjoy the striking shores of Moraine Lake and Lake Louise — up close and personal. Our knowledgeable and friendly tour guides will be sure to walk you through the stories of our iconic attractions, giving you a truly authentic and immersive experience. Book a tour and get ready to join us for an unforgettable experience exploring two of the Rocky Mountain's most iconic and stunning lakes. Last minute booking available. Full refunds available up to 24 hours before tour departure.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The waters of Moraine Lake seem like they have been poured straight from the heavens into the Valley of the Ten Peaks. The towering mountains encircle the deep blue surface of the lake in a formation so extraordinary, only Mother Nature could shape it. Piles of boulders have been seemingly dropped by the hands of giants, forming miniature mountains near the lakeshore. Let yourself be drawn to the trails that wind amongst the rocks and travel beyond to alpine meadows and sparkling lakes. With new visitation restrictions in place for Summer 2023, joining this small group tour is the best way to guarantee your visit to Moraine Lake.
Lake Louise is a glacial lake within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. The turquoise colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The lake has a surface of 0.8 km² and is drained through the 3 km long Louise Creek into the Bow River. Moraine Lake and Lake Agnes are also accessible from Lake Louise.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- No pets permitted.
Reviews(128)
Excellent experience! Our tour from Canmore to Lake Louise and Lake Moraine was led by Shawn. He was very informative, friendly, with a pleasant sense of humour. Everything happened smoothly and on time. We had ample time to explore the locations with Shawn's helpful tips. We highly recommend this trip.
Very comfortable vehicle— the pickup location was convenient and the driver (Caroline) was both knowledgeable and entertaining
10/10 experience! Travelled with my 17 year old son and we lucked out with great weather and a great group on the bus. Pick up was on time and easy to find, the drive to and from both lakes was seamless and the guide, Caroline, was incredible! She kept us entertained on the drive and then told us the best spots to go at each stop. She was seriously great! Really enjoyed this and would highly recommend to anyone considering a half-day trip. For reference we left at 8:30 from Banff and arrived back at the same site around 1:30 PM. Totally worth it so much fun thanks Caroline!
Very easy and efficient and inexpensive way to see both Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. The 1:20 at each lake is better than most other companies who only allow 1 hr. It was a perfect half day. The driver was very nice and his information was interesting on the way from Banff to the sites
- half day (5.5-6 hr total) just right for kids and families, select morning tour to avoid delays - driver was friendly and provided useful info on how to beat spend our limited time at the lakes - Moraine Lake rock pile trail was manageable even for preschoolers. Great views!
Caroline was awesome and very funny. She made the trip fun and was a great guide! The tour itself was comfortable and timely and we had a great time
Our half-day tour to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise in Banff National Park was an incredible experience! The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and the itinerary was well organized, giving us enough time to enjoy both iconic lakes without feeling rushed. A special thank you to our bus driver, Shawn, who made the trip even more enjoyable. He was friendly, professional, and an excellent driver. Shawn shared interesting facts and local insights along the way, kept everything running smoothly, and made everyone feel welcome throughout the tour. If you're visiting Banff and want a stress-free way to experience Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, I highly recommend this half-day tour. It was a memorable experience, and Shawn's great service made it even better!
Had a comfortable and timely ride with Shawn. His great sense of humor helped us kill the time during highway travel. Got cool tips for photography locations.
Really disappointed in our experience with this company. We booked this tour because our 7 month old had been really great for car rides and we thought the length would work but when we traveled to Banff, we used a rented car seat and he screamed nonstop every car ride. Feeling anxious, we reached out to ask for more details about the transit situation and whether our carrier would even fit in the shuttle the day before and did not receive any information back until 7am the morning of the tour when it was too late to pack. While we acknowledge that we requested a refund at 7pm the night before which is outside the 24 hour time frame, we were surprised to see that refund denied after we called the tour company to explain the situation and the operator could literally hear our son screaming bloody murder in the backseat and said she totally understood would speak to her managers about it. Then we called back to confirm the tour would not be possible for us and ask the status of the refund and the operator talked over me as I attempted to explain and then said that Viator was the one who would make the determination but the tour didn't have an issue with it. I feel like I received mixed messages about our refund and that communication should have been more prompt regarding our questions about the suitability of this tour for a young infant such as amount of space for baby gear. I am sure the staff and tour guides are lovely, kind people but I wish this company had a more compassionate response to two stressed parents of an infant who can't always plan days in advance.
Rachel, I am the Operations Supervisor in the company, and I am responding to your review 1. You sent message at 4:20pm previous day which was within 24 hours window already, we responded in the night, not 7:00am next day. I've read through all the screenshots, your inquiry was mainly about a big backpack which was not an issue for us at all, and your got the answer. You asked for cancellation in morning of the tour day, we never received your cancellation request before that. If you intended to cancel outside the 24-hour window, you could have canceled directly, no request was necessary. 2. You mentioned in the text message that you couldn't make it to the meeting point on time because you don't have time to prepare, shall we remind you to prepare for the tour that booked by yourself? We also kindly offered you moving to our next bus which was 2 hours later. All of these are in the message chat, we can send you a screenshot if you don't remember. 3. Let's both be clear about the facts of that day in the morning: you arrived at the meeting point with a crying baby, it became difficult for you to hop onto the bus, you then started talking to our OP over the phone, while all other 20 guests were waiting in the bus. You asked our OP what to do, what did you expect us to do in the last minute? From the conversation on site, it appeared you wanted to cancel and request a refund, I understood it was all about the refund for your last minute cancellation, which we originally prepared to grant partially, but it has to go through Viator customer service. it was all normal until we received your request through Viator, and we were surprised to see your “interesting” and terrible excuses: 4. You said in your request: the tour “requires five hours of strict vehicle confinement”, what a lie! The tour you booked is a half day tour with a total duration of about 5.5 hours from Banff; total driving time is approximately 2.5 hours, with transfers ranging from ~20 to ~45 minutes. Read the itinerary again on your own. Why would you even book it if you understand the tour in that way? 5. You said in your request: “lack of stroller accessibility”, what is this coming from? incorrect! all our buses have underneath or back trunk storage room, stroller can be stored in it during the driving time, a lot of former customers did that, you never asked about stroller, how does this all the sudden become one of your reasons? 6. You said in you request: “highly misleading regarding its suitability for babies”, You even didn't board the tour, what is your base of this accusation? we have served tons of groups with infants, if you believed the tour was not suitable for your baby because of the reason above, you should not have booked this tour at the first place, or should have canceled tour within the permitted window. When the back office reviewed this case we were prepared to make an exception and issue a partial refund to accommodate your baby-related issue. But after received your Viator claim and seeing the false accusations, we decided not to proceed. Please note the 24-hour cancellation policy exists for a reason — you referenced that 24-hour window in your review, so you are aware of it. If you have further questions, contact me directly and ask for Jerome Regards
Both lakes have amazing views. 80 minutes for each location is just the right amount of time. We are very glad to have Shawn as our driver and guide today. We enjoyed the trip and would certainly recommend other travellers to visit both lakes.
