Where is Lake Louise Canada?

The village of Lake Louise Alberta is located just off Highway 1, about 180km (2 hours) west of Calgary and 59 kilometres (36 miles) from the town of Banff Canada. The Lake Louise Ski Resort is a few kilometres from the village of Lake Louise, which is another 4 to 5 kilometres away from the actual lake of Lake Louise where the grand Chateau Lake Louise is located.

Getting To Lake Louise Alberta

Flights

Calgary International Airport is located just 2 hours away from Lake Louise. To search for a great deal on a flight to Calgary you can use one of our recommended flight search engines. Calgary receives frequent flights from various Canadian and international airports.

Driving

It’s not essential to have a car, but it can be very handy to provide some flexibility to get to the Lake Louise ski resort and to get around elsewhere. There are lots of car rentals available at the airport. From Calgary it’s fairly easy to navigate to Lake Louise along the Trans Canada Highway.

You will need to purchase a Banff National park pass.

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Shuttles

Otherwise there are shuttles from Calgary International Airport to Lake Louise.

Brewster Express runs scheduled group shuttles between the airport and Lake Louise, whilst there are various operators that offer private transfers.

Getting to Lake Louise Ski Resort from Banff

There are daily buses between Banff and the Lake Louise Ski Resort. For holders of a tri-area lift ticket or Ikon Pass, these buses are free. See the Banff hotel page for a list of the hotels that the buses depart from.

Of course, it’s probably much easier just to drive yourself.

Getting Around Lake Louise

Having a car is the easiest way to get between Lake Louise resort, the village of Lake Louise, and the chateau on the shores of the lake. None of these areas are within easy walking distance of each other. Car travel is also the easiest if wanting to travel to Banff or other ski resorts nearby. Parking is generally not a problem, although it can be expensive at the Lake Louise Chateau.

Otherwise, there are shuttle buses from most of the Lake Louise hotels to the ski resort that are operated by the hotels or resort.

There is also the Lake Louise taxi as an option for getting around.

Other Ski Resorts Nearby

To travel to the other two Banff ski resorts, you'll want to have a car.

Driving distances from Lake Louise:

• Sunshine Village Ski Resort - 60km to the southeast
• Norquay - 65km to the southeast
• Nakiska - 137km to the southeast
• Kicking Horse - 98km to the west. The Powder Express provides daily ski transfers to and from Banff/Lake Louise to Kicking Horse. The bus departs select hotels in the morning and arrives in Kicking Horse for a day in epic powder on the steeps and chutes and heads back to Banff and Lake Louise after enjoying a full day at the resort. The only potential downside is that the shuttle arrives just a fraction late to get ahead of the pack on a powder day.
• Panorama Ski Resort - 169km to the south

Ice Fields Parkway

A little further afield is Marmot Basin near the town of Jasper. It’s worth combining a Banff/Lake Louise ski holiday with time at Jasper, in part because the 230km drive between Lake Louise and Jasper on the Ice Fields Parkway is absolutely spectacular.

The Ice Fields Parkway makes the Bow Valley Parkway between Banff and Lake Louise seem a little drab in comparison! The Icefields Parkway road is reasonably wide so it easily affords views of the surrounding rocky peaks, glaciers and enormous valleys. It is absolute eye candy!

Heli Skiing Near Lake Louise

Heli skiing is not permitted within the Banff National Park but there are options nearby:

• Purcell Heli Skiing is based out of Golden BC - 83km west of Lake Louise
• RK Heliski is based at the Panorama Resort - 169km south of Lake Louise