Last week, I got a chance to visit Banff with a family member.  Having great previous experiences with On-It Transit, I booked with them again.  One way tickets have increased to $12.50 plus tax from $10 which includes tax.  Even with the price increase, it is still a great deal for this 90 minute drive to Banff.

The lady on the phone who helped me book the last 2 trips helped me again for the third time.  She booked a 10 AM pick up time from my building and a 7:30 PM Banff departure.  A wheelchair accessible vehicle with a fold out ramp will be provided for us.

Getting There

Mike who was our driver arrived at my building right around 10 AM.  When he tried tying my wheelchair down with the straps inside the vehicle, there was a little bit of an issue of it working properly.  After a few minutes of fumbling around, all the tie downs were secure and we were ready to drive out.

The drive was scenic and smooth like usual.  We made it to Banff just in time for our lunch reservations.  Here’s how the rest of our day went:

Pacini

It is always best to make reservations as Banff could be very busy and restaurants could be already full.  Pacini is an Italian restaurant and is located in Moose Hotel & Suites.  The bathrooms are on the second level so we had to use the hotel elevator to connect to it.

The restaurant looked very nice and made it look like we were inside a large wooden cabin.  I really like the unlimited bread bar where you get to toast whatever kind of breads you wanted.  The different flavored butters were all amazing.  We shared 2 different pastas and a salad and everything tasted great.

Roam Bus to Cave and Basin National Historic Site

From the restaurant to Cave and Basin, it was just over a 30 minute walk/stroll.  Since it started to rain, we thought taking the Roam bus would be better.  Our On-It transit tickets includes the Roam bus so we might as well use it.  Otherwise it would be $2 for an adult ticket.

Looking at the transit map, we were to take the #4 bus from downtown Banff to the Cave and Basin.  It was to be about a 30 minute ride as there is a quick stop at Bow Falls.  When the bus came, we noticed it was a smaller shuttle type bus.  There was a power lift at the back side so I was able to get on the bus.

Cave and Basin

Admission to Cave and Basin normally costs $9 per adult but is free for Parks Canada Discovery Pass Members, which we had.  We arrived just in time to join a free guided tour of the Cave and Basin.  Our guide took us to the Basin area and talked about the Cave and the history of the site.

We then checked out the museum part of the site.  It was just one big room but was worth checking out.  My favorite part was visiting the cave.  The pathway inside the cave was wheelchair accessible and smooth throughout.

Once inside, there was a small section that had a few steps to see the cave and basin.  I didn’t miss much and was happy to experience what I could.  We stayed over an hour at the Cave and Basin and would definitely visit again.

Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum

We then walked/strolled 15 minutes to visit Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum.  This was a smaller museum and costs $12 per adult.  There were 3 main rooms where we got to learn the heritage of the First Nations People of the Northern Plains and Canadian Rockies.

There were ramps to get to each of the main exhibit rooms which were helpful.  Surprisingly there were no bathrooms at all in this museum.  It was an old building so if guests need to use the bathroom, they would have to leave the building and come back.

It was interesting to see the tee pees, art collection, wax figures and sculptures throughout.  We end up seeing everything in under 30 minutes.  It was nice to visit this museum the one time and support a small  organization but I would not go again.

Banff Downtown

After the museum, we had an hour before our dinner reservations, so we decided to just hang out Banff downtown.  Even though there were no specific plans, it was nice to people watch and see the crowds of tourists wander around.

We took pictures with the mountains in the background and visit some of the unique shops than can only be found in Banff.  There was a year round Christmas store called The Spirit of Christmas that had very cool but expensive things.  I got my favorite chocolates from Mountain Chocolates.

There are many stores that do have a step or 2 to get in so we just ignore and skip them.

Chilli’s

All Chilli’s restaurant locations closed in Calgary except inside the our airport.  It was great that Banff has a location as its’ been years since I ate at Chilli’s.  The food was great as I had the sampler meal that had sliders, wings, egg rolls and celery sticks.  The accessible bathrooms are in the lower floor and had to use the elevator in the hotel.

Drive Home

It was almost 7:30 and we were to meet Mike at the same spot as our drop off.  It was raining a bit but we made it without getting too wet.  The front tie downs weren’t working and only the back tie downs were used.  We tried heading out but my powerchair kept wanting to push out the back door.

After a few minutes of driving, we had to find a safe spot to pull over.  It wasn’t exactly safe to be driving like this so I had to be lifted and transferred to the front passenger seat for the rest of the drive home.

Final Thoughts

I had another great 7 hour visit to Banff.  Visiting the Cave and Basin was the highlight of this trip.  I was happy that the cave had an accessible pathway to easily roll in.  Even though there were issues trying to tie my wheelchair down for the drive back, I am very thankful that On-It transit has an affordable option for those in wheelchairs to get to Banff.