Banff

Banff was Canada's first national park (1885) and remains the most photographed mountain landscape in the country. Lake Louise, ten kilometers up the valley, gets the postcards — the water really is that color, from glacial silt. Moraine Lake is twenty minutes south and is shuttle-access only now. The Icefields Parkway running north to Jasper is one of the great mountain drives on the planet — Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, the Columbia Icefield where you can walk onto the glacier itself. The town of Banff is the base — touristy but well-supplied. Stay in Canmore (15 min east, just outside the park) for cheaper lodging and a more local feel.