My wife and I are traveling to the Canadian Rockies within the month, can anyone provide some information on places they would recommend or not recommend to eat at in Waterton , Canada, Banff, Canada and Jasper, Canada? We are not looking for gourmet dining; just interested in a decent place with decent prices. Any suggestions on information about the areas would be appreciated. Finally, do most places take American money and American credit cards.

We appreciate your help, feel free to email if you prefer not to air your information by way of the forum.

Thanks,
Ron and Shirley Dennis (Mud-Dabber)

american money/cards work just fine, may have to call cc company to okay charges. be aware of what the exchange rate is, currently 1 United States Dollar equals
1.32 Canadian Dollar. buy some canadian money and have it handy.

the train trip thru the rockies is a bucket list item for me, got to drive almost into the mts. a few times in the semi.
no idea on places to eat up there tho.

been several years since I've been there and I can't recall where we ate but there are numerous good restaurants in Banff and Jasper.....I've pretty much been all over north America including driving the Alaskan highway and IMO the 175 mile icefields parkway between banff and jasper is probably the most beautiful stretch of highway in north America....

Just got back from Canada myself eh.

Yes they will take US credit cards no problem. However there is a good chance your credit card has a foreign transaction fee. Usually 3%. Not all cards have those but many do. Check with your bank for details.

SOME merchants will take US dollars. But if they do they will give you chance in Canadian dollars.

Keep in mind the Canadian dollar is about .75 or .74 of a US dollar. It changes daily but has been in that range for a while now. Dont let them make you a hoser by rippin you off eh. If I was going for an extended trip it would be worth getting some US dollars converted into Canadian prior to going up there eh.

Cant tell you about where to eat and such... I was in Vancouver.

Good chance of getting into some inclement weather.

Oh and about the money up there; dont throw the coins around like you would here. Some of them are like $2 coins. I was going to leave a bunch of change for a waiter and the girlfriend called out that several of those were $2 coins and $1 coins and the bill was less than $10.

So yeah... be careful to mind the coins up there eh.

Also they call bathrooms "washrooms", they love Tim Horton's coffee, and they apologize to everyone for everything. They run into a table and they apologize to the table.

I’m on a plane right now from Calgary so your in luck
• Banff, expect a lot of tourists and parking was at a premium. We splurged and stayed at the Fairmont for three nights on pkg deal that included their golf course. Then we stayed in Canmore just east of Banff to cut down costs of
Lodging. Canmore has things to see and do also, you will have to buy a park pass to enter Banff, daily or by the week
• Lake Louise is just north of Banff, you will be directed to a off site parking lot about 3 miles from lake. They will bus you into lake $4, we ate lunch at the Fairmont hotel that over looks lake, well worth the price of lunch
• Jasper National Park, we drove around looking for wildlife and great views in which there were a lot. Here we seen black bear, elf, goats and deer. We stayed in Hilton just east of Jasper in a air bnb to cut down in cost.
• Misc, the drive from Banff to ice fields (north) was a little disappointing due to the fact they put up a high fence along
Highway (no animals), ice fields pretty neat, there is a tourist stop for gas and food but leave Banff on full tank, low grade fuel was $1.85 a liter there
• avg fuel price $1.13 liter
• weather was 40s am to 70s pm
• US dollar strong to the Canadian
• no problem using credit or debit cards
• airport in Calgary was quick easy along with immigration
PM me if you need anymore info, have fun!

Don’t make the mistake of taking a lot of USD with you, instead use your debit card to withdraw cash from a bank ATM. Exchanging USD for CAD through places like Travelex offer terrible exchange rates.

Chipped credit cards were in widespread use in Canada years before they gained traction in the US. Be aware of credit card foreign exchange fees though. I specifically have a World Elite MC because they do not charge these fees.

Based on advice from a local, we specifically stayed away from Lake Louise proper but instead went to Lake Louise Ski Resort. Great vistas, still got to see the lake from afar but not crowded at all.

Make sure you have an international phone plan in place before you go.

Lastly, take a road map with you as there are remote areas with intermittent or no cell service so mapping apps won’t help you.

Good point about the cell phones. I checked mine prior and believe it or not my $35 a month Crickett plan includes Canada! The GFs Verizon did not so we just used my phone the whole time.

MasterCard and Visa work there. Discover doesn’t, and I don’t know about American Express.

Call your credit card company before you leave to let them know you’ll be traveling there. Call your bank and let them know also so you can withdraw money from ATMs.

Good suggestion on getting an international plan added before you go (might be able to do it for one month).

My Verizon plan works there fine. I spend my time in the Maritimes though. YMMV.

Thanks Everyone, the information gathered thus far is very helpful.

Mud-Dabber