Enjoy this full-day tour from Banff, visiting the Athabasca Glacier and the stunning scenery lining the breathtaking Icefields Parkway. This tour travels halfway along the world-famous Icefields Parkway, recognized as one of the top drives in the world passing numerous Rocky Mountain peaks, glaciers, waterfalls, and emerald lakes. Your tour also includes round-trip transport from Banff, a mountain picnic lunch, Glacier Skywalk, and an all-terrain Ice Explorer tour.

Day trip to Athabasca Glacier from Banff
Gaze at the stunning glaciers and remnants of the last ice age
Enjoy breathtaking views along the Icefields Parkway
Go on an exciting, optional all-terrain onto the glacier

What's Included

Professional guide
Picnic lunch - options available, please contact 403-760-5007 to select
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure: Ice Explorer! Tour and Glacier Skywalk
Small group tour (maximum of 24 guests)
Hotel pick up and drop off
Pick up from the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel.

Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Mount Royal Hotel
138 Banff Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1A7, Canada
All guests must wait at the public bus parking located behind the Mount Royal Hotel at 138 Banff Ave. You must be ready 5 minutes prior to the 7:42am departure time.

Start time

08:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Explore the dramatic glaciers of Banff and Jasper National Park on this adventurous Athabasca Glacier tour. Along the way, get a first-hand look at the key role these huge ice formations played in shaping the sweeping valleys, colorful alpine lakes, and soaring peaks of the region.

Sit back and enjoy the ride along the Icefields Parkway, one of the world’s most stunning scenic drives. Because you don’t have to navigate or watch the road, this tour lets you focus on the amphitheatre of mountains towering above. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife at the edges of the forest.

Dig into a hearty mountain picnic and take a photo stop at Bow Lake, one of the largest lakes in Banff National Park, against the backdrop of the Crowfoot Glacier.

Climb aboard the Ice Explorer (a 6-wheeled behemoth of a vehicle) and drive across the surface of this glittering sheet of ice. Getting thirsty? You have a chance to drink pure, cold water straight from the glacier. You also walk the glass floor Glacier Skywalk, hanging from the edge of the Sunwapta Valley, for unparalleled views of the canyon below and mountains around you.

Please note: This tour is seasonal, operating April through October.

Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Icefields Parkway (Pass By)

Crowfoot Glacier

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Bow Lake

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Infant rates do not include lunch
Early and late season road / trail closures may limit access to some areas.
Not wheelchair accessible

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

about cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Jacqueline_W

Great trip into the beautiful ice-fields. Knowledgeable guide Matt was excellent. Book this tour! You won’t regret it.

Reviews

5.0

184 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 184 reviews

Enjoyable Outing

Lori_R, May 2023

Our guide on the Glacier, Marc was AMAZING! He was very professional, thorough and informative. The Skywalk was incredible and the icing on the tour cake so to speak. The visitors center was clean and welcoming. The bus ride from Banff was a bit too long, with too many stops, especially on the return trip. We had anticipated 10 hours reluctantly but when it approached the 11th hour we were a bit spent.

Excellent organisation by...

Rangitha_W, May 2023

Excellent organisation by Banff Discovery and Columbia Icefields. Expert guides. Timely, safe and well planned. Can recommend to anyone. It was an awesome experience

1 traveler found this review helpful

Great day out in the Rockies

Tony_O, May 2023

The scenery on the route to the icefield is stunning and besides that we saw six bears up close. The tour guide Eli was very friendly and kept us interested and amused for the whole day, he was an integral part of the experience. The icefield itself is an unique experience and this tour is a must do, if you visit Banff.

Columbia Icefield Odyssey

Alan_S, May 2023

Very knowledgeable guide. Stopped frequently to show us points of interest. Most informative and enjoyable

Excellent trip

Kelvin_C, Oct 2022

The whole trip is well organised. Nice bus, decent picnic lunch provided. Knowledgable tour guide introducing Banff and national parks. Worth to join.

Must go!! Fab trip!

Cynthia_B, Sep 2022

Fascinating and awe inspiring! And comfortable!! Learned so much. Nature is humbling and amazing. Drive to glacier is as astounding as the glacier!

Once in a lifetime.

Heidi_H, Sep 2022

A great experience. The ice machines were amazing. Walking on a glacier is an unforgettable thing to do. It’s definitely slippery and awe-inspiring. All the guides at the different parts had very interesting information.

Fun day at the Columbia ice field.

Sylvia_S, Sep 2022

A wonderful day seeing such awesome beauty! Our tour guide, Eli, was so knowledgeable and did a very good job taking us to the Columbia ice field and educating us about what we were seeing along the way, while sharing his interesting stories about life as a tour guide and a local.

1 traveler found this review helpful

An excellent day trip!

Panagiotis_K, Jul 2022

Very nice trip with a lot of great places to see even before walking on the glacier, which is a unique experience. Our guide was very good and told us so many things about the area and its history!

Great trip

Trevor_H, Jul 2022

Wonderful day with a great guide. Really pleased we chose this trip to do and would highly recommend it

A phenomenal excursion!

BobJones, Jul 2022

This is a really long trip, but it's worth every second! We were picked up right on time and the tour guide explained everything we would need to do before hitting the road (picking up other guests, etc.). The ride along the icefields Highway is jaw-dropping vista after jaw-dropping vista, and our guide, Tyler, was knowledgeable, humorous (for the most part), engaging, and had some great stories about his experiences in the area. The only downside was the crowd of people at the building across from Athabasca (but that's to be expected).

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Hi Bob. Thanks for reviewing our tour. Glad you had a great time on our full day experience. It's a popular, iconic destination for Alberta, if not Canada. People want to see it and we're glad you did with us.

God's creation is Beautiful

Randall_H, Jun 2022

Being out on the ice in the beauty of God's creation! Trip was AWESOME! What a beautiful area! The bus driver was great! He was very helpful, informative, and fun!

1 traveler found this review helpful

Spectacular

Lisa_S, May 2022

We loved learning the geological history of the mountains and other trivia. Our guide, Neil, was very knowledgeable and made the experience all the more enjoyable.

Thank you

Aditya_K, May 2022

The tour was more enjoyable as Jeff, Tia, Sean and Ben were all so kind and funny and accommodating.

1 traveler found this review helpful

Great experience.

Clinton_R, May 2022

Jeff our guide for the trip. Incredible knowledge and experience. Great story teller. Comfortable bus and good lunch.

Amazing stunning scenery

Robert_M, Sep 2021

Rob was our coach driver, so patient and helpful with my husband who had limited mobility. He drove very safely and wanted us to see as much as possible. Lunch was good but our time was rushed and no where to sit. Rob and all the other drivers were very knowledgeable about history and geography

Columbia Icefields

Colleen_F, Sep 2019

Aaron was our guide, he was very knowledgeable and added lots of interesting points, re native tribes in the area.

Excellent trip with Matt

Jacqueline_W, Jun 2019

Great trip into the beautiful ice-fields. Knowledgeable guide Matt was excellent. Book this tour! You won’t regret it.

My wife and I had a wonderful...

Stan M, Oct 2018

My wife and I had a wonderful experience with the glacier tour! We saw some incredible sites that we'll remember forever...many pictures! Our guide for the day Ed was wonderfully knowledgeable, not only of the area but also the history. Many interesting discussions ensued. We also very much enjoyed meeting our tour mates!

Well-worth taking this trip...

Stephen A, Sep 2018

Well-worth taking this trip. Absolutely stunning scenery, although our guide could have eased up on the military-style organisation of the group. We were on holiday after all!

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