Around Lake Louise
While walking around the small village of Lake Louise, we stumbled upon the historic Lake Louise train depot. It is now a museum/restaurant, and is definitely worth the visit. It has been beautifully restored, with much of the original interior intact (including a roaring fireplace), has a small gift shop, great vintage railway posters, and gardens that are stunning! I have never seen so many delphiniums in such rich colors, growing quite so tall! And the bicolor aconitum camarum in the perennials garden made me decide to grow it in my own yard!
The train station also serves as a restaurant, and one of your choices is to dine in a real railcar dining room (parked behind the station).
The station is adjacent to the nature walk along the river, and makes a very pleasant stroll.
We also decided to visit Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks (even though the weather was taking a turn for the wetter).
This was one of the prettiest lakes I saw in Alberta. The mountains come right up to the edge, and seem to stretch endlessly down the shoreline. I think I was only able to count 7 or 8 of the peaks (lots of low clouds), but it was still an impressive sight.
My one disappointment was that the clouds prevented us from taking the gondola (chairlift) to the top of a nearby mountain to see the aerial view of the Lake. However, the drama of the clouds certainly made up for that!