Travel
The conference starts in the late afternoon of September 12, and ends after lunch on September 16. The venue is a 2 to 2.5 hour drive from Calgary airport. It is also important to remember that especially for flights connecting through the USA, a two hour check in time is recommended at Calgary airport in order to give sufficient time for clearing customs.
Direct flights to Calgary (the serving airport, code YYC) are available from multiple international destinations including Amsterdam, Basel, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Paris and others. In those cases where direct flights are not available, non-stop flights to Calgary from major Canadian and USA hubs are available including Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco (all good for flights from Asia), Dallas, Chicago, Denver, Toronto and many others.
Shuttle information is available below. However, you can rent a car from one of the local agents. The drive is simple to navigate- basically you get on Highway #1 and go west (map). Driving time is approximately 2.5 hours. If you drive your own car you will need to purchase a National Parks pass when entering the park. Parking has been arranged with the hotel at a greatly discounted rate.
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For flights to the USA, including flights that connect through the USA, travelers must clear US customs in Calgary. After checking in at the ticket counter you proceed directly to US passport control and US customs, then go on to airport security and the departure lounge. This process takes about 30 minutes once you have checked in, but can range from 15 minutes to an hour. If you need details on the regulations relating to travel through the US please see the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. This complication can often be best handled by choosing connections that do not fly over US airspace, which is something to consider when making reservations.
For flights that are non-US destinations you simply board your flight after screening, and handle customs at your international destination. A check in time of 90 minutes is still recommended if traveling with luggage.
Park Fees
Banff is a Canadian National Park and World Heritage Site. The facilities at this park are maintained through park fees. The daily adult park fee is CDN $9.80. Those entering Banff via cars will be charged at the entry gate. People with cars will need to display a park pass or park fees receipt on their dashboard. People arriving by car may also purchase a group pass for everyone arriving in a single vehicle (up to 7 people) for CDN $19.60 per day. For other individual travelers, park fees are collected via an honour system. For those travelling to Banff on one of our charter buses, the bus fee includes the first day's park fee. For more information see Parks Canada
General Bus Information
There are two bus options for getting from the Calgary Airport to Chateau Lake Louise. The first option is a private charter which we have organized specifically for the conference, however, all registration for this has closed. The second option is a discounted bus service provided through the Brewster / Explore Rockies bus service which costs more, has a longer travel time, but runs every day at a variety of times.
Regardless of which bus option you choose, we strongly recommend signing up early to ensure availability.
When choosing a bus departure time, please bear in mind that you should arrive at the bus departure location (see below), at least 15 minutes prior to departure, and you should allocate an additional 45 minutes for clearing Canadian customs upon arrival.
Regardless of which bus option you choose, the bus will depart from one of the bus bays at the Calgary airport. However, we will not know which bus bay until immediately before the bus arrives for loading. Therefore you should meet in meeting area "C", in front of the Brewster / Explore Rockies desk (see map), this should be immediately to your right as you leave customs.
Bus Option #1
Private charters between the Calgary airport and Chateau Lake Louise have been arranged for conference attendees. The following schedule has been established for the busses:
| Calgary airport to Lake Louise | Lake Louise to Calgary airport | ||
| September 11th | September 12th | September 16th | September 17th |
| 18:00 | 13:00 | 08:00 | 08:00 |
| 17:00 | 12:00 | ||
Registration for this service is closed as of September 8, 2010.
If you have yet to arrange transportation to and from Lake Louise, can rent a car or utilize bus option #2 (below).
Bus Option #2
If you cannot meet the above schedule, then Brewster / Explore Rockies has provided a discount code for attendees to use for booking a non-charter bus. Follow the procedure below:
- Visit Explore Rockies.
- Next to the text "Daily Departures from Calgary to Banff - Canmore - Lake Louise - Kananaskis - Jasper, click "Book Now".
- Select "Airport Shuttle", departing from Calgary, going to Lake Louise, and select your desired travel date. This should bring up a list of available travel times, select your desired travel time.
- Specify the number of travelers, specify pickup location as "Calgary International Airport", and click "Add now".
- You will be sent to a confirmation screen, if you are satisfied with the plan, click "Checkout".
- Fill in the required fields (first and last name, email, phone and country), enter "frog" (without quotes) for the promo code, click "Continue".
- Click "Checkout", this will take you to the payment screen, enter your credit card information and click "BOOK NOW".