Location

Lake Louise is a glacier lake in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is one of the major attractions of Alberta, which is in western Canada.

It is at a distance of about 905 kilometers from Seattle that is at approximately 10 and a half hour drive from there and at about 11 hours drive from Vancouver.

The name comes from the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), Queen Victoria’s fourth daughter and wife of the Marquess of Lorne, the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883.

The lake drains to the 3 kilometer long Louise Creek into the Bow River. On the eastern side of the lake is the Chateau Lake Louise, a luxury resort built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 20th century.

Climate

Winter is a popular time to visit the Lake, though it is very cold with temperatures dropping down to -7 degree Celsius. Skiing is popular in this season here because of snow.

Spring and summer are still cool here as temperatures do not scale more than 20 degree Celsius. Autumn brings its own charms to Lake Louise.

Reaching Lake Louise

The Calgary International Airport, at about 195 kilometers from Lake Louise is the closest airport. Major international air carriers provide their services here.  From the airport, you can rent a car to Lake Louise which takes about 3 hours and makes for a good drive with all its scenic beauty.

There are a number of shuttle services too that you can opt for.

The drive from Edmonton International Airport to Lake Louise takes about 6 hours.

There is no train service to Lake Louise, though places like Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton are connected to Jasper from where you can either rent a car or get on a bus to reach Lake Louise.

Attractions at Lake Louise

Lake Louise has plenty to offer the tourists. There are hiking trails, amusement parks, cultural centers like art galleries and museums and many other source of entertainment.

In the winter season from November to May the centre of attraction is the Lake Louise Mountain Resort, the largest ski area in the country of Canada. The Bridal Veil Falls that is accessed at Lake Louis via Lake Agnes Trail is another popular attraction here. Its drop is about 100 feet. At a short distance is Cauldron falls, enclosed between mountains and then the Mistaya falls. In the Big Bend area is the 200 feet tall Nigel Creek falls. On the Icefield Parkway is another 200 feet high fall, the Panther Falls.

To the west of Lake Louise, bordering Alberta and berth Columbia is the Great Divide, the point from where all the water either flow to the Pacific Ocean in the west or to the Atlantic Ocean in the east.  The Mount Balfour is located here.

A number of mountain peaks around make for an apt background for the Lake Louise. In the Northeastern end of the Columbia Icefield are the Twins tower, 3,627 meters high and the North and South Twin peaks. In the upper Moraine Lake Valley are the Eiffel Tower standing 3, 080 meters high and the Eiffel peaks. Dolomite peak (2,782 meters) is another attraction close to the Icefield Parkway.

The Snow Dome, one of the two hydrological apexes in the world is on the Columbia Icefield’s Continental Divide. The water from the apex feeds the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic Ocean. The 3,211 meter high Nigel Peak borders Jasper and the Bnaff National Parks. Mount Victoria is another attraction here.

The place is home to a number of glaciers, such as the Hector Glacier on Mount Hector, The Victoria Glacier at the base of Mt Victoria that feeds the Lake Louise, the Vulture Glacier, a part of Wapta Icefield on the Continental Divide is a site for backcountry skiing. Bow Glacier too is part of this Icefield. The Icefield parkways have more than 100 glaciers itself. The Columbia Icefield spread across 325 square kilometers on the Continental Divide has six major glaciers and feeds the Columbia, Mackenzie and Saskatchewan Rivers.

There are a number of other lakes around Lake Louise that are worth a visit such as the Hidden Lake, Katherine Lake, Mistaya Lake, Moraine Lake and the Valley of Ten Peaks, Lake Agnes that’s popular for hiking trails and the Peyto Lake.

Some other attractions at Lake Louise include the Bow Valley Parkway that has some waterfalls, hike trails and Ink Pots, with 6 cold water springs. The Icefields Parkway, 230 kilometers between Lake Louise and Jasper makes for a great mountain drive as well that includes highlights like the Columbia Icefields.

Nearby Lake Louise are some major tourist attractions like the town of Banff. The attractions here are the Bnaff Sulphur Mountain Gondola, Lake Minnewala and the hot springs, the naturally heated sulphur pools, white water rafting trips on Bow River and the Bnaff Park Museum, the oldest natural history museum in Canada. Calgary, another town not very far away attracts tourists to its Big Rock Brewery, The Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre, the Calgary Tower, the Calgary science centre and the Olympic Plaza. Jasper town with its National Park, Icefield center, Jasper Aquatic center and Canada’s highest tramway system –Jasper Tramway is an interesting town to visit. To the south east of Lake Louise is Canmore, within the Bow Valley that has many activities fro tourists like hiking, mountaineering etc, helicopter tours. It is famous for its annual Ice Climbing Festival held in January and other such annual events.

Around Lake Louise are couple of other historical sites like the Cave and Basin National Historic Site, the Luxton Museum with displays on Native arts among other things, the Walter Philips Gallery, a centre of contemporary art and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies to name a few.

Besides, there are options for other activities like fishing, mountain biking, aero plane and helicopter tours, helicopter skiing and many more. There are many festivals held across the year around Lake Louise and the towns near by such as the Ice Magic, International Ice Sculpture Competition and exhibitions.

A trip to Lake Louise and to the areas around is definitely a great way to enjoy a relaxed vacation with your family or by yourself if want an alone time and if time allows, at your own leisure.

The Palace of Versailles is ranking in the few largest castles of the world. The palace has nearly 67 staircases, 700 rooms, 2000 windows and nearly 1250 fire places. Round 1800 acres of land is reserved for the parks. The furniture, paintings, sculptures, tapestries of this exotic palace is made by the best French and Italian artists of the era.

Before Château de Versailles, the Saint-Germain Castles and the Louvre were supposed to be official house for the Sun King and his court. The construction of the palace was completed before 1682 later the king shifted here. The king declared that the palace was the home for all his people and every one was allowed to visit as well as stay in the villa. The huge gates of the palace were kept open throughout the whole day. The security guards at the gates checked the people only for guns as it could have been proved dangerous for the king. The Hall of mirror was the terrace of the palace which was transformed in to the hall in year 1678. The hall of mirror symbolized the power that the king possessed. Jules Hardouin-Mansart, who was appointed as the royal architect was responsible for the further construction of the palace. The various designed structure of Jules Hardouin-Mansart included the Royal Chapel, the Orangey, the north and the south wings of the castle as well as the stables. Robert de Cotte completed the last structure of the castle which was the Royal chapel in year 1710 during Louis XIV regime.

The financial difficulties which were faced due to the French revolution forced the further extension of the royal palace. The Chateau de Versailles was transformed into the museum in year 1837 by Louis Philippe, the king of the French. The palace was transformed into the museum as to honor all the glories time of France. History galleries of the Chateau of Versailles are supposed to be largest history museum in the world. The area dedicated to the history museum is around 18,000 sq. meters. You can know the history of France through its sculptures and paintings.

The most spectacular part of the palace is the parks and the gardens. The garden of the palace including the waterfalls, fountains, water parterres, jets, waterfalls, formal gardens, statues etc were designed by Le Nôtre

If you are planning to visit France remember to visit the visit of Chateau de Versailles, Chambord, Chenonceau, Amboise, Loire Valley Castles, Blois etc. Every year nearly 8 million visit the great cultural and architectural masterpieces in France.

The nearest airport to reach Château de Versailles is Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport which is an international airport. Also Paris is very well connected to the other parts of the countries with road, rail and airways. From Paris you can get a bus, train or Taxi to reach Château de Versailles