Completing an uphill hike is always satisfying. It’s even more satisfying when there’s a meal waiting for you at the top. Open from June through Thanksgiving, the Teahouse is at Lake Agnes, a relatively easy 3.5-kilometre hike from Lake Louise, and serves sandwiches, baked goods and 100 varieties of loose-leaf tea. If you’re looking for a longer hike (and a less busy teahouse), try the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse, a 5.5-km hike from Lake Louise.
Lake Agnes Tea House:Lake Louise, 403-763-7242, lakeagnesteahouse.com;Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse: Lake Louise, 403-667-4663
Another aprs-ski favourite that is open year-round, the Post Hotel’s cozy fondue room (it seats just 24) has a menuas tiny as its square footage. Opt for traditional Swiss fondue, a fondue Chinoise (beef slices served with a hot cooking broth and Asian sauces) or a fondue Bourguignonne. Naturally, there’s a Swiss chocolate fondue option for dessert. Fondue Stbli sits just off of the Post’s main dining room, which features a much-celebrated menu by renowned Swiss chef Hans Sauter and one of the best wine cellars in the Rockies.
The Post Hotel, 200 Pipestone Rd, Lake Louise, 403-522-3989, posthotel.com
Offering perfect aprs-ski (or aprs-hike) meals, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise’s fondue spot is tucked away from the rest of the hotel, allowing guests to feel like they’ve been transported to the Alps. The decor is chalet elegance and the house specialty is Swiss kse – a cheese fondue served in traditional, black-truffle or roasted-garlic-and-morel-mushroom preparations. Make a night of it with the “Chateau experience,” a three-course menu made up of the cheese fondue, chateaubriand, and Toblerone chocolate fondue for dessert.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, 111 Lake Louise Dr., Lake Louise, 403-522-1601, fairmont.com
Housed in the oldest building in Lake Louise (an actual CP railway station built in 1910), the experience at The Station is as impressive as the food (and the food – contemporary creations made with locally sourced ingredients – is indeed quite impressive). Dinein the main restaurant in the station building or, if you’re lucky enough to be invitedto a special function, in the Delamere dining car.
200 Sentinel Rd.,Lake Louise, 403-522-2600,lakelouisestation.com
A version of this article appeared in Avenue Calgary
