Banff
Alone

PRACTICAL SAMPLE

Dining Alone, Comfortably

Solo dining in this valley is entirely unremarkable, helped along by the fact that a significant share of visitors here are here for hiking and scenery rather than a social occasion, which means a table for one draws no particular notice at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Counter and bar seating, common at the more casual restaurants along Banff Avenue and in Canmore, suits a solo traveler especially well: you get service quickly, conversation with the person next to you if you want it, and no pressure toward a long, paced meal built for two. At the grander dining rooms, inside the Banff Springs Hotel or the Chateau Lake Louise for instance, a table for one is handled routinely by staff accustomed to a wide range of travelers; ask for a table with a view rather than accepting whatever is offered first, and book ahead in peak season regardless of your party size, since these rooms fill. The Pleasures of the Table goes further into where a solo table works particularly well.

A free excerpt from Banff Alone.