Minneapolis - Banff?

We want to travel from Mineapolis to Banff in June time. We are on a tight budget. What is the cheapest way to do this and how? Thanks

The distance, according to Mapquest, is 1268 miles (2041 km) and should take approximately 20 hours to drive. If you choose to fly, the nearest airport would be in Calgary - there is no commercial air service to Banff - so you'd need to rent a car and drive out there. Also, as the above poster pointed out, the flights would be rather expensive. There is no passenger rail service between Calgary and Banff - only the Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours and they don't seem to sell just passenger fares. Via Rail doesn't serve either Calgary or Banff.

Depending on the time you choose to travel, you may still be able to get mid-season rates at some Banff hotels. Be sure to check around before booking. You could also look into alternate tourist accomodation - some people have accomodation for rent in their homes and this may be cheaper than a hotel. Getting a hotel/motel with a kitchen will definitely help to keep costs down as eating out can be quite expensive. There is a Safeway store in Banff for grocery shopping, or you could pick up groceries on the way through Calgary.
The link below is for Banff accomodations (I've split the link up so all of it will show while there seems to be a problem with long links showing.)

Driving there would take about 20 hours, probably drive all day spend a night in a hotel, then drive all the next day and arrive. This would cost a few hundred dollars in gas there and on the way back depending on your car, plus you would have to pay for a hotel/motel, and food along the way. I normally drive from Minneapolis to Toronto at least 1-2 times I find it is cheaper then flying my family out and then back.
A flight per person in June to Banff from Minneapolis is about $475 + taxes one way, and the same amount back, so that is almost a grand per person, however you would save a ton of times since the flight is only 5 hours or so.
Also you never know if your car might break down or something could go wrong on the road costing you even more money, if you choose to drive get your car checked tell them your going on a long trip, or you could also rent a car if you don't already have one, possibly a hyrbrid to save money on gas. I am not sure if there is a train that goes there, you could check that out too. I know there is a train that travels all across Canada maybe you could drive there or take a flight to the train station and take the train. It is apparently an amazing view but in June it might be expensive.
Good luck!

Another option is driving from Minneapolis to Winnipeg. All of January through West Jet airline tickets were $87.00 (plus takes) but this only flies you to Calgary and then you have to rent a car and drive an hour and a half. Our rental car cost us $58.00 for 4 days.
Check out airlines before you decide to drive because sometimes the price difference is really not too much with gas prices these days.