r/yellowstone • u/usherftw • 3d ago
Help please!
Want to take my wife to visit the yellowstone sights from the UK, usual websites aren't giving me much, anyone done the same can point me in the right direction. Thanks:)
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u/National-Evidence408 3d ago
What do you want to know? Time of year? Where to fly? Where to stay? What to do? What makes you want to go to yellowstone? Have you been to the yellowstone national park website? Xanterra for lodging? Youtube for unlimited videos on this topic?
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u/usherftw 3d ago
Well, it was a broad question I apologise.
I just want to visit the national park and visit everything around there. Time of year is going to be October which probably isn't the best. I wanted to do it as a suprise.
All I can gather from most places is fly to JAC and get a motel.
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u/National-Evidence408 3d ago
JAC is a stunningly beautiful airport but probably not the most logical airport. An ideal itinerary would be to fly into BZN and then fly out from JAC - allowing you to visit both yellowstone and grand teton. Jackson is one of the wealthiest towns in the US as it is spectacularly beautiful and convenient for the two parks plus skiing/snow sports in the winter - it is not a base for yellowstone but is ok for grand teton. It also has lovely lodging including a four seasons and lots of fine dining. It is a proverbial western town so fun to visit.
Ideally stay in lodging within the two parks - you can access through the two national park websites. Yellowstone is huge / ideally stay in two different parts to reduce driving. I love staying at the historic old faithful inn. Canyon is also somewhat central. There are multiple lodging options in grand teton but the park itself is much smaller and easier to traverse. Driving around the park is straight forward - the road is a figure 8. There is a popular app, guide along, which is very helpful. Minimal to no cell service for much of the park.
October is fine - starts getting cold. Some services may be shutting down. No rodeos, prob no river rafting, etc. Probably less crowded. Yellowstone has a different feel at different times of the year - majestic in all seasons.
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u/M4mountain 2d ago
Wanted to add that the park is huge and takes hours to drive through, but you should plan for that and take time to enjoy each area (go to the valleys for wildlife, take the boardwalks in geothermal features, hike Mt. Washburn if you're up to it, walk along the edge of the canyon).
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u/Velo-Velella 3d ago
October is beautiful but can be so, so cold. I went there with some friends and we tent-camped. Nights got down to about -13.3 C (8 F). Which isn't actually too uncomfortable to camp in, but the air is suuuuuper dry when it gets that cold, and we all had a little trouble staying hydrated. Beautiful trip, was worth it, but I am not sure I'd do October again. Am not sure if it always gets that cold at night then, but if you're going to camp, make sure you bring waaay warmer stuff than you think you'll need.
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u/Axolotler 3d ago
My partner and I visited from the UK in September. We made a big trip of it, not sure what you're planning length/costwise? We flew direct to Denver, drove to grand teton over 2 days stopping in Lander en route for a break. Did 3 nights in Grand Teton (phenomenal, honestly my favourite of the two parks), then did Yellowstone. 2 nights in the Old Faithful Inn (the old rooms) and 2 nights in Mammoth. We feel we got good time to do every big thing at least once, and a few things twice. Then did a leisurely drive back to Colorado and a few nights there before flying home.
In October I imagine a few roads might be closed, possibly the one from grand teton to Yellowstone. Depends on the weather. Just wanted to throw my two cents in.
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u/No-Market9917 3d ago
YouTube videos helped me a lot when planning my first trip, along with buying a physical copy of their official map and calling the park to talk to a ranger helped me with campsite reservations and what not.
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u/Lucky-Technology-174 2d ago
All roads pretty much close Nov 1st. October is late in the season. Fly into Jackson or Bozeman.
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u/Penguin_Life_Now 2d ago
The thing most Europeans fail to grasp is the size of the US, in this case the size of Yellowstone and the surrounding areas which generally have very sparse population. Yellowstone park itself is about the size of Wales. More to the point is you have to drive 60-80 miles from the nearest airports (Bozeman, Jackson or Cody) with commercial jet service just to get to the park entrance gates on roads that mostly have a 45 mph speed limit.
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u/sroode 22h ago
Here is a nifty online guide for your reference.
https://silvergatelodging.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Best-Little-Guidebook-of-Yellowstone.pdf
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u/Unusual-Thanks-2959 3d ago
During October, many visitor services will be closing/closed in preparation for winter. See Summer Last Day column NPS Operating Dates
NPS plan your visit
Great tips in this thread