How did you get to Yellowstone from the UK?

Is there anyone out there from the U.K who has done a trip to Yellowstone?

Im just in the 1st stages of planning this trip (hopefully) and would like some advise on where you flew out of, who with, how did you get to YNP, what time of year, was it all you thought it would be,

Any advice/ideas on flights would be great.

♥ ♥

How did you get to Yellowstone from the UK?

Could you answer a few questions?

What time of year are you considering; certainly, not late fall to early spring, unless you want the winter experience in YNP.

How much time will you have for this trip?

Will you be travelling elsewhere while in the colonies?

Do you have a rough itinerary in mind?

YNP itself is a very large park, you should plan on at least three days to enjoy it%26#39;s many and diverse sights and wildlife.

If money is a concern, Salt Lake City airport is a good starting point for your rental car, which you will need. Otherwise, several local cities surround the park (though at varying distances).

How did you get to Yellowstone from the UK?

I agree about Salt Lake City. We flew in from Memphis and rented a car at SLC. The rate was very good with unlimited miles. The drive from SLC to West Yellowstone is a very doable 322 miles, most of it up the Snake River Valley where the going is easy and straight. I-115 out of Salt Lake to Hwy. 20 at Idaho Falls into West Yellowstone.

As far as the time of the year, winter starts early in Yellowstone, so we traveled AFTER the peak summer season and before Sept. 15. Even in early Sept. we encountered frost at Yellowstone and snow at Glacier Nat. Park in Montana.

If you need any more help, send me a private message.

Why a PM? By posting on TA, the OP gets a variety of opinions...

I%26#39;ll be glad to post anything here. It was only an option.

Hi Max44

We did our first Yellowstone trip this year, the last week in May and the first 2 in June.We chose this time of year after reading a lot of posts on Trip A which talked of the newborns and that hopefully the bears would be coming out of hibernation at this time. We were not disappointed, we had an awesome time, it was beyond our wildest expectations. We flew from Manchester in/out of Denver (much cheaper than Salt Lake) direct with BMI. We began our trip with a few days in Steamboat Springs Colarado which was wonderful and we highly recommend, then drove from Steamboat to Yellowstone. Within a short time of being in Yellowstone on our first day we saw,Bison, a Black Bear, Beaver and Elk. We stayed in Mammoth Hot Springs and Lake Yellowstone Hotel, both good locations. We had brilliant wildlife sightings everyday of our visit, numerous bears, including Grizzlys with cubs, a number of sightings of Rosie and cubs, Wolves, Coyotes, Moose and calf, Deer, Goat, Ospreys and Eagles with chicks,Otter, etc. We had very close views of Bears, Grizzlys,Moose, Osprey and Eagles.

We also had a wonderful few days in Grand Tetons, stayed at Signal Mountain Lodge, great views, poor food, much better food at Jackson Lodge. From Tetons we went to South Dakota to Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park, then overnight in Denver and home. We will return! We booked our accommadation in the Park12 months in advance to ensure we got what we wanted, as in early May/June some places are not yet open. The best advice we can offer it to GO, you will have a fantastic time. We have travelled fairly extensively throught the USA, we think its a fabulous country, but Yellowstone is the best!

We have visited Yellowstone/Grand Tetons twice now, both times flying from Manchester to Salt Lake City.

Our first trip we connected through Chicago and was not a good experience (in fact I avoid that connection now) and was 2nd and third weeks of September. The weather was quite mild and warm on a couple of days, however we did not see bears, moose or wolves, but plenty of bison, elk and coyote. We also stayed 45 miles away from Yellowstone which is not a good idea. It took us 90 minutes to drive to the main gate in West Yellowstone and 90 minutes to drive home at night - a total of 3 hours out of park time!

Our second trip was the first two weeks of June this year again flying into Salt Lake City, but with Continental Airlines and connecting in Newark, New Jersey. SLC is only about 250 miles from Jackson Hole and a very scenic drive. The weather was very cold, with snow sleet and rain, but we were prepared with fleeces and waterproofs. This time we stayed in the parks, 1 night at Signal Mountain Lodge (which we loved), 1 night Old Faithful Inn, 3 nights Canyon (in a western cabin), 2 nights Cody, 2 nights at Lake Lodge (pioneer cabin not recommended) 2 nights in Gardiner. We thought this selection gave us good time in all parts of the park. We were very lucky and saw bears, wolves and moose this time along with numerous bison, elk and coyote. There is a lot of driving involved - which although easy in the US is still very tiring as, if you want to see bears, moose and wolves, you have to be up early in the mornings - dawn if possible although we only made it a couple of times and still saw our share. I believe bear and wolf sightings have been good this year.

Yellowstone is a special place which grabs you and makes you want to return. I would love to go back again, possibly via Denver next time to see Mount Rushmore etc., but then again this would cut down the time in Yellowstone!

Without knowing about the time of year or the length of time you have, I would recommend either Rapid City South Dakota, or, Billings Montana. From either of these, you can enter YNP via the beautiful Beartooth Highway (you won%26#39;t want to miss this drive). You can drive from Billings to YNP easily in a day, however from Rapid City it will take a day or so longer each way, but on the way you will see Mount Rushmore and Little Big Horn Battlefield.

There is a new direct flight from Paris to Salt Lake City on Delta airlines. You can take a shuttle from there to the airport in West Yellowstone from June through early September (2 miles from the park) or other smaller regional airports.

I too, am planning this trip and have realised that (for me) to fly with; Virgin to Las Vegas (LAS) and then (at leisure) from LAS to SLC with Delta ($118+ round trip) is the easier option.

To then hire a car from SLC and drive up to Yellowstone, with a final return via the reversed route.

I was appalled to read that Delta offers neither in flight entertainment nor food (evening meal, etc) in it%26#39;s two stage flight. There are other operators who offer lengthy stopovers, which is only deducting time off of where you want to be.

Trusting Virgin, we%26#39;ll stick with Richard Branson!

I hope this helps.

I too am looking to fly from the UK and visit Yellowstone - I was looking at Jackson Hole which seems great for the Grand Tetons and then travel up to Yellowstone from there.