So first of all let me get the negative bits out of the way - alas yes there were some, but most were from the travelers so I thought I would make you aware of the bits that may give you cause to feel negative.
The one thing I heard more than anything was the amount of travelling we had to do - this was followed by the amount of early starts that were needed to fit in the travel. Having traveled the US myself on several occasions (and also being bought up in a coaching family) this was not an issue for me, and I was well aware there would be many hours just sat watching the world go by from the confines of the coach. This is not the trip to choose if you don't like to spend 6 or 7 (often longer) hours a day sat on a coach - although the bits you will see in between more than make up for it all - but it's something you need to be aware of before booking. The fact the hotels were so far outside the parks themselves added to the amount of travel time - I'm not entirely sure why the park hotels weren't used, but can only assume it was to do with costs, as all the parks have hotels within minutes (saving the 2 or 3 hours’ drive) of the entrances. Bryce canyon was a prime example; there is an inn within a 5 minute walk of the entrance, yet we had a 1.5 hour drive from our hotel (plus the return trip) which we then had to do the next day to get to Zion. That for me is the biggest downside; the constant back and forth to and from places after leaving Salt Lake City is ridiculous and adds far more travelling hours than a direct route from one to the next would; again I can only assume this was to do with costs although I am sure it is more cost effective not to keep doubling back in the long run.
Be aware that Yellowstone is a really long day; up at 5, back to the hotel at 8 with roughly 2.5 hours off the coach, the rest of the time will be spent on it.
Because of the time restraints at all parks, you will only get to spend roughly 20 minutes - on a rare occasion we were given 45 minutes - at the stops, so be prepared to pee quickly and eat on the coach (lunch stops some days were a run into Walmart to grab a sandwich and back out again as quick as possible). With the exception being Grand, Bryce and Zion where we had 2 hours in total to spend as we chose.
Do not be fooled
The brochure is a bit misleading so don't let yourself get caught. In the brochure it states
"Your holiday includes the services of a Just You Tour Manager & Local Guides"
The holiday may include their services, but the price you pay doesn’t; we were told by our tour manager that we were to tip her and the coach driver £3 per day (this equated to $77 for each of them) and that it would be right to tip all the other guides $3 each (however the driver was more than worth his tip, as was the guide at Little Big Horn, Dave the bus driver in Deadwood, Phil the guide at Tatanka and Dave the guide at Mesa Verde - the Salt Lake City guide wasn't worth a penny in my opinion and if I had to do it again I would choose to not do the Salt Lake tour; explore the city with someone or by yourself rather than pay for the optional extra). Make sure within your spending money you allow for the guide tips - also the pilots if you do any of the flights. $250 should just about cover them all. Do make sure you tip the driver well; remember that while you may be moaning at getting up at 5 he will have been out on his coach for at least an hour by then preparing it for your day ahead; while you sit back enjoying the scenery, he will be driving you and dealing with traffic and road conditions, and maybe if he's really lucky as you come back that night after eating out, he may just be finishing for the day. On average our driver worked 16 hours every day. If anyone has a right to complain about travel time it will be your driver. Look after whoever you get – if you happen to get Clay ask him to teach you the Moose call
They have changed the wording for the Las Vegas tours but double check your itinerary as mine stated we would have an optional evening tour from the comfort of the air conditioned coach, but as it was the coach dropped off at a spot and everyone had to walk for 5 hours between hotels before being picked back up again. I chose not to do this when I found out it was just following each other about being herded round the hotels and caught the Deuce bus and went up and down the strip exploring at my own pace (the bus is $8 for unlimited travel within a 24 hour period and well worth doing). Also the morning tour of Vegas on the leaving day ended up being an afternoon tour again of the same hotels visited the previous evening; after 3 hours I gave up with the disorganisation and went back to the Stratosphere. The rest of the travellers arrived back at the hotel just in time to leave for the airport. For the farewell drink we had 7 minutes; not really time to savour the trip and I (as well as others I spoke to) found the whole Vegas experience ruined what had been an amazing holiday – and I went into it with my eyes wide open having been there to experience it before.
Optional Extras - Las Vegas by night I have covered above
Monument Valley
Be careful not to get caught out as the brochure states that Monument Valley is an included excursion; it's not. The only way you will get to see the Valley is to do the optional 4 wheel drive tour - which is not really worth the money as you just get driven from one street vendor to another, albeit with some magnificent rocks in between, but half an hour for the whole thing would have been more than enough; the remaining 1.5 hours of the drive we felt we were being pressured to buy wares from the traders. If you don't do the optional though, you will be left at the visitor centre a few miles away where you will see a couple of the monument rocks but not the valley itself, so you have to do the optional if you really want to see the valley; this wasn't explained to us until we were a couple of days into the holiday. If it's been dry for a couple of days be prepared to eat a lot of dust – take a mask if you have breathing difficulties as the dust will get everywhere. If you can do the flight over the valley though I would highly recommend it; just make sure you take some id with you as we arrived at the hotel 3 hours before the rest of the tour group and weren't allowed our room keys unless we had our id on us; sitting outside the hotel for that long is not fun, but the flight was definitely worth doing. The plane seats are huge and after leaving the valley we got to see Rainbow bridge, lake powell, glen canyon dam and some of the Grand Canyon; it's expensive but worth treating yourself too.
Snake River Raft
I loved this trip - and I have a fear of water; some people I spoke to hated it. Nobody can guarantee you will see anything other than river banks and the Grand Teton range so you need to approach it with an open mind, but if you're happy to bob along a river just drinking in the amazing scenery then book yourself on it. We were on the water for 3 hours; our oarsman was friendly, fun and knowledgeable and while we didn't really see the wildlife (moose, elk, bears etc that we had been told to look out for) the 11 Bald Headed Eagles we saw were a definite bonus.
Salt Lake City
As I've stated above when talking about tipping guides I would advise you to explore the city on your own - it's a very safe city if you don't find someone to explore with - there is a free shuttle that you can use and buses that run on a regular basis. If you get stuck just ask someone; the people are really friendly and more than willing to help. If you wish to do the tour be aware you won't see the lake as such (we had 15 minutes on the edge of a bit of water). You will drive from there to Park City where we were dropped off at the top of the hill and given 30 minutes to walk our way to the bottom. There are some fantastic art galleries on the way down and some very exclusive shops, but other than that not a lot else. After leaving there we were taken to the Heritage Park which is nice enough for open space with a small visitor centre but there was a function going on so we weren't able to get into the heritage houses themselves. The whole tour took over 5 hours; there is much more you could see in that time - or just take the chance of a lay-in if you need sleep.
Grand Canyon Helicopter
Again, as with the monument valley flight I can't recommend this enough. We were given the option of upgrading to an hour long flight by our tour guide (this was an additional $71) but when we got to the airport we only got the 30 minute tour, but in that time we had a great experience - everyone I spoke to that had a helicopter trip said it was the highlight of their holiday. If (like me) you are afraid of flying I still think you should brave it and give it a try. I can't describe the view - as someone that has been to the Grand Canyon before and thought it boring, seeing it from the air made me really appreciate what an amazing place it is. The point I realised I was looking up at the rim of the canyon (rather than down on it from above) was mind blowing and something that will live with me forever. Well worth the money.
The Hotels
I could list all these individually but to be honest they all pretty much group up well enough to not compare and so I will be generic. If you are expecting 4 or 5 star luxury (which it appeared some in our group were for the money they paid) you will be disappointed. Even the bigger hotels (Salt Lake City, Denver) had their issues. The only room I had during the whole trip that had curtains which met in the middle when closed was in Jackson, but that was negated by the 6mm gap in the door (I spent a lot of time dressing in the dark). This wouldn't have been an issue if I had not been overlooked, but most of the motels have walkways right outside your door. The rooms in all the hotels are very basic (unless you get a suite in Rapid City) but they are clean (except for Cortez and my room had a really badly stained carpet). You need to enter each room with no expectations (then you can't be disappointed) and remember that they are just somewhere to get your head down for the night - and all had good showers in the bathrooms so they have the main bases covered. With the exception of Vegas they all had a kettle (or some kind of coffee making equipment) a fridge, TV (not that you will want - or have time - to watch) plenty of towels, shampoo, conditioner and in some there was shower gel (not all had shower gel though so take some with you or buy some when you get there). Don't expect everything to work properly (I had a coffee maker that poured the water everywhere but the cup, a bathroom tap that leaked, a shower that had scalding hot or ice cold water with no in between temperature - and the walls in most are so thin you can hear your neighbours breathing (and other things!!) and people wandering the passageways, walkways and corridors, but the beds were comfy and there was working aircon in the rooms which was very much needed on most days. One of my hotel rooms didn't have a locking door. I also found hairdryers, irons and ironing boards in every room (except vegas) and the laundry in Salt Lake was very much needed to keep me going through the 2nd week - the prices weren't too bad either and the aircon makes an excellent drier if you don't want to tumble. Cortez also had a good laundry. The hotel pools were all usable although some were mighty cold and smaller than you would expect over here, but they were a definite added bonus.
Be aware that only the Sheridan and Grand Canyon hotels had somewhere to eat on site; all the other hotels had a room for breakfast but nowhere to get hot food, so you will need to venture outside if you wish to eat - I can't recommend Buca di Beppo in Salt Lake City highly enough if you like Italian food, but go with someone and share a meal and pudding; unless you can eat enough food for 4 people you will never get through a small portion on your own; I have never seen so much food on a plate before. 4 of us shared a small garlic bread and still had to leave some.
Jackson is a wonderful town with many different places to eat all within a 5 minute walk of the hotel; in fact there were so many nice looking places we struggled to make a choice - we wanted to eat at the Silver Dollar bar but it was closed, so if you get the chance pop in there as we heard from many locals and other travellers it was a lovely place.
If you like Steak when you get to Cortez walk down to Shiloh (5 minute walk) as their Ribeye is delicious and Houstons in Kanab (10 minutes walk) do the best BBQ ribs (off the bone) I have ever tasted (their fries aren't up to much but their fresh bread is warm, soft and very tasty). I was also told the 3 bears in Kanab was very good. In the Grand canyon we ate at the on site restaurant and I can recommend the Italian sausage pasta washed down with a Margarita. As for other dinner stops/meals we just wandered until we found something that suited however many of us there were at that time and the food in most places was very good. I'd advise budgeting $50 per day for food (this includes lunch, dinner, and any tea's/coffee's you may want when you're out). I rarely went down for breakfast (eating at 5am is not really my thing) but I never heard a bad word about any of the breakfasts except when in Rapid City (where I did breakfast the first morning and never bothered the second).
Be sure to visit Diamond Lil's bar in Deadwood (own by Kevin Costner) and sit and sup on a bottle of Moose Drool for a real bar experience.
I could try and describe the parks themselves to you but they are best experienced - also no words I could use would ever do them justice. One thing though is that you will NEVER have enough time at any of them, so soak up as much of the atmosphere and natural beauty that will be placed before you as you can.
Fort Laramie is great for old buildings and history but we never got to see half of them (we did stop at the Oregon Trail Ruts on the way so this ate into Fort Laramie time) so I'd suggest making the choice of going either left or right and accepting that whichever you choose will be all you get to see unless you can run like an athlete and not experience any of the buildings and history before you. The 2 hours at Grand and Bryce canyon mean if you hike the trails you really have to go some at them and end up spending so much time rushing to make sure you are back on time, that you won't get to experience the beauty before you, so walk a little way down just to say you have but do it at a leisurely pace and enjoy the short time you have without rushing - to me Bryce canyon is the most spectacular place I have ever visited (this wasn't my first visit there and every time I see it I find it improves). If you can manage hills then take a walk up to the Emerald Pools at Zion - there are 3 different levels but everyone should be able to manage the lowest pool - and it's worth doing for the view you get of the gorge and the river. The Badlands scenery is something else (in places reminiscent of a lunar landscape) but you will not get a lot of time to experience it so keep your eyes open as you drive through and try to make sure you're on the driver’s side of the coach that day, as you will get to see far more than those on the other side.
If you like the native history ask your guide if it's possible to visit the Tatanka museum outside of Deadwood - even those not interested in Native America said they were glad we were able to visit - and if you are offered the Yellow School Bus tour of Deadwood then for the extra $10 cost (plus tip) treat yourself; if you get Dave the driver and have a sense of humour you will love it - he is the funniest person I've met in years. Our coach driver that day was also willing to take us via Sundance and Devils Tower - not on the itinerary so not guaranteed but it's definitely worth asking if he is willing to drive a bit further if you have time.
Mesa Verde was not a place I was interested in visiting and I almost took the day off to spend catching up on some sleep, but I am so glad I never; it’s a wonderful place and I had a really interesting and enjoyable day visiting there. I didn’t do the option of Balcony House (80ft in total of ladders and a crawl through a tunnel are not my thing) but Spruce house is easy to reach and worth a wander round – even our elderly travellers and those walking with canes were able to visit Spruce.
Make sure you drink plenty of water while over there are as you will be at some very high elevations which can dehydrate you quickly - our driver always had a tub full of ice and bottled water - and be aware that if you suffer from vertigo or have altitude issues you could be affected; in some places we were over 8000ft above sea level and some people had nosebleeds, fainted or felt generally weak because of this; making sure you're prepared for this should help.
If you suffer from headaches then take pain relief with you to Yellowstone as the sulphur smell can be quite strong - the steam though makes it a great place for an outdoor sauna. Old faithful is great but if your guide knows where Biscuit Basin is ask if you can go there after you leave Old Faithful; it's a lot smaller but the colours in the pools and on the earth surfaces are amazing and several of the smaller geezers blew when we were there - you may get lucky too.
Clothes wise I couldn't tell you what to take except for something of everything; we were told it would be freezing at the beginning of the tour and cooking at the end, so I packed jumpers, thick socks, a coat and summer clothes; the jumpers, socks and coat never came out of my case as the temperatures were constantly high - we kept getting told they were 10-15'c well above what they should be for the time of year. A check of the weather forecasts before leaving would have better prepared me than the advice I was given beforehand did. Sturdy and comfy walking shoes are a must though; without them you will struggle. If you need something and don't have it (waterproof, fleece etc) you can buy it in any of the visitor centres you will stop at (and you will stop at a lot) but walking shoes that fit and are comfortable you will need to take with you.
Would I recommend this trip? As a taster for the great places to visit, then absolutely, but it will leave you wanting more and you will feel you’ve not had time to experience the amazing places you will see – that just means it’s time to get saving to go back and do it all again. Yes it could be a lot cheaper (and I have since found travel companies that do exactly the same tour but with the hotels in the parks so less driving and an awful lot cheaper – even with the single supplement additions) but unless you want to be the spare part in among couples then JY is the only way to visit and therefore they can command the additional costs – you just have to suck up the expense for the experience.
