Two National Parks, Historic Western Towns,
A Handful of Hot Springs and A Dinosaur Dig.
Our private group experiences are like no other.

A Wonderful Five Day Tour of Grand Teton And Yellowstone National Parks I'm piggy-backing on my wife's review of Great Western Expeditions (Dorothy K, October, 2023 - she got the month wrong). I agree with D, our tour was an exceptional tour. We were met by Ana (great, great tour guide) before sunrise on Monday, September 25th in Jackson, Wyoming. From there it was non-stop experiences until after sunset on Friday September 29th. Day one started by photographing the Tetons at Oxbow Bend as the sun rose. Then, it was off to West Thumb, Old Faithful And Midway Geyser Basin ion Yellowstone. We got to see Old Faithful blow its stack twice. Then we hiked to the world's largest hot spring, Grand Prismatic (not to be missed). Along the way, we had a picnic lunch and a fun geology lesson given by Ana at the Old Faithful Lodge. We spent the night in West Yellowstone, Montana, just outside of the park. The next day, we traveled up the west side of the park to Mammoth Hot Springs where we saw at least fifty elk. Two bull elk were bulging at each other. The park rangers were constantly on their bull horns, keeping we tourists out of harms way. Truthfully, we refer all hoping for a battle of elk but the dominant elk kept the challenger at bay and things calmed down. The next day our son climbed the nearby Bunsen Peak (a four mile hike with an elevation change of 1,000 feet). We two septuagenarians stayed back, had breakfast and kept sight of the elk - the challenge wasn't quite over, I guess, but no battle ensued. Oh well, we left the elk behind and headed east to the Lamar Valley, another not to be missed experience (at least not the day we were there). When we got to the valley, we stumbled upon a herd of at least a 100 bison. The next morning, at sunrise, we headed back to Lamer Valley. In addition to the bison in the valley, we used Ana's spotter (a telescope-like thingy) to view a couple of wolves and bear across the valley. Afterwards, we left the park and drove the scenic ChiefJoseph (lotsa blazing yellow aspens) and the Bigtooth Highways. We stumbled across a cattle roundup along the way which was very cool. The we headed to Canyon Village to do a little hiking and finish the day by viewing the Lower Yellowstone Falls at sunset. For dinner, we ate at the Canyon Village cafeteria. I don't recommend eating there because the place is a chaotic, human zoo. On the final day, we took a leisurely drive past Yellowstone Lake and down to Tetons. Our fabulous five days were sadly over. Before I finish, I just want to say that Great Western Expeditions really knows how to run a multi-day tour - highly recommended.

Best of Yellowstone! Natural wonders, animal sightings and the best tour guides! Best Western Explorations. Great Western gave our family the trip of a lifetime! This is the best tour we have ever take - in the US or Europe. Best Western Explorations made sure we saw everything that we wanted to see. (Lower and upper loop of Yellowstone in a 5 day activity packed tour. There are shorter tours, too.) Laurie the planner and Ana our tour guide took care of everything we needed! The first morning, we arrived at Old Faithful with minutes to spare and stayed for the second eruption an hour later. Laurie, from Best Western, had suggestions for the entire trip and my husband was able to give his input. Hot springs, geysers, mud pots, waterfalls and animal sightings were at the top of our list. Our guide, Ana, did not disappoint! Ana had educational materials and maps to show us and answers to all of our questions. Riding from one highlight to another in a comfortable oversized van was seamless. We are seniors. Great Western and Ana, our guide, made sure the vistas were for us. Our adult son was with us and Ana made sure he had challenging walks with his ability in mind. This was a customized tour. We had wonderful picnic lunches ordered in advance, (a checkered tablecloth and linen napkins!) snacks and drinks that we suggested for daytime and reservations for overnight hotels. You will not find a more accommodating company than Great Western. Our guide was continually checking to see if we were wanting to see more, make a rest stop, stop for a picture opportunity, or take our picture. Sunrise views ? Sunset? Whatever we wanted was provided. Ana would open the window and ask other tourists “ what are you seeing?” to make sure that we did not miss any animal sightings. Ana was absolutely the nicest, most knowledgeable guide we could imagine. She was tireless and resourceful. I would not hesitate to recommend Ana as a tour guide and/or Laurie and Beat Western Expeditions as a tour company. You will not be disappointed!

Classic Yellowstone - Lower loop private trip We did this full day excursion with Vinnie. Vinnie was fantastic and extremely knowledgeable. The tour started at 6:30AM and Vinnie had lots of delicious pastries and made a coffee stop for us. He had snacks for the kids to munch on throughout the day. We had several traffic issues bc of construction but he navigated through them to make sure we were not sitting to long with nothing to see. It started to rain and he would run to get everyone an umbrella. He found a cute picnic spot and brought out a lovely lunch and homemade dessert. Lots of drinks for the kids and beers for the adults. From start to finish he was a pleasure. The trip is expensive but I feel like it was worth it bc we would never have been able to navigate and see what we saw just trying to navigate a map. This group offers lots of excursions and are all extremely responsive and helpful when booking. If you have one day to tackle Yellowstone you should use them! They dont disappoint!

Best way to see Grand Teton! We booked a private wildlife tour with Great Western Expeditions and it was fantastic! Our guide, Ana, was so friendly and knowledgeable. She gave us lots of context and backstory to things we saw that gave us a much deeper understanding and better overall picture of the park. She also knew all the best spots to see wildlife. We saw moose, bison, and other animals and Ana had binoculars and a scope to help us see the animals. The tour was so easy and convenient. She picked us up at our hotel and had snacks in the car for the kids as well as games and puzzles. I’m so happy we booked this tour!

Sundowner Dinner Experience Laurie was so knowledgeable of the area and accommodating on our sundowner dinner experience! She picked us up at our condo on time and was really helpful in planning our experience. It was my husbands 40th birthday and she got him a birthday cake and candles to help us celebrate during our tour. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate for us to have our dinner outside, but Laurie made sure we still had a nice meal and took us to eat dinner at the Signal Mountain Lodge. We were still able to see wildlife on our tour even with the rain we made the most of it. We even got to see bear 399 and her cub. I would definitely recommend this company if you are looking for a tailored tour to fit your needs!

Everything Yellowstone is known for! A trip to remember! We saw amazing wildlife and views. Our guide Dave was great. He was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the trip. We had a wonderful time exploring Yellowstone and the Tetons.

Trip of a lifetime! This was an amazing trip and really exceeded all of my expectations. Laurie did a great job planning our trip and accommodations. She communicated with us regularly and ensured we were always up-to-date and happy. The hotels included in the trip were nice, and the vehicle we used for the trip was roomy and comfortable. Our guide David was with us every step of the way, and helped narrate the local history and answer all our many questions about the area and wildlife. This man has to be the most relaxed and friendly person I have ever met, and his amazing detailed knowledge of the area and wildlife is what really brought this trip to life. He clearly has a passion for nature and Yellowstone National Park, and it really shows. David ensured we didn't miss any major sights in Yellowstone, and also took us to some other areas off the beaten path. We definitely saw more wildlife than we would have on our own due to his fantastic ability to spot wildlife and direct our observation. This entire trip was well organized and we never felt like we missed anything or were rushed. I couldn't recommend this more to anyone wanting to experience Yellowstone and learn about the area and wildlife. We would definitely travel with Great Western Expeditions again!

Exceeded expectations isn’t a strong enough compliment! The 3 day 2 night trip exceeded my expectations in every way possible. The itinerary left enough time to wildlife watch and stop at visitor and info centers. Our group never felt rushed to move on to the next location. The accommodations were great, especially at Chico Hot Springs. Our guide, David, and the owner, Laurie, met with us the day before our trip to introduce themselves and explain the trip and what we could expect. David was(is) outstanding. His extensive knowledge of the area, Yellowstone and wildlife from ground squirrels, waterfowl, bears, wolves, flora and fauna inspired many questions from our group and he was able to answer all of our MANY questions, and then some. David is not only a guide but is foremost a passionate educator. He leaves guests with a better understanding of the environment and how geology, ecology and biology work together. Our time in Yellowstone was beautiful but, made more complete with David as the guide.

Amazing Tour with Great Western Expeditions Our tour guide Laurie was amazing. She was very knowledgeable, friendly and passionate about GTNP. The sunrise tour with breakfast was an unforgettable experience. I give this tour a 10/10.

15/10!! 15/10!!! Our guide, David, may just be the smartest person I’ve ever met. Not only did he know the answers to nearly all of the many, MANY questions our group had, he is a great conversationalist. We did a 3-day trip, and from the first hour or so in the car he was like a friend. He knows the area intimately, having hiked and skied most of it, and of course having studied it all for his masters and PhD program (this guy isn’t just a nature enthusiast, he’s a real pro). He knew ALL the best places to see wildlife, and boy did we get some great shows!!! He was soooo accommodating, friendly and patient- always offering his own equipment for US to get the best views and photos. The itinerary let us see everything we could have hoped for, and David was always happy to flex when we wanted to spend more or less time in any spot, or veer off the schedule and take a small hike. The hotels were great- especially the hot springs! Loved, loved, LOVED!!!!!!