West - Best base for Yellowstone and Teton?

Hi,
I'm planning this year holiday in late September.
I have several destinations crossing my mind. One of them is take a tour of Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP.
I won't take a car. (This is the key element for my holiday: I know it's not the best decision to explore the US.)
So what I'm looking for is a basecamp, from which I can take 'escorted' tours to the parks. But I see there is several cities around the parks (Jackson, Cody, West Yellowstone...) And I can't figure out which one could be the best as for tour offerings and the easiest access (widest offer) by plane or coach.

Or do you know any travel agent that do tours in the area. The only I have seen is Tauck and Caravan Tours (that looks too crowded).

Thank you in advance!

Been there a few times, but by no means an area expert - but I've got to think that Jackson Hole would be much better than Cody. It's got close to both Grand Tetons along with Yellowstone. It's a great walking around town, and Several raft trips depart from there.

We just got back from there a few weeks ago. A lot depends upon where you are flying from. We found the most convenient for us was to fly into Jackson WY and rent a car because we live in a city where American Airlines is the main carrier and doesn't fly into Montana. We did not stay in that area the whole time because we wanted to see some of the sites around the state We stayed in Jackson Hole the first and last night. We also stayed in West Yellowstone one night. We found Jackson Hole to be very convenient and you drive through the Tetons to get to Yellowstone. West Yellowstone borders Yellowstone so is also convenient.

i've done this trip twice, both times with a car. It's fairly unimaginable without a car, so if thats negotiable, I'd very strongly suggest it.

The tours I looked into for my mother looked marginal -- if the goal is Yellowstone and Grand Teton, I didnt see oturs that focus there. There wre tours of the west, but they started with Mt Rushmore and ended in Salt Lake City, with alot of time outside YNP and GT.

You'll find that there are lodges inside the parks that are expensive, but located where you need to be. Then there are the gateway cities. For the Tetons it's Jackson Hole. For YNP the best 2 are West Yellowstone and Gardner, MT. I'd bet there are bus tours you can get from each, as there are probably enough non-drivers looking for tours there. I stayed at the Snake River Lodge in Teton village and I think they had organized tours. If the internet and FT fail you, you could call the nicer hotels and see what they can set up. Obviously, cash lubricates the process, but I suspect there are budget options. None as cheap as a rental car, though.

YNP and GTNP are not close enough to legitimately visit one from the other, except in a very cursory way. We flew into Jackson Hole and out of Bozeman, MT -- the closest airport to the north end of Yellowstone. If you can get your tours lined up, you could work your way north or South through the parks as well.

Thank you for answering!
I see Jackson must be my first stop.,at least in order to see Grand Teton. And think of having another base in West Yellowstone.
It's a great idea to ask hotels about tours. I will look some of them and try to send an email asking for options.
I must recognize that the idea of adding a visit to mt Rushmore to my USA trip is tempting me, but I need a careful planning.
So, according to your comments, I will try to find flight connections to Jackson, check for tours via Google (and maybe via local hotels), and search info about how to go to West Yellowstone (maybe by Greyhound bus).
Thank you!

Thank you for answering!
I see Jackson must be my first stop.,at least in order to see Grand Teton. And think of having another base in West Yellowstone.
It's a great idea to ask hotels about tours. I will look some of them and try to send an email asking for options.
I must recognize that the idea of adding a visit to mt Rushmore to my USA trip is tempting me, but I need a careful planning.
So, according to your comments, I will try to find flight connections to Jackson, check for tours via Google (and maybe via local hotels), and search info about how to go to West Yellowstone (maybe by Greyhound bus).
Thank you!

There are budget hotels in both Jackson and the yellowsotne Gateway cities, but the only place you'll find luxiry type hotesl is in the Jackson Hole area (and some otehr ski areas less convenient to the park). Google "teton village" for the hotels there -- Snake River Lodge is a nice one, and there is a 4 Seasons too. They will, of course, be higher service and more adept at helping with tours, for a price. WYS has seasonal air service, and BZN is year round (I think).

Why are you opposed to renting a car? In most of the USA, points of interest are spread very far apart, making a car the only practical way to get around.

If you do insist on not renting a car, I suggest you begin making your travel plans by looking at tour operators first. Find the dates and locations of service they offer. For example, there may be a great tour operator that serves one city but not another. Or you might find a good package tour that includes a hotel room and airport transfers. Plan the rest of your trip around the tour schedule.

Many of the tour companies offer packages that include the hotels that are in Yellowstone National Park. In fact a large percentage of the rooms at the properties in Yellowstone are booked by the tour companies. If you want to spend a few days in Yellowstone you might enjoy staying in the park. You just have to be careful which package you book because not all of the rooms have private bathrooms.

Hi. I've been reading a bit more about Yellowstone tours in a Frommer's guidebook I could find in a travel bookshop.

I see they are two good options for Yellowstone:
1) One of the several tour companies operating from West Yellowstone. Looking for more information, I see there is an area on Tripadvisor with reviews on tours. (I only think about Tripadvisor for hotels).
2) Xanterra, the company that runs hotels and lodges at Yellowstone National Parks, also runs several tours from lodges and from Gardiner. Some are on old yellow buses.

For Grand Teton, it looks as the easiest option is a Gray Line tour from Jackson.

The trouble is that I can't find a scheduled connection between Jackson and West Yellowstone or Gardiner. I think I always could take a taxi, but this could be very expensive.

Delta website offers me a flight connection WYS-JAC via SLC, but it's very time-consuming --long layovers at SLC-- (although it's not very expensive if I add it as a segment for a general itinerary including an intercontinental flight from Spain).
Any luck with a connection Jackson-Gardiner.

As mjtx says, I would enjoy staying in the park, but this appears to me very difficult without a car (darthbimmer, I not opposed to rent a car, but I will try to run out my options about not driving --I prefer 'to be driven' this year. My first option was an escorted tour from Europe, but the dates I found didn't fit on my calendar)

Thank you - very useful thread.

I am planning a similar trip late this month, all hotels are booked out thru Xanterra. 4 Seasons JAC seems far away, I want to stay closer to the park. I am currently thinking of West Yellowstone area hotels - Days Inn or similar.

I am wondering if anyone has any advice on other lodging options inside the park and what the best accommodation will be in W Yellowstone.

Also the Xanterra agent mentioned rooms free up closer to the actual date - wondering if anyone has any experiences relating to this.

We will be driving, two male adults.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone in June and it was nice.

If you book a room inside the park be careful and read the room description since some rooms and cabins don't have private bathrooms.