Utah, Idaho, Montana trip planning
Jan 12th, 2009, 01:35 PM
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Utah, Idaho, Montana trip planning
Planning late June trip from Milwaukee to Salt Lake City via AMTRAK, then rental car to Whitefish Montana, traveling through Idaho to get there.
Total trip 12 days with 3 of those spent on train.
Questions:
One way car rental very expensive. Any creative ideas to rent car or? for less.
What to see and where to stay around SLC?
What cities, etc. to see and where to stay in Idaho and Montana?
Need a lot of help putting this together. Would appreciate any input.
Total trip 12 days with 3 of those spent on train.
Questions:
One way car rental very expensive. Any creative ideas to rent car or? for less.
What to see and where to stay around SLC?
What cities, etc. to see and where to stay in Idaho and Montana?
Need a lot of help putting this together. Would appreciate any input.
Jan 12th, 2009, 04:10 PM
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Well you don't explain how (or even if) you will get back to Milwaukee.
If I were making the trip, for 12 days, I would arrive in SLC... maybe spend a day or two IN SLC withOUT a rental car, and THEN rent a car...
drive out to the Salt Lake itself, just to see, and smell it...
and then high-tail it toward Montana.
I see that it is about 650 miles from SLC to Whitefish, and less to nearby cities in Montana.
A sensible "trick" would be to make a one-way rental from SLC to, say, Missoula, and then drive FAST... getting there to return the car with just a single, overnight stay.
THEN rent a different car for about a week, and maybe somehow look into departing for home from Missoula.
The "one-way rental" fee for some car companies isn't a flat rate, but is embedded in a much greater daily rate.
My *trick* wouldn't help in situations where there is nothing other than a flat one-way fee.
Much of this depends upon how, and from where you are returning to Milwaukee.
You could really give yourself a CHOICE of a number of western Montana locations and perhaps others as well.
Priorities for checking this out:
(A) Find out which western Montana cities are options for your method of return to Milwaukee.
(B) Measure one-way rental car fees for rentals of no more than TWO days, going one-way from SLC to those cities/towns.
(C) Price the total car rental costs for both the 2-day rental and the week rental added together.
(D) Compare those fees with the expensive rates you've already been quoted.
It would be quite ideal if you could squeeze both a brief rental and a full "weekly" rate into your window of opportunity.
*** note: if you chose Missoula, it is merely 525 miles to get there from SLC. You could do THAT in 24 hours, requiring just ONE day of the high one-way rental daily rate.
Again, this does NOT work in situations where they just have a flat one-way rental charge. It only works if the daily rate is just significantly higher for one-way trips.
And yes, you will miss a few things for having to scurry from SLC to the Montana drop-off locale. You would be free to backtrack, or take a circular route to see some of them.
Hope this gets you thinking...
If I were making the trip, for 12 days, I would arrive in SLC... maybe spend a day or two IN SLC withOUT a rental car, and THEN rent a car...
drive out to the Salt Lake itself, just to see, and smell it...
and then high-tail it toward Montana.
I see that it is about 650 miles from SLC to Whitefish, and less to nearby cities in Montana.
A sensible "trick" would be to make a one-way rental from SLC to, say, Missoula, and then drive FAST... getting there to return the car with just a single, overnight stay.
THEN rent a different car for about a week, and maybe somehow look into departing for home from Missoula.
The "one-way rental" fee for some car companies isn't a flat rate, but is embedded in a much greater daily rate.
My *trick* wouldn't help in situations where there is nothing other than a flat one-way fee.
Much of this depends upon how, and from where you are returning to Milwaukee.
You could really give yourself a CHOICE of a number of western Montana locations and perhaps others as well.
Priorities for checking this out:
(A) Find out which western Montana cities are options for your method of return to Milwaukee.
(B) Measure one-way rental car fees for rentals of no more than TWO days, going one-way from SLC to those cities/towns.
(C) Price the total car rental costs for both the 2-day rental and the week rental added together.
(D) Compare those fees with the expensive rates you've already been quoted.
It would be quite ideal if you could squeeze both a brief rental and a full "weekly" rate into your window of opportunity.
*** note: if you chose Missoula, it is merely 525 miles to get there from SLC. You could do THAT in 24 hours, requiring just ONE day of the high one-way rental daily rate.
Again, this does NOT work in situations where they just have a flat one-way rental charge. It only works if the daily rate is just significantly higher for one-way trips.
And yes, you will miss a few things for having to scurry from SLC to the Montana drop-off locale. You would be free to backtrack, or take a circular route to see some of them.
Hope this gets you thinking...
Jan 12th, 2009, 04:58 PM
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Whitefish is fairly close to Glacier, so I would guess that's the reason for driving there.
There is also an Amtrak route from Glacier back to Milwaukee, presumably that is how the OP will get home. Milwaukee to SLC is about 1.5 days by train and the OP mentions 3 days travelling on the train.
Questions: Is Glacier (or Whitefish) the primary reason for this trip? How important is Salt Lake City? You could just take the train roundtrip to Glacier and skip SLC, thereby eliminating the one way car rental problem.
You could also check the one-way car rental rates, perhaps the one-way fee is less going from Whitefish to SLC? NorthwestMale's suggestion to rent a car one-way for just a day, then pick up a new rental once in Whitefish is a good one as well.
There is also an Amtrak route from Glacier back to Milwaukee, presumably that is how the OP will get home. Milwaukee to SLC is about 1.5 days by train and the OP mentions 3 days travelling on the train.
Questions: Is Glacier (or Whitefish) the primary reason for this trip? How important is Salt Lake City? You could just take the train roundtrip to Glacier and skip SLC, thereby eliminating the one way car rental problem.
You could also check the one-way car rental rates, perhaps the one-way fee is less going from Whitefish to SLC? NorthwestMale's suggestion to rent a car one-way for just a day, then pick up a new rental once in Whitefish is a good one as well.
Jan 12th, 2009, 06:39 PM
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Healthone - not sure how meandering your path from SLC to Whitefish will be, but see if you can wander around to Bozeman. You won't be disappointed! Lots of great threads here on where to stay and what to do. Here's a couple:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35125145
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35125145
Have fun
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35125145
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35125145
Have fun
Jan 12th, 2009, 06:41 PM
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Jan 13th, 2009, 08:40 AM
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Are you planning on seeing any of Yellowstone? How about Glacier?
You can make the trip from Salt Lake to Helena, Missoula, or Butte pretty easily. It just depends on what you want to do or see.
It's about a two to three hour trip between Missoula and Whitefish.
Missoula has a great downtown, good restaurants, and fun atmosphere. You could check out the carousel and the kayaking park downtown.
Helena also has a nice downtown area and good restaurants.
Other options are a side trip to Bozeman as mentioned above. The Museum of the Rockies is great.
I'd recommend a loop between Dillon, MT (or maybe you'll come up through West Yellowstone?) and your next stop (either Helena, Missoula, or Butte) to explore Virginia City, Ennis, and Lewis and Clark Caverns. You would leave the interstate at Dillon, travel the Big Hole Valley to Sheridan and then into Virginia City. Virginia City is a ghost town and mining town, and it's still the county seat for Madison County, and it's worth a stop. From Virginia City, you'd travel over the hill to Ennis. Ennis has become quite the fly fishing destination in Montana. You'd drive from Ennis over the hill to Norris where you could check out Norris Hot Springs (a bar with a hot springs pool) and then into Harrison for a great view of the Tobacco Root Mountains (truly stunning) and then to Lewis and Clark Caverns. Lewis and Clark Caverns is a great stop. It's a state park with tours offered through the caverns. The caverns are full of formations (lots of stalagmites, stalactites, and bats). Then you could take the highway 69 to Helena, or west on I-90 to Butte or Missoula or go east 50 miles the other way for a night in Bozeman.
It just depends on what you want to do and see.
You can make the trip from Salt Lake to Helena, Missoula, or Butte pretty easily. It just depends on what you want to do or see.
It's about a two to three hour trip between Missoula and Whitefish.
Missoula has a great downtown, good restaurants, and fun atmosphere. You could check out the carousel and the kayaking park downtown.
Helena also has a nice downtown area and good restaurants.
Other options are a side trip to Bozeman as mentioned above. The Museum of the Rockies is great.
I'd recommend a loop between Dillon, MT (or maybe you'll come up through West Yellowstone?) and your next stop (either Helena, Missoula, or Butte) to explore Virginia City, Ennis, and Lewis and Clark Caverns. You would leave the interstate at Dillon, travel the Big Hole Valley to Sheridan and then into Virginia City. Virginia City is a ghost town and mining town, and it's still the county seat for Madison County, and it's worth a stop. From Virginia City, you'd travel over the hill to Ennis. Ennis has become quite the fly fishing destination in Montana. You'd drive from Ennis over the hill to Norris where you could check out Norris Hot Springs (a bar with a hot springs pool) and then into Harrison for a great view of the Tobacco Root Mountains (truly stunning) and then to Lewis and Clark Caverns. Lewis and Clark Caverns is a great stop. It's a state park with tours offered through the caverns. The caverns are full of formations (lots of stalagmites, stalactites, and bats). Then you could take the highway 69 to Helena, or west on I-90 to Butte or Missoula or go east 50 miles the other way for a night in Bozeman.
It just depends on what you want to do and see.
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