ed

Planning to go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton next summer. Four kids, 10-17. Should we stay also in Jackson Hole? Any suggestions for getting discount airfare(from Chicago)?

J&M

Stay at the Old Faithful Inn. It is across the street from one of the major geyser areas so you can always walk out for a short walk to one of two of your favorites.

Kathy

We just returned from the same trip with kids ages 11, 14 and 16. We spent 3 nights at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, 3 nights at the Signal Mountain Lodge in the Tetons and 2 nights at the Best Western Lodge in Jackson Hole. I would highly recommend all three places and feel that we spent just about the right amount of time at each place. I think with the ages of your kids they will enjoy time in Jackson Hole. Especially my oldest welcomed getting back to "civilization" after 6 days in the national parks. He enjoyed the parks but at that age after awhile he felt he had seen all the beautiful scenery he needed to see. There is alot of shopping and other things to do in Jackson Hole. Would recommend white water rafting. If you'd like more info feel free to e-mail me, I took alot of time planning our trip and did get alot of useful info off this board. I would recommend making your reservations now if you need lodging, especially at Yellowstone.

Kathy

Hi Ed, I just looked at your name after I responded to this and realize that you're the same guy I responded to on my original question. Sorry for the redundancy.

Jim Rosenberg

Ed, to find a low airfare, you should take a look at www.travelocity.com. Go to the Dream maps feature. You can enter an airport and a max price and it will show you every place you can go for that amount of money. It is way too early to lock in for next summer at this point, but play with the map tool so you know how it works. There are a number of places you could fly into and rent a car for Yellowstone -- Billings would be one of the more logical locations, but Denver would probably be one of the cheaper places to fly to from ORD or MDW and it is BEAUTIFUL drive up through the Tetons to Yellowstone. Happy Trails!

diane

It's a very loooong drive from Denver, and NOT beautiful for about half of it. Billings sounds like a good choice, or consider flying into Cody, Wyoming. The Buffalo Bill Museum there is wonderful. Salt Lake City is closer than Denver, about a six hour drive. A night or two in the Old Faithful Inn would be great, but you might consider spending one or two nights at another location within Yellowstone as well. Then a couple of nights at Colter Bay or Signal Mountain, and finally a night or two in Jackson.

If you stay in Jackson first and then END your stay in Colter Bay (or perhaps Flagg Ranch), you could drive back to Cody for your return flight. That would put you an hour or so closer to Cody. You might also want to check on car rental prices before you decide where to fly into. Sometimes what you save on airfare you have to pay out in higher car rental costs (or so I have read).

Kay

We flew into Salt Lake City on Southwest-great prices if book at least 3 weeks ahead.(they fly out of Midway) Drove to West Yellowstone in 5 1/2hr.
Came back through Tetons and Jackson on down to Logan and back to airport.(this did take longer than trip up=about 7 hrs.)
One of the BEST articles I have seen about Yellowstone is in the National Geographic Traveler-Sept 2001. It outlines the different areas, great maps, concise and informative.
I happen to subscribe to the magazine but don't know where you could get a copy--Maybe library or call National Geographic--they do have a web site-TRAVELER@
nationalgeographic.com
Great Park-

Jim Rosenberg

Diane, you're right about the long drive. (Maybe that's why the family sends me out west by myself all the time?). The Salt Lake City option would look to be a good one. The fare watcher & dream maps tools would definitely show if Cody was competitive, but my presumption is that it would take a bit of luck to get in there too cheaply. I'm thinking 4 kids ages 10-17 implies a party of five to six -- and a $100 pp fare difference turns into significant money. Still, sometimes there are zone fare sales, etc., that make these things do-able. I would be shooting to try to get a half dozen people into the general region for $1,200 or less. Having Chicago to work from on one end will be a big help! Happy Contrails!

diane

Hmmmm? Airfare for six and then rent a vehicle large enough for six? I think maybe I would DRIVE from Chicago! Just head west on I80 for a long, hard drive, approaching Yellowstone from the south (through Jackson) and then exiting EAST, through Cody, and then take a more leisurely trip back home, seeing other beautiful parts of northern Wyoming and perhaps Mt. Rushmore on the way back to Illinois.