Experience the unforgettable on this 20 night self-driving Great American West trip from £3,670pp!
On this once-in-a-lifetime self-driving trip you’ll discover the iconic landmarks of the Great American West including Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, Glacier National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, and Theodore National Park.
Price includes return in direct international flights, hotel stays across the five Great American West States of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota, a varied meal plan, ATOL protection, and a free £367 donation to the charity of your choice!
Talk to our travel experts today to tailor-make this itinerary for 2023/2024 dates!*
About the Great American West
The Great American West states of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming are home to awe-inspiring scenery, abundant wildlife, Wild West history and Native American culture. Discover the breathtaking beauty of 15 national parks, monuments and memorials including the hot springs and geysers of the world’s first National Park, Yellowstone.
Find out more about these incredible states here.
Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival
Catch a connecting flight into Glacier Park International Airport (FCA) for your arrival day into the region. Relax, catch up on sleep, and prepare for your big adventure through the region!
Day 2 – Glacier National Park, Montana
Begin your adventure at Glacier National Park, home to one of the most stunning drives in America: the appropriately named Going-to-the-Sun Road, which climbs the Continental Divide to Logan Pass Visitor Center. Spend your day enjoying the “Crown of the Continent” ecosystem, which offers major habitat and especially is known for mountain goats, deer, moose and other species. You can drive the highway yourself, take an interpretive tour in one of the iconic Red Buses that offer a variety of itineraries throughout the park, or join in a Sun Tour led by a Blackfeet guide and learn why the Blackfeet Nation calls this area the Backbone of Mother Earth.
Accommodation: 4* Best Western Plus Flathead Lake Inn And Suites, Kalispell, Montana
Day 3 – Glacier National Park, Montana
One day in the park is just not enough! With more than 700 miles of trails, Glacier National Park is a hiker’s haven. Five self-guided interpretive walks with brochures and signs let visitors experience Glacier’s outdoor wonders at their own pace: Trail of the Cedars, Huckleberry Mountain, Hidden Lake, Sun Point and Swiftcurrent Nature Trail. In addition to these, visitors can find scores of day hikes throughout the park, but the Lake McDonald, Many Glacier, St. Mary/Logan Pass and Two Medicine areas in particular are popular. Other favourites in Glacier include horseback riding, scenic boat tours and cross-country skiing.
Accommodation: 4* Best Western Plus Flathead Lake Inn And Suites, Kalispell, Montana
Day 4 – Nez Pearce National Historic Park, Idaho
Nez Perce National Historic Park was established in 1965 and stretches across 34 sites in four states. Stop in Spaulding to explore the park’s headquarters and visitor center. Take a journey back in time to follow the story of the Nez Perce Flight of 1877, the 126-day journey across four states, and discover the legends of Nez Perce peoples who were forced to leave their land when their reservation was reduced to one-10th of its original size after the 1863 Treaty. Historic sites, archeological remains, interpretive trails, museum exhibits and films offer a look into the 10,000-year history of the Nimiipuu people. Nez Perce Tourism provides a truly authentic experience to connect with the culture of the Nimiipuu people. Visitors can immerse themselves in the customs of this native culture through interactive storytelling, land and water excursions, food, song, drum and dance. Tours include visits to historical sites, jet boat tours and traditional dinners. Then, visit the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center to learn the deep history of the horse breed iconic to Idaho. Make your way through exhibits, hands-on activities and historical archives to see early evidence of spotted horses in art and literature and the connection between Appaloosa and the Nez Perce tribe.
Accommodation: 5* Best Western Lodge at Rivers Edge, Idaho
Day 5 – Nez Pearce National Historic Park
Continue to explore this incredible park and surrounding attractions on your second-day stay at the Best Western Lodge.
Accommodation: 5* Best Western Lodge at Rivers Edge, Idaho
Day 6 – Twin Falls, Idaho and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Traverse the unique landscape at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve to experience a true natural curiosity. Navigate through the volcanic remains via a loop drive or by taking the network of trails on foot. Marvel at the expansive lava flows and take an exploratory hike through caves and craters. Come nightfall, cast your eyes to the sky for another astronomical wonder. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a designated International Dark Sky Park, where limited light pollution preserves the night sky for pristine stargazing.
Accommodation: 3* Shilo Inn Suites, Twin Falls, Idaho
Day 7 – Twin Falls, Idaho and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Continue to explore Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and the surrounding area on your second day staying at Shilo Inn Suites, Twin Falls.
Accommodation: 3* Shilo Inn Suites, Twin Falls, Idaho
Day 8 – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Located south of Yellowstone National Park and north of the town of Jackson, Grand Teton National Park’s 310,000 acres include lush valley floors, mountain meadows, alpine lakes and the rising peaks of the Teton Range. While iconic locations like Mormon Row and the Moulton Barns may be the most photographed destinations in the park, Grand Teton’s celestial peaks also provide the perfect setting for nature lovers, outdoor adventurers and road trippers who are looking to explore the park’s incredible landscapes. The park offers hiking, camping, climbing, boating, kayaking and numerous photography opportunities. A road winds through the park, but the best way to experience it is by taking one of its shorter hiking or biking trails. Visitors can watch wildlife, including bison, elk, moose, bears and bighorn sheep; explore 230 miles of hiking trails; cast a fishing line on the Snake River; bike along the multi-use path that connects nearby Jackson to South Jenny Lake; and climb impressive mountain peaks. In addition, Jenny Lake Scenic Drive and Signal Mountain Summit Road are two not-to-be-missed scenic drives.
Accommodation: 4* Jackson Lake Lodge, Wyoming
Day 9 – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Modern-day Grand Teton National Park has a diverse and long-standing history that includes evidence of human use from more than 11,000 years ago. The nomadic Indians who summered in this valley left behind physical evidence that includes tipi rings, firepits and stone tools. Following use by American Indian tribes, early American explorers came to the area and included John Colter, as well as fur trappers and mountain men, followed by permanent settlers in 1884. Additional historical highlights include the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, the Chapel of Transfiguration and Cunningham Cabin Historic Site. Today, the park’s extensive history and culture can be seen through ranger-led interpretive programs and visitor centers, as well as numerous historic points of interest.
Accommodation: 4* Jackson Lake Lodge, Wyoming
Day 10 – Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park’s 2 million acres are home to an incomparable combination of natural beauty, rugged wilderness, majestic peaks and abundant wildlife, as well as the world’s largest concentration of geysers and thermal features. The iconic spots – Old Faithful, Lower Falls and Yellowstone Lake – may be familiar from paintings and photographs, but seeing them in person is a humbling, enthralling experience that visitors can enjoy year-round. Whether you delight in the challenge of a strenuous hike or prefer to sit quietly and watch the sunset, the park offers a great diversity of activities for all to enjoy. Popular activities include camping, hiking, boating, bicycling, fishing, wildlife viewing, guided tours and horseback riding.
Accommodation: 4* Gray Wolf Inn and Suites, Wyoming
Day 11 – Yellowstone National Park
As the park welcomes a majority of its travellers during summer, be sure to get off the beaten path by taking a hike and plan to depart for your day’s adventures early. Fall brings comfortable days, chilly evenings, crisp mountain air, elk bugling and an array of colourful foliage to Yellowstone National Park. Wildlife is active in the park during autumn, especially as grizzly and black bears fill their bellies to prepare for the upcoming winter hibernation. Elk are also in rut, and visitors will hear bugling in the park, especially in the early morning and at dusk. If you’re looking for an uncrowded trip to Yellowstone National Park, spring is an ideal time to plan your trip, with activities that include hiking on lower-elevation trails, wildlife watching (bison and elk calve during April and May) and biking.
Accommodation: 4* Gray Wolf Inn and Suites, Wyoming
Day 11 – Beartooth Scenic Highway and Pompey’s Pillar National Monument, Montana
Take a scenic morning drive on the 68-mile Beartooth Scenic Highway, often regarded as the most beautiful drive in America. It is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. Continue into Red Lodge and enjoy some lunch in the charming downtown before continuing to Billings and beyond. Spend the afternoon at Pompey’s Pillar National Monument and see evidence of Native Americans, early explorers, fur trappers, the U.S. Cavalry, railroad development and early homesteaders, many of whom left their history embedded in this sandstone pillar. Return to Billings, the largest city in Montana. Settled on the banks of the Yellowstone River, Billings boasts a bustling historic downtown with several delicious eateries and microbreweries all within walking distance.
Accommodation: 4* Hilton Garden Inn Billings, Montana
Day 12 – Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana
Today’s drive takes you an hour from Billings to the Crow Reservation and the site of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. The monument memorializes the site of the battle that took place June 25-26, 1876, between the United States Seventh Cavalry Regiment, led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, and the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes, under the political and spiritual leadership of Sitting Bull. The museum features exhibits of the history of the battle, Custer, weapons, archaeology, Plains Indian life and a walking tour with interpretive markers. A 4.5-mile self-guided tour road connects the Custer Battlefield and the Reno-Benteen Battlefield. Ranger programs are scheduled throughout the summer, and bus tours of the battlefield operate from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.
Accommodation: 4* Hilton Garden Inn Billings, Montana
Day 13 – Deadwood and Spearfish, South Dakota
Built on top of an ancient rail bed, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway affords visitors views of towering limestone cliffs and pine trees. Thousand-foot pink, brown and gray limestone palisades surround you on either side of the 22-mile section of U.S. Highway 14A. Bridal Veil Falls and Roughlock Falls are must-see short hikes along the route. Then head on to historic Deadwood, known for its rough and tumble past, when gamblers and gunslingers like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane made legends of themselves on the tough and dusty streets. The entire town is a registered national historic landmark, and you’re sure to find plenty of Wild West fun. Make sure to enjoy the Days of 76 Museum, Broken Boot Gold Mine, stagecoach rides, Deadwood Alive shootout re-enactments and Saloon #10. Nearby Rapid City boasts one-of-a-kind shops and galleries, eateries and pubs from elegant to eclectic, presidential statues and turn-of-the-century buildings. Check out Main Street Square, City of Presidents, Prairie Edge Native American Gallery, Black Hills Reptile Gardens and the Journey Museum.
Accommodation: 3* Ramada by Wyndham Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Day 14 – Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota
Located in the heart of the Black Hills of western South Dakota, Crazy Horse Memorial is the world’s largest in-progress mountain carving. Stop by the Laughing Water Restaurant and try some bison stew or an Indian taco. Then, on to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, known as America’s Shrine of Democracy. This massive work features the 60-foot faces of four great American presidents who represent the birth, growth, development and preservation of this country. Located nearby in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Custer State Park is home to a variety of wildlife and magnificent scenery spanning 71,000 acres. Enjoy a Buffalo Jeep Safari Tour, drive the Wildlife Loop and the Needles Highway, and visit the State Game Lodge and Sylvan Lake. At the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, travel back to the time when Ice Age mammoth, camel and giant short-faced bear roamed the Great Plains of North America. The site is the world’s largest mammoth research facility, and you can tour an active paleontological dig site and view Ice Age fossils exhibited as they are found.
Accommodation: 3* Ramada by Wyndham Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Day 15 – Badlands National Park and Chamberlain, South Dakota
Badlands National Park contains 244,000 acres of a striking landscape and boasts a maze of buttes, canyons, pinnacles and spires. Make sure to travel the Badlands Loop Scenic Byway and stop into the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. Travel on to Wall Drug, which has evolved into a 76,000-square-foot wonderland of free attractions, including the Western Art Gallery Restaurant that seats 520. For a more historic stop, try the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. It consists of three sites along a 15-mile stretch of Interstate 90: the Delta-09 missile silo, the Delta-01 Launch Control Facility and a visitor center. Then, immerse yourself in Native American history with a stop at Dignity, a 50-foot-tall stainless-steel sculpture of a Native American woman with a star quilt designed to honor the cultures of the Lakota and Dakota people. And don’t miss the Akta Lakota Museum. With a mini-theater, interactive displays, English-Lakota descriptions and the outdoor Medicine Wheel Garden, this provides visitors with a living lesson on the Native American way of life both past and present.
Accommodation: 3* Ramada by Wyndham Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Day 16 – Mitchell, Desmet, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Start your day at the Mitchell Corn Palace. This American icon is redecorated annually with native corn, grain and grass and is a delightful bucket-list item day or night. At the Ingalls Homestead, take a covered wagon ride, participate in an 1880s one-room school session, take pony cart rides, make ropes and corncob dolls, and see hay twisting and wheat grinding demonstrations from “The Long Winter.” As the namesake of South Dakota’s largest city, Falls Park is a popular location for both locals and incoming visitors. Enjoy more than 55 unique and changing sculptures at the Sculpture Walk, which has provided visitors to downtown Sioux Falls with the opportunity to take a self-guided tour of beautiful and unique art in an outdoor setting. Good Earth State Park southeast of Sioux Falls is an important cultural and historical site as well as a unique nature retreat adjacent to the most developed and populated part of the state. The most recent addition to the state park system, Good Earth offers prime opportunities for birding and hiking.
Accommodation: 4* Sheraton Sioux Falls and Convention Center, South Dakota
Day 17 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of the most beautiful places in North Dakota, with herds of bison, majestic wild horses and a landscape that will take your breath away. Here, you will find great scenery, unique wildlife, relaxing auto tours and quiet areas to hike or have a picnic dinner. A major feature of the South Unit is the paved, 36-mile Scenic Loop Drive with pullouts and interpretive signs that explain some of the park’s historical and natural features. TRNP is one of the best places to readily view the most iconic animals of the West, including bison, mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk and wild horses (in the South Unit), longhorns (North Unit), pronghorns, coyotes, bobcats, badgers, beavers, porcupines, prairie dogs, golden eagles, numerous birds and an occasional snake. Bikers will love the Maah Daah Hey trail, a single-track dirt bike trail that runs through the South Unit and up to the North Unit. The park roads follow the contours of the Badlands, allowing riders to fully experience the scenery.
Accommodation: 4* Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Williston, North Dakota
Day 18 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
On Day two of your stay in Williston, consider heading down to iconic Medora to experience the Medora musical. Here you’ll find plenty to sink your teeth into with a variety of local attractions and restaurants. Or spend another day explore the beautiful Theodore Roosevelt National Park!
Accommodation: 4* Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Williston, North Dakota
Day 19 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Referred to as the Grand Canyon of the North, the pristine North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park offers some of the best views of the North Dakota Badlands as well as superb wildlife watching with bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer and prairie dogs. And keep an eye out for the longhorn cattle! The Maah Daah Hey trail starts in the North Unit of the Park but travels through the official wilderness area and is only open to hikers and horseback riders. There are also numerous other hiking and horseback trails throughout the park. Get the true Native American experience in New Town, just 45 minutes east of Watford City, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara people who make up the MHA Nation. Here you can visit Earth Lodge Village, Three Tribes Museum, 4 Bears Casino and the MHA Heritage Center, and experience outdoor recreation, rodeos and powwows. Four Bears/Killdeer Mountain Scenic Byway runs from near New Town to Killdeer through scenic views of the North Dakota Badlands and Lake Sakakawea.
Accommodation: 4* Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Williston, North Dakota
Day 20 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Spend a final day exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the wider surrounding area before your flight home tomorrow.
Accommodation: 4* Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Williston, North Dakota
Day 21 – Depart back to the UK
Drop off your hire car before catching your return international flight to the UK.
*Prices are subject to availability and change. Price is based on August 2023 departure dates, but other departure dates are available so please enquire.
