Ever wanted to visit the magnificent National Parks of the western USA? That might be complicated if you can't drive or don't have too much time. However, there is one solution - we have visited 8 of the most important National Parks in 9 days - yes it was rushed and exhausting, but the experience was unreal. Here's how we did it with all the pros and cons.

It was always my dream to see the Grand Canyon and the other exceptionally spectacular National Parks and canyons in Utah and Arizona, such as: Bryce, Antelope Canyon, Arches, Monument Valley as well as Yellowstone. Finally, having had visited nearly 70 countries, I managed to plan a trip to the USA. We didn’t have too much time - only 9 days and we couldn’t drive. so the only option that was left for us, was (as a last resort) an organized tour. Something we’d always tried to avoid. How did it go? How much did it cost? Was it efficient? What were the downsides and upsides of such a journey through 8 states within a very limited time?

How to choose a tour to the National Parks in the US?

Everyone knows that it’s hard to get around by public transport in the US. It’s not frequent and there are not too many options. But if you don’t drive and there’s not much time that you can spend - you are not doomed. You can still have a chance to visit the amazing National Parks using one of the organised tours.

The first National Park that comes to mind is, obviously, the Grand Canyon. It’s not difficult to get there or to organize a day trip - especially from Las Vegas. However, the problem starts when you want to continue the journey to the other parks in the area or even as far as Yellowstone.

Finding a tour company was a bit tricky. Many of the google results showed providers that offered some fancy tours for exorbitant prices (even up to 900 USD per day!). Finally, after several days of research, we found a company which covered all the National Parks we wanted to visit. The whole trip: 9 days, accommodation, transportation, entry fees (helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon included) cost us approximately 1000 USD per person.

On the provider’s website, there were hundreds of different tours to choose from combining various National Parks and places depending on what the interests of the visitors were. The tour we chose included (starting with the transportation from Los Angeles to Las Vegas):

-Bryce National Park

-Zion National Park (driving through the park with a few stops)

-Antelope Canyon (lower) and Horseshoe Bend

-Monument Valley

-Arches National Park

-Canyonlands National Park (short stop)

-Yellowstone National Park

-Grand Canyon (West Rim)

-Cities and Towns: Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, St. George (Utah - Zion), Jackson (Wyoming - Yellowstone)

Las Vegas - View from the Stratosphere Hotel

What are the Pros and Cons of the Tours to National Parks in the US?

Pros

Of course, the main advantage is that the organized tour allows you to visit your chosen National Parks in a short period of time. That advantage in itself beats all the cons you can encounter. The selection usually is great and everyone can easily find a trip suitable for them.

The transport as well as accommodation is all arranged so you don’t have to worry about how to cover such long distances (we traveled over 1000 miles/1600 km from Los Angeles to Yellowstone). Also, the price was also acceptable, considering all the places we intended to see. Without taking this tour, there would have been no possibility for us to see and experience as much as we did. Also, you can find some deals - for example, if you invited a third person to stay with you (which we did) and share the room, they did not pay for the accommodation, making the overall price even lower (still, it worked out as 1000 USD per person).

The accommodation was very comfortable - all hotels had clean en-suit rooms. In Las Vegas, we stayed in the Stratosphere Hotel offering amazing views over the city as well as some thrilling entertainment - such as the X-Scream Ride.

Cons

As I mentioned above, I included the price in the list of advantages. However, you must be careful here. First, you have to pay the whole amount quoted online upfront and there are some significant cancellation fees if you want to give up. Second, the price quoted is a fraction of what you will actually pay as it doesn’t include tips, fuel surcharge, National Parks entry fees, etc. - all of which are mandatory (they are mentioned on the website but not included in the online price). The price quoted online was around 350 USD per person, however, we added all the other expenses so we were aware that the whole trip would cost approximately 1000 USD per person. Note, that some of the things are optional - such as the helicopter flight.

Another downside is that the tour was entirely Asian (which was not mentioned on the website). We only found out about it after receiving documents in English/Mandarin. We were the only three people on the bus that understood English. The rest were all Asian. The tour guide barely spoke English and it was quite tricky to communicate with him. However, the bus journey, although exhausting, was pretty comfortable. The food in the hotels (breakfasts) was good. However, on some days, when we departed early, breakfast was delivered by the company. It was horrible - plain slice of bread, a boiled egg and the most disgusting juice I’d ever had. Bring our own food. But well, can’t complain too much about it considering the overall price.

The way the tour was organised at times was not the way we wanted (but of course, I do understand that when one takes a tour like this, such things must be taken into consideration). For example, sometimes we spent hours at a stop in a small restaurant and then rushed through a beautiful parts of a National Park without having any time for a short hike (this was the case with the Zyon National Park).

Is it Worth Taking a Tour to the National Parks in the US?

Of course, if you drive, it doesn’t make much sense. But if you don’t, it’s your only option. It also depends what your expectations are. We didn’t expect anything fancy, we just wanted to see the natural wonders. If such a tour is too hectic for you, stick to fewer parks, choose a better provider and travel at a slower pace. Having said that, I feel very happy that we had a chance to do this tour and experience all of those amazing places. I’ll write more about all the National Parks we’ve seen and post some amazing pics I took in separate posts.