Summer 2023: Grand Teton and Yellowstone

As summer 2023 comes to an end, I wanted to highlight our family vacation with the amazing G Adventures (@gadventures). During June, we joined their National Geographic Family Journey to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. It was a bucket list trip for sure. And traveling in a small group, led by two knowledgeable G Adventures guides (Chief Experience Officers, fondly referred to as CEOs), made it completely stress-free. For the first time EVER, I did not have to worry about our trip logistics! This was our best family vacation to date. And I look forward to our next vacation with G Adventures.

When I think of tour groups, I remember watching a tour group pass by many years ago at the Palace of Versailles. Fifty or so people were wandering in a huddled mass behind someone carrying a flag. At that time, I decided tour groups were not for me. Fast forward a couple of decades and I was having the time of my life on a tour of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with small group travel tour operator G Adventures (www.gadventures.com).

G Adventures is a trusted and popular travel partner within the Virtuoso luxury travel network. After hearing so many great things and learning about the various itineraries offered by G Adventures around the world, I had to experience it for myself. I was particularly interested in this National Geographic Family Journey because my family has had Yellowstone and Grand Teton on our travel bucket list for years. An 8-day family trip with a small group (totaling no more than 20 people), with all the logistics taken care of, sounded too good to be true. Spoiler alert: It was the best family vacation for us ever.

We started our tour in Jackson, Wyoming, where we met our fellow group members. Our group totaled 18 people across five different families from Arizona, Florida, and Kentucky. Our son was thrilled to meet the other kids in the group and quickly made new friends. We were split into two passenger vans and got to relax while the G Adventures CEOs did all the driving for us. The CEOs were also knowledgeable tour guides and experts on our destinations. Each day was fun, active, and educational. At the end of each day, we headed back to our respective hotel rooms to rest up for the following day’s adventures.

This was the first family vacation where I wasn’t worrying about how to get from place to place, get the right tickets to the right events/activities/sites, find the perfect restaurants, and choose the hotels. This time, I could just enjoy each moment with my husband and son. We became good friends with some others from our group, and we continued to stay in touch after our trip ended.

Here are some of the highlights:

Visiting Mormon Row and hiking Schwabachers at Grand Teton
Rafting on the Snake River
Exploring beautiful Jenny Lake, including Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point
Horseback riding at Swift Creek Ranch
Seeing Old Faithful erupt and, due to wind direction, spit on us
Walking along more geysers than we ever expected, including Fountain Paint Pot, Biscuit Basin, Grand Prismatic, and Norris Geyser Basin
Completing a hike of Fairy Falls Trail
Witnessing amazing wildlife such as grizzly bears, bison, wolves, and marmots

After this trip, I am a fan of small group tours. It was the most relaxing yet active and adventurous trip our family has done so far. In fact, we are planning to join another tour with G Adventures soon!

Interested in learning more about the small group travel experiences with G Adventures in general or their National Geographic Journeys specifically? I am a certified Specialist for G Adventures and for their National Geographic Journeys.