Six continents of national parks. Start with the day out.
Which Grand Canyon coach actually stops where you want it to. What a dawn jeep at Yala costs. Whether Plitvice is worth the drive from Split. Reviews of the tours that get you through the gate.
The four park days people book before anything else.
A canyon rim, a leopard park at first light, a chain of terraced lakes and a cloud forest above Chiang Mai. What each one costs, and what the people who went say.
01The South Rim dayGrand Canyon National Park South Rim Bus Tour from Las VegasThe South Rim from Las Vegas: five hours on the road for three at the edge. Take the early departure, the light is better and the rim is quieter.
02First light at YalaYala National Park Safari Tours: Morning/Evening/Full DayJeeps queue at the gate before dawn because that is when the leopards move. Morning, evening or the full day, and the morning is the one.
03The lakes dayFrom Split: Plitvice Lakes National Park Guided TourPlitvice from Split, on boardwalks laid inches above sixteen terraced lakes. Summer entry is timed, so the tour slot is the booking.
04The cloud forestChiang Mai: Doi Inthanon National Park Eco-Friendly TourThailand's highest summit, the twin pagodas, a waterfall and lunch in a Karen village, all inside one national park.
Four ways to do the American national parks.
Nearly everything here leaves from a city: Las Vegas for the canyons, Moab for the slickrock, Jackson for the Tetons, San Francisco for the sequoias. Pick the base first, then pick the day.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Grand Canyon National Park South from Las Vegas with Lunch, WiFi
Grand CanyonThe South Rim from Las Vegas, a long day and a short walk.
Zion and BryceTwo red canyons on one loop out of Vegas.
Yellowstone and the TetonsWildlife at dawn from Jackson, snow on the roads by November.
Arches and CanyonlandsSlickrock by 4x4, straight out of Moab.
All 200 park days in the USA →
Six countries where the national park is the whole trip.
Red rock across Utah and Arizona, leopards on the Sri Lankan coast, game drives inside the Nairobi city limits, waterfalls in Dalmatia, a volcano above the Canaries and grizzly country in the Rockies.
A national park is a jeep, a boardwalk or a boat. Pick one.
Some parks you drive, some you walk, and a few only open up from the water. Three that fill up first, then the rest sorted by how far you are expected to walk.
The national park days more people take than any other.
Every park review →An airboat through the Everglades sawgrass, a cloud forest above Chiang Mai, a volcano at dusk in Tenerife. What earns each of them the slot.
1
Miami: Everglades National Park Airboat Tour & Wildlife Show
Ride an airboat through the Everglades, spot alligators and birds, and enjoy a funny wildlife show at Gator Park near Miami.
From · $42
Read our review →
2
Chiang Mai: Doi Inthanon National Park Eco-Friendly Tour
from $46
3
Clear Kayak Tour of Shell Key Preserve and Tampa Bay Area
from $79
4
Tenerife: Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing Tour
from $47
5
Yosemite Highlights & Giant Sequoias Day Tour from San Francisco
from $219
6
Discover Rocky Mountain National Park
from $199
7
Mt. Rainier National Park Highlights Tour
from $150
8
Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Bus Tour from Las Vegas
from $71
The national parks people go to for one animal.
Leopards at Yala, elephants at Udawalawe and Amboseli, the big five at Kruger and Pilanesberg, a habituated gorilla family in Bwindi. Starting early is not a preference here, it is the whole booking.
Every wildlife park day →
What a day in a national park actually costs.
Every priced tour here, grouped by what one person pays. A Sri Lankan jeep and a Utah 4x4 do much the same job for very different money.
Entry tickets, Sri Lankan and Kenyan jeeps, the short guided walks and the self-guided audio drives.
The standard full day: canyon coaches out of Las Vegas, Plitvice from Split, Doi Inthanon from Chiang Mai.
Private guides, small-group Yosemite, gorilla permits and the multi-day safaris that carry their own lodging.
Three things that only happen inside a national park.
Coastline and mountains are everywhere. A sky with no streetlight for forty kilometres, an hour with a gorilla family, and eighteen kilometres of boardwalk over water nobody is allowed to swim in are not.
Stargazing on Mount Teide
Teide stands at 3,715 metres and the trade-wind cloud usually tops out near 1,500, so the summit road climbs clear of the weather most nights of the year. The whole island is a UNESCO Starlight Reserve, which regulates the lighting below as well. Tours run by road once the cable car shuts, and the good ones bring a telescope and something hot.
- 1Tenerife: Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 3,812 reviews
- 2Tenerife: Sunset and Stargazing at Teide National Park★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,826 reviews
- 3Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing with Dinner (Star Safari)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,601 reviews
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi and Volcanoes
Rwanda and Uganda both cap the permits sold per gorilla family per day, and your hour with them starts when the trackers find them, not when you leave the briefing. The walk in can take twenty minutes or five hours. The permit is the booking; guide, porter and transfer are arranged around whichever one you managed to get.
- 17 Hours Monkey Island and Nature Walk at Soberania National Park★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 58 reviews
- 23 Day Gorilla Trek at Bwindi National Park via Kigali★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 32 reviews
- 31 Day Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour In The Volcanoes National Park★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 31 reviews
The Plitvice and Krka boardwalks
Sixteen lakes fall into one another over travertine barriers that are still growing, which is why swimming was stopped at Plitvice in 2006 and at Krka in 2021. What you get instead is around eighteen kilometres of boardwalk laid inches above the water. Summer entry is capped by the hour, and the coach from Split is usually the easiest way to hold a slot.
- 1From Split: Plitvice Lakes National Park Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,002 reviews
- 2From Split: Krka National Park Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,359 reviews
- 3From Split: Plitvice Lakes National Park Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,355 reviews
Four national park days that run on somebody else’s calendar.
Most of a park trip can wait until you land. These four cannot. The permit is capped, the gate is timed, or the road is under snow for half the year.
- 013 Day Gorilla Trek at Bwindi National Park via KigaliRwanda and Uganda sell a fixed number of permits per gorilla family per day. In high season they are gone months ahead, and no operator can add one.
- 02Yellowstone National Park – Full-Day Lower Loop Tour from JacksonAlmost every road inside Yellowstone closes to cars from early November to late April. Winter runs go by snowcoach and tracked van, and those seats are counted.
- 03Yala National Park Safari Tours: Morning/Evening/Full DayYala Block 1, the part with the leopards, shuts for the annual drought closure around September and October. On the mornings it is open the gate quota fills before dawn.
- 04From Split: Plitvice Lakes National Park Guided TourPlitvice caps how many people enter each hour in summer and sells entry by time slot. Arriving at the gate in August without one is how a day gets lost.
National parks you can see without walking far.
A lot of the best park days involve almost no walking. A jeep covers the ground at Yala and in the Mara. A boat does it at Krka, Kenai Fjords and Skadar. A self-guided audio drive takes Joshua Tree and Acadia at whatever pace suits you, and a rim coach parks at every Grand Canyon viewpoint.
By park, and by the way you get around it
The newest national park tour reviews.
Keep reading the new arrivals →
From Galway: Connemara, Kylemore Abbey or National Park Tour
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From Flores: Tikal National Park Private Day Trip with Lunch
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From Flagstaff: Grand Canyon National Park Tour
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From Ella – Yala National Park Leopard Safari Tour
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From Ella: All Inclusive Udawalawe National Park Safari
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From Diani or Mombasa: Tsavo East National Park Day Trip
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Puerto Natales: Full day tour Torres del Paine National Park
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From Denver: Guided Hike in Rocky Mountain National Park
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Darwin: Nitmiluk National Park Tour & Katherine Gorge Cruise
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From Delhi: Ranthambore National Park Day Trip with Safari
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From Da Nang or Hoi An: Bach Ma National Park Trek & Lunch
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