Best town to stay in for Yellowstone?

I flew into Bozeman. Yellowstone is huge and most people underestimate the amount of time it takes to move around the park. Throw in bison on the road, a grizzly sighting, etc… and the traffic comes to a stop and backs up. I post all of that to say if you can, stay in the park. We rotated our stays there. We stayed in old faithful inn, the canyon area, and in mammoth. We also got up early to get out and explore. Most people wake up, mill around, eat breakfast, etc… and then get going. By 10:00 things start to get crowded, but you can see a lot of things by 10:00.

Rooms in the park book up fast, so try to book early. If there are none available when you look be sure to check back often. They used to have a generous cancellation policy, so people would book rooms they might not stay in and cancel them later.

when we went we stayed 1 night in mammoth 2 nites at canyon and 1 night at the lake. Canyon is centrally located and would be my choice if you don’t want to move around

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Rooms in the park book up fast,

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Yellowstone is for tent camping IMO.
Most campgrounds are first come, first served, so just get to the campground early.

Friend,

As mentioned the best place to stay, as with all national parks, is at the park’s flagship lodge. Even if they are booked now, if you look frequently in the official Xanterra website eventually you will find accommodations. Do not ever use the website US Park Lodging. It looks official, but they will almost certainly book you outside the park and charge you a large fee for booking where you could book yourself for no charge.

I prefer Old Faithful Inn to the hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs for style and location. If you are not able to get a room, which means you didn’t try hard enough, West Yellowstone has some nice cabins and motels. It is a lively and fun town in the summer with plenty to do. Wild West Pizza is an old favorite. Do not expect big city pizza and you will likely be satisfied with its average product.

I do not like Gardiner very much. The town as a whole usually shuts down by sundown and the restaurant options there are sparse and bad. It is the closest town to the park from Bozeman, but I will never stay there again.

Although both are probably not geographically sensible to you, I love Silver Gate, a tiny mining town at the northeast gate of the park. It is remote and takes a long journey to get there, but it is wild and rugged and beautiful. Hemingway was very fond of the town. It puts you near the Beartooth Highway, which is a fascinating drive if open.

If you change your mind and fly into Jackson Hole, which is never a bad idea, staying in one of the NPS accommodations with the Grand T***** is wonderful.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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I do not like Gardiner very much. The town as a whole usually shuts down by sundown

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I lived in Gardiner two summers while working for the park. Sun didn’t go down till after 9pm. The population is like 700 people so what do you expect? Round the clock luxury dining? Plenty of bars were open late enough.

Livingston