Great American West - Montana, The Big Sky Country

Jackson is the typical base-camp for visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton. This lovely, Old Western town has turned into a popular winter and summer resort for hipster youth; it offers several sushi bars and fashionable clubs.

The landscape between Jackson Hole and Yellowstone is marked by the magnificent Teton mountains, rising sheer from the flat, large prairie, amidst lakes, waterfalls and forests where moose and bison roam free. The tallest peak of the range is Grand Teton, with a height of more than 4,000 m. Yellowstone is one of the largest parks in the USA, and the oldest national park in the world (it was opened in 1872). What truly makes it unique, though, is its enormous central area, which is in fact the huge caldera of a dormant volcano (the last eruption dates back to 640,000 years ago). Thousands of geysers outburst in the caldera, and several other geothermal features can be seen there – hot springs, mudpots, acid lakes. The area is also home to many animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, moose, deer, cougars and coyotes.

Bozeman, the "queen city of the Rockies" for its strategic location among mountains, canyons, valleys, lakes, and rivers, is also an important university town. Always culturally vibrant, it offers museums, art galleries, festivals, and in recent years trendy bars and hotels.

Two thousand lakes, rivers, forests, majestic mountains, here is Glacier National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a paradise also for wild animals, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, brown bears and grizzly bears, wolves and cougars. The name does not derive so much from the existing glaciers, few, small and retreating, but from the enormous expanse of ice that created its valleys during the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago. Only one road crosses it, Going-to-the-Sun Road, an 80 km long road, one of the most picturesque in the country, with stunning views at every turn.

Whitefish is a picturesque town in Montana nestled in the Flathead Valley, which offers outdoor activities for all seasons. In winter, you can enjoy skiing at the Whitefish Mountain Resort, and during the rest of the year, you can explore the Flathead River. The town also hosts theater, dance, and music performances.

you continue along Flathead Lake, in the heart of an Indian reservation. Missoula, with just 75,000 inhabitants, is the second largest city in Montana after Billings. It is a pleasant university town with a vibrant artistic scene, famous craft breweries, and the historic Fort Missoula Museum, a fort for settlers during the battles against the Nez Percé Native Americans.