valley floor tour yosemite reviews

Yosemite Valley Floor Tour

Review Highlights

“ Various meadows, rock formations, campgrounds, wildlife, trees and other tidbits were discussed by the ranger . ” in 5 reviews

“ I loved that they also provided blankets since it was a bit chilly on the open air tram . ” in 3 reviews

“ If you cannot, then try to get the latest tour time possible. ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

Suggest an edit

Yosemite Valley, CA 95389

You Might Also Consider

Yosemite Trails Horseback Adventures

At Yosemite's south entrance, explore the Sierras on horseback. We offer 1 & 2 hour horseback rides daily or join us for our our exclusive 1/2 day ride to one of the largest giant sequoias in the world. What better way to get a… read more

in Tours, Horseback Riding

Ask the Community

Ask a question

Got a question about Yosemite Valley Floor Tour ? Ask the Yelp community!

Recommended Reviews

• 1 star rating Not good
• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
• 3 star rating OK
• 4 star rating Good
• 5 star rating Great

Select your rating

Overall rating

Our tour guide was entertaining and incredibly knowledgeable. He helped us understand the orientation of the park and gave us the history of its development. He was friendly and even stayed after the tour to help us find an appropriate hike.

We had a great time on our tour we took the 1100 tour arrived a few hours early and enjoyed breakfast at the base camp and sat outside in the cool breeze after as we waited for our tour to begin. We picked up our tickets early at the Yosemite Valley Lodge everyone we encountered at the counter were nice the lobby was clean and people were friendly and helpful The line started to pick up closer to our tour time our tour was not as crowded as the one before us thank you very much we were able to enjoy enough room between us to not feel like we were cramped in like sardines the tour is in an open tram style tour but it's not a tram our guide was great wished I remembered her name she was very knowledgeable about Yosemite and we learned a lot from her We stopped at a couple of spots along the way where she explained to us what each of the meadows / trees do for Yosemite and the original native Indians used them for which is very informative info The tour last 2 hours and I felt was just long enough I would love to take more tours to learn more about other areas in Yosemite hopefully the other tours open up next year I would rather take a tour than adventure out on my own because I end up lost without a guide it was interesting to learn about how the hikers climb up the rocks at Yosemite it's something I would never even think about doing but much respect to anyone who attempts or makes it up We were lucky to have some great weather nice and cool a few sprinkles here and there felt great I was looking for bears / bobcat : mountain lion but never saw one I only seen a couple of squirrels and some pretty blue jays enjoy this is a place that is just is beautiful no matter how you see Yosemite

What an awesome tour! The background info provided on the tram was so good & very detailed. I think I paid $35pp before any fees, which I thought was a very fair price. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable & had some interesting stories. We enjoyed so many great photo opps! I'd definitely take this tour again.

See all photos from Lori B. for Yosemite Valley Floor Tour

Bill the driver was great, it was so hot and crowded, he helped make it very nice, so many people parked in wrong areas and was hard for him to get through and around, even helped out at the end with an accessibility issue at the end. Tour guide was good as well.

Nice 2 hr ride through Yosemite Valley. Our park ranger tour guide Taylor was great and very informative. Had two stops at Bridalveil falls and tunnel view. Someone passing through the tunnel took an awesome pic of our tram turning into the parking lot for tunnel view.

Tunnel views

Tunnel view

I wish I could leave a better review, because the tour itself and the NPS ranger who led it were fantastic, but the booking process with Aramark has been a nightmare! My original tour date of 5/25 was cancelled due to low attendance and I was left a message to call to reschedule the day prior. When I called back in the operator told me my tickets were refunded for $40 and I would need to rebook. She took 45 minutes to rebook me only to book the wrong date. At that time she said she needed to refund me again and rebook me and did not understand why my first refund was for $40 when I had paid $80. I was transferred to a supervisor over 1hr 15min into the call. The supervisor then rebooked me and after viewing all transactions said she correct the first refund and was sure I was only changed 1 more time, not 2 as the original associate had said, even though I had 2 pending charges showing on my bank statement for a total of $240 in charges for 2 $40 tickets. Total time on this call was over 2hrs. On 5/25 we received another voice mail of a cancellation so when we got to the park that night we stopped at the counter to confirm. The associate at the desk told me I was in fact still booked for 5/26 and After returning home from our trip I did receive a $80 refund but both the second and third $80 charges went through. I reached out via email to the supervisor who originally helped me (Toyyonna) but never heard back. I called in to the reservation line and started over again explaining to an associate who directed me to email an accounting department email. I sent them an email as well that was answer 2 weeks later starting the whole conversation over again. On 6/23 I called in again and was told by a supervisor that the overcharge wasn't showing on their end and even though they could see the copy of my bank statement there was nothing they could do to help me and then asked if that satisfied why I called. Completely unbelievable. Do not book with Aramark. Not worth it! I hope NPS considers who they choose to work with in the future.

Attendant wouldn't let us on. Tour was at 1p. We arrived at 1:02p, the tram was still parked and empty rows in front of us. She wouldn't let us on. Booked three months in advanced, it was Father's Day and traveling with my three children, wife and mother. We originally arrived at 10a, couldn't reschedule to earlier time so we waited and waited. Food at the lodge, no selection so we had to go the village. Took the shuttle and on the way back our bus broke down. Waited and waited for the next shuttle to pick us up. Shuttle dropped us off, but we still had to rush to the lodge, running full steam with young children and a senior coming toward the front of the tram. Attendant still didn't care. "No refunds, but I can reschedule you til 2." Where was that the option earlier? Tram drives off and after three hours of trying the fill the time we were not waiting any longer with small children, for us to to blow up the rest of day and stretch this out even longer for them to take our money on their terms. She holds steadfast with no refund. Continued stalling from attendant, she's goes to speak to her lead, who doesn't bother to address me either, until she finally comes out and refund was granted (which has yet to be seen). The time it took for all of this charade, the folks could have just let us on. We were late. A series of unfortunate chain events and it left us without many options. But my point here, they had an opportunity to help turn things around if they only cared (over a couple of minutes, which she held for us until 1:02, which apparently was over at 2 min and some arbitrary number of seconds past). They didn't. Simple as that, never mind that we traveled far, or that we had planned for months, or that we had kids eager to ride the tram. What an impression they could have had, what an opportunity to make someone's day, what potential memories could have been had. This person didn't care. It was just another transaction. Not my problem and I don't care attitude. But I guess overall, we did get an impression, a memory, and it did ruin our day. Thanks for instilling this non empathetic moment in our family and kids' memories. Kudos to you Yosemite Valley Lodge, for making things worse and showing how much you cared about educating and taking care of families. "Yosemite Hospitality" you say...for what it's worth it's one review and most people won't care if it works out for them, but word of mouth here is you should pass and we will continue to let others know.

warning to any people booking this tour. i'm sure it's awesome but wouldn't know as my family never got a chance. or even within distance to take the tour. we had pre purchased tickets and was there the weekend of 10/14-16th. due to road closures and areas of the park closed (Glacier point is closed for the year) parking is severely limited. we aren't novices to yosemite. we know the time it takes from the tunnel to the valley floor. we got into the valley around 11am. our tour was at 1. couldn't find parking anywhere. it took a few days for our refund to generate and we even had to call as emails went unanswered. there wasn't any parking anywhere to be found. and lots of angry folks frustrated in the parking lots. we gave up around 1pm as we knew they'd never let us on if we were to even find parking.

Lots of bang for the buck if you are in Yosemite for only a short time. We did the night Valley tour and our tour guide brought Yosemite alive for us!! His enthusiasm & knowledge of the history of the valley from the past to the present was amazing. You can tell the rangers love Yosemite and its history. This is an open tram tour, so lots of fresh air and DRESS accordingly. If you are doing the day ones leave lots of time for finding a parking space if you are there on a weekend or during high season so you aren't late for the tour departure time. On this tour you will see tunnel view, el cap, halfdome village and a lot many tiny dots of light on the rock face as climbers camped for the night or took advantage of the break from the sun to make their way up. Towards the end of this tour we were mesmerized by the history of Yosemite. Definitely recommend this tour!!

The night valley tour!!

Having never been to Yosemite and visiting with a kid and two older parents, my activities to do at Yosemite were very limited. My time was also limited because it was a last minute trip and I couldn't find a hotel that was nearby for a reasonable price so a day trip was all that I could afford. I did some research and came across this tour being offered every two hours and I thought it was very neat! Booking the last tour of the day, running from 3 PM - 5 PM, my family and I made our way to Yosemite from the Bay Area at 9 AM. Getting there was a breeze, but traffic was horrible at the entrance of Yosemite where they collect $30 for a 7 day pass per personal vehicle. And more traffic came up when we got closer to Yosemite Valley. We were suppose to arrive about two hours earlier to explore the area before the tour but we got there 15 minutes pass 3 PM..I quickly dropped off my family after seeing that the tour bus has not left us. I had to circle around 3-4 times before finding a parking spot. I quickly ran to the bus and grabbed a seat and the bus took off about 5 minutes after..it was so stressful and hectic for me that I got a headache and did not really enjoy Yosemite until my nerves calmed down shortly after. If you are visiting for the summer, I would highly advise you getting there as early as possible to avoid the traffic and delay at the gate entrance. If you cannot, then try to get the latest tour time possible. The tour itself was great, very informative about the history and folk tales of the park. We got to do two pit stop where we got off and took pictures of the amazing scenery surrounding the Valley Floor. The first pit stop allowed a bathroom break and the second pit stop allowed a water break at Inspiration Point. Our tour bus hit traffic heading back to Yosemite Lodge at the Falls so the tour guide was kind enough to let people off if they wanted to walk. This tour is a great way to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery if you are visiting for a short amount of time. I bought tickets online for 2 senior and a 2 adults + 1 child packet and the grand total was $100.

3 other reviews that are not currently recommended

Collections Including Yosemite Valley Floor Tour

Yosemite National Park

People Also Viewed

Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad

Yosemite Grand Tour

Cook’s Meadow Loop

Yosemite Valley Visitor Center

YExplore Yosemite Adventures

Yosemite Family Adventures

The Redwoods In Yosemite

Yosemite Valley Shuttle

Yosemite Close Up Tours

Best of Yosemite Valley

Things to do in Yosemite Valley

Other Bus Tours Nearby

Find more Bus Tours near Yosemite Valley Floor Tour

People found Yosemite Valley Floor Tour by searching for…

Best Curry Village Bike Rental in Yosemite Valley

Native American in Yosemite Valley

Browse Nearby

Restaurants

Bus Tours Near Me

Day Trips Near Me

Related Cost Guides

Town Car Service