Sample itineraries
America's Canyon Country Tour
From £1750
An incredible journey that will showcase the wonders - both natural and man-made - of this wonderful area of the Western United States. You will discover the very best of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, even touching Mesa Verde in Colorado.
Highlights:
-
Las Vegas Strip
- Bryce National Park
-
Zion National Park
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Lake Powell
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Death Valley
- Yosemite National Park
-
San Francisco
Price per person includes:
- Return flights to Los Angeles and home from San Francisco
- Airport taxes
-
13 nights accommodation in sought after locations
- 12 days mid-size car hire
- A personalised road book which is a complete guide to travelling within North America and provides bespoke driving instructions for your holiday.
Ideal time to visit: May - October
Prices are based on off peak -please call or email for your preferred date of travel.
Day 1 Los Angeles
Arrive in Los Angeles, home of Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, Universal Studios, and Beverly Hills, Getty Museum as well as beautiful people, celebrities galore and wonderful beaches!
Collect your car and make your way to your chosen hotel.
Overnight: Los Angeles area, choose from the beaches, airport, Hollywood or The Queen Mary.
Day 2 Los Angeles - Las Vegas
Distance: 287 miles
Next morning your adventure begins!
En route to Vegas a visit to Calico, a western ghost town in the mountains of California is an interesting start to your journey.
As you drive through the desert to Vegas, you won't believe your eyes! In the distance a Pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, the New York skyline all become visible....... Hold on to your hats Vegas will blow your mind....
Overnight: Las Vegas, be sure to treat yourself to one of incredible hotels on this Strip, you'll be surprised how affordable 5 star hotels in Las Vegas are.
Day 3 -4 Las Vegas - Zion National Park - Bryce Canyon National Park
Distance: 360 miles
On leaving Las Vegas it's just a short drive to Zion National Park and some of the world’s most incredible sandstone formations formed millions of years ago by the powerful hand of nature.
Drive by the Cedar Breaks National Monument, through the Dixie National Forest and on to Bryce Canyon National Park, where Pink Cliffs and natural arches await you.
Next day at leisure to enjoy Bryce Canyon's natural wonders!
Bryce Canyon National Park is named for just one of many canyons which form a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheatres on the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. Erosion has carved colourful Claron limestone’s into thousands of spires, fins, arches and mazes. Collectively called "hoodoos," these unique formations are whimsically arranged and tinted with colours too numerous and subtle to name.
Stay in Bryce National Park for two nights.
Day 5 Bryce Canyon National Park - Arches National Park - Moab
Distance: 266 miles
Early risers can catch the sunrise over Bryce Canyon before heading to Capitol Reef National Park, stopping by the Dead Horse Point on your way. Continue to Arches National Park in Utah, home to the world’s largest concentration of natural stone arches.
The arches and numerous other extraordinary geologic features, such as spires, pinnacles, pedestals and balanced rocks, are highlighted in striking foreground and background views created by contrasting colours, landforms and textures. The park is 73,000 acres in size!
Overnight: Moab
Day 6 Moab - Canyonlands National Park - Mesa Verde National Park
Distance: 200 miles
Stop by the unique Hovenweep National Monument before continuing on to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, home of the Native American cliff dwellings.
Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.
Overnight: Mese Verde National Park or nearby Cortez.
Day 7 Mesa Verde National Park - Monument Valley
Distance: 145 miles
As you begin your drive, pass Four Corners National Monument, the only point in America common to four states. Cross Navajo Country on your way to -
Monument Valley provides perhaps the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have been filmed and photographed countless times over the years for movies, adverts and holiday brochures. Because of this, the area may seem quite familiar, even on a first visit, but it is soon evident that the natural colours really are as bright and deep as those in all the pictures.
The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but rather a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region.
Overnight: Monument Valley we suggest Gouldings Lodge or the View for the best experience..
Day 8 Monument Valley - Page/Lake Powell
Distance: 245 miles
You'll have the opportunity to explore the region this morning, perhaps visiting Goosenecks State Park and Mexican Hat. Then head to the crystalline blue waters of Lake Powell.
Lake Powell is the second largest man-made lake in the United States, its a staggering 186 miles long and has 1,960 miles of shoreline, which is longer than the entire west coast of the continental United States.
Explore a few of its 96 canyons by the boat trips that depart throughout the day. Other activities here include hiking, swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving or for the more adventurous try the helicopter trips over the lake!
Overnight:Lake Powell.
Day 9 Page/Lake Powell - Grand Canyon National Park
Distance: 140 miles
This morning we suggest an optional cruise to the Rainbow Bridge National Monument before driving on to the beautiful Kaibab National Forest and the incredible Grand Canyon National Park.
The Grand Canyon will simply overwhelm you with its immense size, 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and a mile deep! Sunrise and sunset are spectacular, be sure to hop on a helicopter for a trip over the dramatic North rim too.
Overnight:Grand Canyon Village. If it's available, you've got to stay in The El Tovar!
Day 10 Grand Canyon National Park - Las Vegas
Distance: 276 miles
Today you can drive through Kingman, along a portion of historic Route 66, this takes you to one of the world’s greatest man-made structures: the Hoover Dam. If time allows stop by Lake Mead too.
Continue to Las Vegas, the glittering Entertainment Capital of the World. This time round check out a top show, ride the roller coaster at New York, New York Hotel or stroll through the incredible Venetian Hotel ( you can hop on a Gondola ride here !)
Overnight:Las Vegas, let us choose a different hotel from your first stay, it will let you experience other parts of the Las Vegas Strip.
Day 11 Las Vegas - Death Valley National Park
Distance: 140 miles
Depart for a drive across the Amargosa Desert to Death Valley National Park.
Death Valley National Park comprises of more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery, rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness and sites of historical interest. Death Valley is unique because it contains the lowest, hottest, driest location in North America. Nearly 550 square miles of its area lie below sea level. Ecologically, its plants and animals are representative of the Mojave Desert.
Death Valley is one of the hottest places on earth, attaining the second-highest temperature ever recorded, 134 degrees F. in 1913. It contains the lowest point in the western hemisphere -- 282 feet below sea level near Badwater -- as well as numerous high-rising mountain peaks, including Telescope Peak at over 11,000 feet. Death Valley was named by gold-seekers, some of whom died crossing the valley during the 1849 California gold rush.
Overnight: Death Valley.
Day 12 Death Valley National Park - Tioga Pass - Yosemite National Park
Distance: 326 miles
Today offers a complete contrast in landscapes from the desolation of Death Valley as you can choose to drive into the high Sierra Nevada Mountains via Bishop to the Tioga Pass and Yosemite, one of America’s most scenic national parks. Here among the pine trees cascade the silvery waters of Yosemite and Bridalveil Falls. Massive ice-shaped formations rise sharply from the valley floor in the sculptured beauty of El Capitan and Half Dome.
Overnight:Yosemite National Park area.
Day 13 -14 Yosemite National Park - San Francisco
Distance: 195 miles
Take a drive across California’s fertile Central Valley to spectacular San Francisco: a city of many hills, cable cars, and a beautiful bay.
On arrival in San Francisco return your car at the downtown depot so you can explore this wonderful city by foot. This Pacific Gateway to America is noted for Chinatown, the Japan Centre, the Embarcadero, and the Fisherman’s Wharf. Other attractions are the Civic Centre, the Cable Car Museum, the Zoo, the Golden Gate Bridge, Twin Peaks observatory, Union Square, Ghirardelli Square, and Nob Hill’s stunning Victorian houses.
Overnight: San Francisco.
Next day take the shuttle to the airport for your homeward flight.
Want to extend this tour ? Not a problem, all our holidays are flexible. Please call Bon Voyage to discuss your options. You may want to take advantage of the airlines free stopovers and break your journey in New York, Washington or Boston on your journey home.... Have you thought about visiting Hawaii? The flights onto the Islands from the West Coast are very affordable. Go on give us a call!
