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TOUR ITINERARY : : : : : |
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DAY 1: Arrive LOS ANGELES
Gateway city departure. Click Airfares link on the left navigation bar to select your flight, or scroll to the bottom of this page to see a list of available departure airports. On arrival at Los Angeles Airport*, you can either be met and transferred to your hotel, or you can pick-up your rental car and get there yourself: for three nights.
*Customers from foreign countries landing at LAX have to clear customs.
| | | DAY 2: LOS ANGELES - HOLLYWOOD - BEVERLY HILLS
Metropolitan Los Angeles, perhaps the most diverse and colorful city of the West, is, today, all yours to explore, or you can take an optional guided city tour provided by a local Tour Operator, see "Local Tours". See LA-Downtown, its financial district and Music Center; stroll along Olvera Street, the birthplace of Los Angeles. Hollywood for its famous Chinese Theatre, where hundreds of film stars and producers have left their hands and footprints. Beverly Hills via famous Sunset Boulevard for the luxurious homes of celebrities, and the exclusive shops of Rodeo Drive.
| | | DAY 3: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS - GETTY MUSEUM - SANTA MONICA
Start with Universal Studios, the largest movie and television studio in the world, and a great theme park. Take an exciting open-air tram ride for the studio's giant stages, and experience awesome special effects and adventures, such as the heart-pounding Earthquake, or the deadly Shark Attack; meet King Kong face to face. Enjoy thrilling live shows and explosive stunts at the Wild Wild West Show and Waterworld, a spectacular live event with, until now, unseen pyrotechnics; visit Jurassic Park, and ride "Back to the Future".
In the afternoon, the stunning new Getty Museum, a modern Acropolis set at the top of a hill, with breathtaking views of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. You will be amazed at its incredible collection of famous Greek, Roman, Medieval and European masters.
Day's end, promenade on 3rd Street, Santa Monica, with its fabulous shops, restaurants and fantastic street performers.
| | | DAY 4: CALICO - LAS VEGAS
This morning, head for Las Vegas, driving through the beautifully rugged, primitive and immense, Mojave Desert. Calico Ghost Town, East of Barstow, once one of the largest silver mining towns in California. Now restored, an excellent replica of an early frontier town, it's well worth a visit!
Continue to Las Vegas, the Entertainment Capital of the World, and check in. This evening, stroll through famous Strip's many fabulous casinos: The Venetian; Paris-Las Vegas; the luxurious Bellagio with its beautiful water show; and The Mirage whose volcano erupts every fifteen minutes, sending huge fire balls high into the air and then down the water fall. Tonight, gamble, try your luck!
| | | DAY 5: ZION NATIONAL PARK - BRYCE CANYON
Head northeast for two extra-ordinary Utah National Parks. Zion National Park, a beautiful, green canyon surrounded by massive red sandstone rocks and sheer vertical walls rising one thousand feet above the canyon's floor. On the way to Bryce Canyon, you pass brilliantly colored lime and sand sandstone formations. Make frequent stops, savor the beauty of the scenery and take photos. Late afternoon, arrive at spectacular Bryce Canyon. Stand at Sunset Point, the canyon lies below you like a huge amphitheatre filled with colorful limestone pinnacles in beautiful shades, from dark glowing orange to yellow and white. Take a short walk on one of the trails that lead into the canyon. So spectacular, unusual, it's a fairytale! Here, experience nature's earth shaping power. Bryce Canyon overnight.
| | | DAY 6: BRYCE - PAGE/LAKE POWELL
This morning, head south for Page, Arizona. Approaching Lake Powell, you will be stunned by the scenery's contrasts; A magnificent vista opens up, a deep blue lake formed by Glenn Canyon Dam surrounded by beautiful canyon country. Millions of visitors are drawn to the lake every year. See the massive Glen Canyon Dam, built between 1956-66 that backs up the Colorado River's waters for more than 180 miles. At the Visitor Center, take a free, guided tour of Glen Canyon Dam and Power Plant.
Cross the second highest bridge in the USA before arriving in Page. Try an optional boat ride on Lake Powell, or a half-day Colorado River raft: select "Optional Guided Tours". Glide on mellow Colorado River waters, surrounded by sheer red walls of Navajo sandstone, as the pilot narrates the story of the Anasazi, the ancient Native Americans first inhabited this area. Post-glide motor coach transfer to Page.
| | | DAY 7: PAGE - MONUMENT VALLEY - GRAND CANYON
Today, start early and drive to impressive Monument Valley's Visitor Center and take a Native American Navajo guided jeep tour, and hear about native American Reservation life and local beliefs, - highly recommended. This red sandstone monolith encrusted valley has been the setting for countless Westerns and TV commercials; the most awesome scenery in the entire Southwest! Take lots of film!
En route to Grand Canyon, via Painted Desert and Cameron, drive through the largest Native American Reservation, home to the Navajo and Hopy people. Arrive at Desert View Lookout, Grand Canyon, well before sunset, the best time to experience one of the world's seven natural wonders. Breathtaking scenery! Take the South Rim for spectacular views. Grand Canyon hotel overnight.
| | | DAY 8: GRAND CANYON/WILLIAMS - HOOVER DAM - LAS VEGAS
En route to Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, set in a spectacular narrow gorge of the Colorado River. Built in 1931, it was, without precedent, the greatest dam of its day, and is still one the engineering wonders of the world. Although subsequent dams are taller and generate more power, Hoover continues to entrance millions of visitors; take an optional guided tour of the Dam and power plant: highly recommended.
Las Vegas arrival and check-in. There is so much to see and do in Las Vegas! You already know what it's like. Enjoy!
| | | DAY 9: TONOPAH - BENTON - MONO LAKE - MAMMOTH LAKES
En route north to Tonopah, experience the most remote and beautiful parts of Mohave Desert and skirt scorching Death Valley. Next, west to Benton, then Mono Lake. Must-see Mono Lake, set in the desert valley, surrounded by a chain of extinct volcanoes and the Sierra Mountains, is amazing: a geological wonder of its kind, with white tufa pinnacles rising above its blue and sapphire green waters.
Day's end, charm and majestic alpine beauty characterize the Mammoth Lakes.
Spend a relaxing evening at your hotel, or visit some of the quaint shops, and enjoy a delicious restaurant dinner.
| | | DAY 10: TIOGA PASS - YOSEMITE VALLEY
Today, Tioga Pass* via Mono Lake, cross the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains at 9,945 feet (3,031 meters). passing forests, lakes and trout-filled streams as you slowly descend from Tuolumne Meadows into the Valley. See the majestic Yosemite and Bridal Veil Falls, admire El Capitan's beauty, a mile-high mountain of granite rising above the valley floor, and the Halfdome, where climbers and hikers from all over the world test their skills. Watch out for black bears, this is their natural habitat. Curry Village, valley floor, overnight, or South Entrance motel.
| | | DAY 11: YOSEMITE VALLEY - SAN FRANCISCO
This morning, the impressive Mariposa Grove of giant redwoods, South Entrance, then forests of stunning pine and fir, passing charming Gold Rush villages and an infinity of green fields, as you travel through fertile San Joaquin Valley to San Francisco. Cross Oakland Bay Bridge for a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the impressive TransAmerica Pyramid Building. Hotel check-in, for two nights. Enjoy a relaxing San Francisco evening.
| | | DAY 12: SAN FRANCISCO
Explore America's most cosmopolitan city, or take an optional guided local Tour Operator city tour, see "Local Tours". Choice sights: the bustling Financial District with its modern skyscrapers / Chinatown / beautiful Yerba Buena Gardens / the Gallery of Modern Art and Convention Center / the Civic Center for majestic buildings including City Hall / Alamo Square surrounded by colorful Victorian Houses / Golden Gate Park and the famous Golden Gate Bridge. In the afternoon, Fisherman's Wharf; take a boat to the infamous Alcatraz, or a Bay Cruise past Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge. Cable car hotel return.
| | | DAY 13: Depart SAN FRANCISCO
Tour's end and farewell San Francisco. Drop-off your rental car before boarding your flight, or hotel pick up and airport transfer for your flight back home, depending on your arrangements.
SPECIAL NOTE:
** In Spring and Fall, Tioga Pass may be closed due to snow; in that case, Fresno overnight and Yosemite through the South Entrance. |
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| Bryce Canyon |
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| Las Vegas |
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| San Francisco |
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| Yosemite Valley |
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