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Escorted Holidays in the USA

Are you planning an unforgettable adventure across the diverse landscapes and rich cultural tapestry of the United States of America? Our meticulously crafted escorted holidays in the USA promise a seamless blend of discovery, relaxation, and immersive experiences, as we guide you through some of the most iconic and captivating regions of this vast nation.

Enjoy on a journey like no other, where every detail is thoughtfully arranged, and every moment is an opportunity for discovery. Our selection of escorted tours caters to a variety of interests, allowing you to choose the perfect getaway that resonates with your preferences.

From the soulful rhythms of the Deep South or the enchanting hues of autumn in New England to an epic cross-country adventure - each itinerary promises a unique perspective on the beauty and diversity of the American landscape.

Let us take care of the details as you traverse the historic cities, natural wonders, and cultural gems that make the USA a truly exceptional destination. Whether you're a history enthusiast, nature lover, or simply seeking the joy of exploration, our escorted holidays are curated to provide an immersive and hassle-free experience.

Explore our full range of escorted holidays in the USA and find the perfect itinerary for your next memorable getaway.

Find out more with a free brochure and enjoy weekly travel inspiration and offers in our e-newsletter.

Holiday ideas for the USA

New England in the Fall
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2024SepOct
2025Sep
10 days from
£2,895 pp £2,695 pp
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Tracks of the Deep South
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4.2 stars(95 reviews)
2024MayJunSepOct
2025FebAprMayJunSepOct
14 days from
£5,390 pp £5,190 pp
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USA Coast to Coast
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4.5 stars(63 reviews)
2024MayJunSepOct
2025AprMayJunSepOct
18 days from
£4,995 pp £4,795 pp
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Washington DC
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2024JunSep
2025MayJunSepOct
10 days from
£2,830 pp
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The Trans-American Rail Tour
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4.4 stars(27 reviews)
2024MaySep
2025AprMayJunSepOct
18 days from
£5,495 pp £5,295 pp
View Details
Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco
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2024JunSepOct
14 days from
£3,395 pp £3,195 pp
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Tracks of the Deep South
Save £200pp
4.2 stars(95 reviews)
2024MayJunSepOct
2025FebAprMayJunSepOct
14 days from
£5,390 pp £5,190 pp
View Details
Save £200pp
14 days from
£5,390
£5,190
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View Details
Tour map
  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationHotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail, Coach
Map and accommodation
New England in the Fall
Save £200pp
2024SepOct
2025Sep
10 days from
£2,895 pp £2,695 pp
View Details
Save £200pp
10 days from
£2,895
£2,695
per person
View Details
Tour map
  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationHotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail, Coach
Map and accommodation
USA Coast to Coast
Save £200pp
4.5 stars(63 reviews)
2024MayJunSepOct
2025AprMayJunSepOct
18 days from
£4,995 pp £4,795 pp
View Details
Save £200pp
18 days from
£4,995
£4,795
per person
View Details
Tour map
  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationRail, Hotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail, Coach
Map and accommodation
The Trans-American Rail Tour
Save £200pp
4.4 stars(27 reviews)
2024MaySep
2025AprMayJunSepOct
18 days from
£5,495 pp £5,295 pp
View Details
Save £200pp
18 days from
£5,495
£5,295
per person
View Details
Tour map
  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationRail, Hotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail, Coach
Map and accommodation
Washington DC
Save £200pp
4.5 stars(6 reviews)
2024JunSep
2025MayJunSepOct
10 days from
£2,830 pp
View Details
Save £200pp
10 days from
£2,830
per person
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  • DestinationUSA, Canada
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationHotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail, Coach
Map and accommodation
Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco
Save £200pp
2024JunSepOct
14 days from
£3,395 pp £3,195 pp
View Details
Save £200pp
14 days from
£3,395
£3,195
per person
View Details
Tour map
  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationHotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail
Map and accommodation
Save £200pp
12 days from
£4,990
£4,790
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  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationHotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail
Map and accommodation
Our customers love our USA tours
USA Coast to Coast
03 Nov 2023
Philip Kershaw
5 stars
“absolutly wonderful and epic experience once in a lifetime holiday
Collected by Trustpilot
Grand Tour of America
28 Sep 2023
Mr Richard Wheeler
5 stars
“A brilliant tour
Collected by Trustpilot
Highlights of America's East Coast
22 Sep 2023
J McCormick
5 stars
“We visited four great places and saw many iconic attractions, the only downside was that everywhere was very expensive, but that's not Great Railways fault.
Collected by Trustpilot
Tracks of the Deep South
2/Mar
Peter Roberts
4 stars
“Excellent tour guide - looked after party very well - tour very good - some things to consider - did we need to visit 2 recording studios.. group meal restaurant in Nashville could have been better - food not as good as expected and plastic knives, forks & spoons visit to plantation ok - but did we need to stop on way to next destination - perhaps could have been slotted in somewhere else some of the hotels could have been of a better standard - but as only sleeping there suppose ok
Collected by Trustpilot

Our Guide to USA

Where to go and what to see

Top 5 destinations

Las Vegas

 

  • Las Vegas
  • San Francisco
  • Washington D.C.
  • New York
  • New Orleans

Find out more

Top 5 sights

Grand Canyon

 

  • Grand Canyon
  • The Empire State Building
  • Golden Gate Bridge
  • The White House
  • Yellowstone National Park

Find out more

Unique Excursions to Experience

Durango & Silverton Railroad

 

  • New England's White Mountains
  • Grand Canyon Railway
  • Mardi Gras
  • California Zephyr
  • Durango & Silverton Railroad

Find out more

About the USA

The country itself might cover almost 3,800,000 square miles but It's only when you visit the USA that you can get a true sense of its huge scale. It's so large, in fact, that there are four separate time zones so when Californians are enjoying their evening meal many New Yorkers are getting ready to go to bed.

It's this sheer size that means there is no one element that you could say is quintessentially American. Rather, it is a huge melting pot of races, cultures, landscapes and customs. For a relatively young country it is also extraordinarily rich in history ranging from the day that the Mayflower brought some of the earliest British settlers to the brave new world to the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama as its first ever Black president.

Then there are the enormous cultural influences that America has had on the world. Jazz and the Blues, the movies, artists like Andy Warhol and writers like Mark Twain have all gone to form parts of the kaleidoscopic mental picture all of us have of the country.

Then there are the cities that have come to stand for so much as well as carving out identities all of their own. The fast-moving, hard-working wealth-creating New York, the mid-west splendour of Chicago, the New England refinement of Boston are just three examples.

Impressive undoubtedly, but maybe overshadowed by the stunning scenery and landscapes that surround them. For example, at least once in every lifetime everyone should experience New England in the Fall. And until you have enjoyed a tour like our Yellowstone and Rocky Mountains in Winter you won't have a proper appreciation of what breath-taking scenery really looks like.

The USA is also somewhere that is still home to some of the world's most incredible wildernesses and the perfect way to visit one of these is on our Fjords and National Parks of Alaska. This ten-day tour will show you exactly why Alaska so richly deserves its title as "The Last Frontier".

But the very last thing we want you to feel is alone. This is why you can be sure that your travelling companions on any of our tours will share many of your interests and will be equally keen to explore this amazing country.

At Great Rail Journeys, we also want to ensure that you enjoy a truly relaxing travel experience, that is also very good value for money. We achieve this by taking care of all the arrangements necessary while also giving you the time to go off and explore by yourself, with your travelling partner and even with new-found friends.

For times when we feel we can add insight and context to your trip, a number of expertly  escorted visits and sightseeing tours are included in the trip. You will also have the freedom to book your own excursions, whether it's a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon or a visit to that magnificent feat of civil engineering, Nevada's Hoover Dam.

Eating well is another element of a good holiday so we make sure that fine food is always on the menu. On some days this will include fine dining prepared by chefs on board the train. On others it will be enjoying restaurant meals in places like San Francisco's Zephyr Hotel whose Bistro Boudin looks out over Fisherman's Wharf to the legendary Alcatraz.

At other times you will be left at leisure to choose your own restaurant, café or bar and to sample some genuine US hospitality and service.

To make sure that everything is just perfect, every holiday is overseen by and experienced Tour Manager. They will be as helpful or as unobtrusive as you like - their role is to meet travellers' need precisely, not to stick to some rigid formula of service.  

You can also rest assured that we have taken great care to select the ideal accommodation for tours using three main criteria: location, value and facilities. While we do use certain big names such as Holiday Inn and Marriott, we also favour independent hotels which in many cases are also family-run. That's because we believe that they are more likely to share our ethos of providing a more caring and personal service.

Currency and money

The US Dollar is the official currency and, as arguably the world's biggest and most widely accepted, you should have no difficulty in getting cash before you travel.

The US Dollar it is divided into 100 cents and notes, or bills, come in $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 denominations. 

However, it's far more likely that you'll be using credit and debit cards in the US and both Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted, as is American Express. Getting cash from ATMs is also easy with your four digit pin-code, but do remember to let your bank know that you will be visiting the country to avoid cards being blocked as an anti-fraud measure.

Dollar traveller's cheques can be cashed at all major banks, exchange bureaus and airports. You may also be able to use them at some shops providing that you also present your passport.

When making purchases in stores a Sales Tax, the US version of VAT, is added to the price. The amount can vary from state to state. For example, in New York it is 4% and in Nevada it is 6.75%. While restaurant food is exempt from this, you will often find that a discretionary 12.5% service charge is added to your bill on the occasions when you have arranged your own meal.

Food and eating out

The traditional view that American cuisine mainly consists of hamburgers, pot roasts and hot dogs is as out-dated as the myth that in Britain we always dine on meat and two veg. The cultural melting pot that is America means that you're likely to find imported dishes rubbing shoulders with regional specialities.

New York

If a cuisine exists, you'll find it in New York. For example, Little Italy and Chinatown might already be well known. But less famous is the collection of Korean restaurants that cluster round 32nd Street in the shadow of the Empire State Building.

No visit to the Big Apple would be complete without a trip to a typical diner for eggs over-easy and a stack of pancakes with the strangely satisfying combination of bacon and maple syrup. Then there are the famous delis where pastrami on rye isn't just a snack, it's a little bit of the city's history in a sandwich.

The Southern States

If you're someone who likes barbecue then states like Texas and Georgia will be 7th heaven for you. Low and slow cooking is the watchword here, till the meat falls off the bone and comes accompanied by sides like broiled corn on the cob. Down New Orleans way the French influence is given a southern twist with dishes like gumbo and oyster bienville.

California

Californians may have a slightly unfounded reputation for faddy diets and fussy eating. In actual fact, it tends to be the perfect cuisine for the climate. When it's summer all year round all you want are dishes like Caesar Salad and fresh sushi. Up in San Francisco you can also look forward to some of the world's very best seafood. Perfect when washed down with some of the State's famous wines.

Americam specialities to look out for:

  • Biscuits and Gravy: A Southern staple, the biscuits are made with butter and the gravy comes with pork sausage pieces and plenty of black pepper.
  • Maryland Crab Cakes: Perfect fried and bite-sized cakes that purists believe can only be made using blue crabs from Chesapeake Bay.
  • Boston Baked Beans: Haricot beans slow-cooked in tomato, molasses and spices with pork belly to give them an extra rich and satisfying taste.
  • Key Lime Pie: The State pie of Florida, a Key Lime has the biscuity base of a cheesecake and a creamy topping given a bit of extra limey zing.

Whatever your food preference, servings are often generous, so even those with the healthiest of appetites will be satisfied.

Discover by Destination

From the bright lights and ringing slot machines of Las Vegas, to the steaming geysers and panoramic vistas of Yellowstone National Park, all on a scale that is bolder, bigger and better, the USA has something for everyone: 

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