Las Vegas & the Golden West Tour 2012 

We depart London on our flight to San Francisco. On arrival we transfer to our hotel for three nights, the Radisson Fishermans Wharf.

We begin with a sightseeing tour of San Francisco, including the inspiring Golden Gate Bridge and the popular Fisherman's Wharf area, with its street performers and selection of restaurants. In the afternoon we take a guided tour of the infamous island of Alcatraz, once a federal penitentiary housing notorious criminals such as Al Capone. Your second day in San Francisco is free, so why not explore the vibrant streets of Chinatown and the intriguing Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory, or ride the trams (cable cars) up and down the hilly streets and visit the famous winding Lombard Street, which has the distinction of being 'the most crooked street in the world"! A trip to Haight-Ashbury takes you into one of the city's most fashionable areas. Known as "the Haight", this inter-section is famous for its association with the hippie-culture era of the 1960s.

This morning we depart from Oakland by train on the San Joaquin route through California's Central Valley, bordered on the west by the coastal mountain ranges and on the east by Yosemite National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty with towering granite cliffs, giant redwood trees, thundering waterfalls, dramatic mountains and deep alpine lakes. At Merced we transfer by coach into Yosemite to enjoy a tour of the Valley Floor, taking in spectacular views of Half Dome, the 3,000 foot vertical monolith of El Capitan and the thundering Bridal Veil Falls. We return to Merced for a night at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel.

Our journey on the San Joaquin train continues southwards today. Arriving in Bakersfield, we depart eastwards by coach through California and across the Mojave Desert into Nevada, with the terrain getting more mountainous towards the Nevada border. In Las Vegas we spend three nights at Harrah's Hotel, located on the famous Strip.

Our hotel is right in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, with a spa, health club, swimming pool and retail outlets, plus a large casino. With two free days in Las Vegas, you can explore the amazing sights and spectacles of the resorts, which offer something for everyone, with top class shows and an extraordinary selection of entertainment choices on your doorstep, including the world-famous casinos. The Las Vegas monorail is a great way to explore the exotic delights of the Strip, from the African-themed Sahara Hotel to the MGM Grand, via resorts with Oriental, Roman and Parisian themes, as well as Las Vegas' version of Venice - a veritable world tour without need for your passport! Alternatively, your Tour Manager can offer an optional flight over the Grand Canyon, one of the great natural wonders.

Today we head out of Las Vegas and across Nevada to Arizona, via the Hoover Dam, an engineering masterpiece completed in 1936 to end the constant flooding caused by the mighty Colorado River. Entering Arizona we arrive on the legendary Route 66  and the railroad town of Williams, nestled amidst ponderosa pine forest, where we spend the night at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel next door to the Williams Depot, the southern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway.

Today is one of the highlights of the tour as we travel by rail to the incredible Grand Canyon. On our journey we travel in vintage carriages hauled by historic locomotives on the Grand Canyon Railway to see one of the world's most awe-inspiring sights, the Grand Canyon. We arrive at the South Rim and main viewpoint of the Canyon where we take in the dramatic vistas. After returning to Williams, we join Amtrak's overnight Southwest Chief service to Los Angeles. The Southwest Chief is unique among Superliner trains as it is permitted to reach speeds of up to 90mph on sections of the route.

Arriving in LA we spend the morning in Hollywood, with free time to see the footprints of the stars at Mann's Chinese Theatre or to take a stroll along the legendary Hollywood Boulevard. We then travel to Long Beach for one night on board the RMS Queen Mary, which has a fascinating history as a luxury ocean liner and its role in World War II as a U-boat dodging, high-speed troop carrier.

Bidding farewell to Los Angeles this morning, we travel on board the iconic Coast Starlight for a daytime journey along the stunning Pacific coast shoreline. Relax in the sightseer lounge and enjoy spectacular views through floor-to-ceiling windows of vast stretches of pristine beaches as the train hugs the rugged coast north of Santa Barbara heading to the wine producing region of San Luis Obispo. Entering the Salinas Valley we pass the Santa Lucia and Diablo mountain ranges en route to Salinas, from where we make a short coach transfer to Monterey for two nights at the Best Western Beach Resort, Monterey's only beach-side hotel.

We explore the wonderful Californian coastline today, including the attractive waterfront of Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck, and the exclusive residences of 17 Mile Drive. We also visit Carmel, where Clint Eastwood was once mayor, a charming town that has attracted artists for decades, and explore the Big Sur, where the Pacific coastline rises dramatically into the Santa Lucia Mountains. On Day 13 we complete the circuit by venturing north to San Francisco for a final night at the Radisson Fishermans Wharf Hotel.

After a free morning to relax in San Francisco, we transfer to the airport for our overnight flight, arriving back in London on Day 15.