Scenic Wonders of the USA

 

Fully escorted tour includes:

• An wonderful tour visiting no less than nine National Parks, Monuments and State Parks spread across Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado, including two days in Yellowstone and a stay in Las Vegas
• Return direct scheduled flights from London Gatwick and Manchester, with regional departures available
• Staying in hand-picked three and four-star hotels, with nine breakfasts included
• Experience the unique landscapes and geology of Yellowstone, the world’s first National Park, with its geysers, hot springs, waterfalls and herds of bison, elk and grizzly bears
• Visit that iconic symbol of the USA – Mount Rushmore, with its colossal heads of four the USA’s greatest Presidents set in the Black Hills of South Dakota
• Drive through cowboy country in Wyoming and learn about its famous historical figures such as Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill
• See some of the remarkable, but lesser-known sights such as the Devil’s Tower, Dead Horse Point and Capitol Reef National Park
• Follow the Colorado River from its source high in the Rockies to the arid deserts of Southern Utah as it starts to carve its immense canyons
• Gaze in awe at the incredible variety of sandstone arches, spires, balanced rocks and monoliths sculpted by nature in Arches National Park
• Enjoy a fascinating optional trip by jetboat on the Colorado to explore Canyonlands National Park
• Marvel at the ‘hoodoos’ – the thousands of intricately eroded and multi-hued delicate spires and pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park
• Marvel at the ‘hoodoos’ – the thousands of intricately eroded and multi-hued delicate spires and pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park
• Escorted by our experienced tour manager

This tour visits some of the world’s finest National Parks with some its most truly spectacular and amazingly iconic scenery. Couple this with the fascinating culture of the Native Americans, the European discovery and settlement of the western USA, its resultant characters and stories and the combination is an assault on the senses.

A highlight is Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, with its stunning high altitude lakes, canyons, rivers, mountain ranges, huge waterfalls, hot springs, geysers, and free-ranging herds of bison – the oldest and largest in the USA. The extraordinary Devil’s Tower has been sacred to generations of Native American tribes including the Sioux and Cheyenne. Arches National Park is unique, where an amazing array of arches has been carved over millions of years by the erosion of huge sandstone deposits left by an ancient sea. Or the contorted, captivating colours of the rock formations and the strange, exotic pinnacles in Bryce Canyon National Park. In a complete contrast, it took fourteen years to sculpt the huge sixty foot high carvings of the heads of US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln into the granite face of Mount Rushmore to represent the first 150 years of American history. Then there are the ‘Rockies’ with some of the most spectacular alpine scenery you will ever see, with their lofty pink peaks, dense forests, mirror-like lakes and torrential rivers. We see all this and much more.

Any frontier throws up characters, some good, some notorious. Showman Buffalo Bill made his name hunting the iconic beast and bears its name, but he subsequently became one of the first international entertainers and then remarkably one of the first peace campaigners and conservationists. Wild Bill Hickok – stagecoach driver, gunfighter, scout, lawman, actor and professional gambler – met his death in an argument over a poker game in a Deadwood saloon. Brigham Young, leader of the Mormons, is said to have had 55 wives. Their jaw-dropping stories are typical of many that you’ll hear and learn about as we follow in their tracks across the ‘Wild’ West.

Finally, where else could you find the Eiffel Tower, St Mark’s Campanile, erupting volcanoes and the Sphinx - all together in one place? It could only be Las Vegas! Lavish, indulgent, sometimes shocking, but always exciting and captivating. The display of neon is without equal and is almost an art-form in its own right. Whether you’re trying your luck in one of the countless casinos, enjoying some fine dining, watching a dazzling light show that spans an entire street, or opting for a helicopter ride to the magnificent Grand Canyon, you’re simply spoilt for choice. It’s a fitting end to our amazing North American journey that’s so full of striking contrasts.

Fully escorted tour includes:

• An wonderful tour visiting no less than nine National Parks, Monuments and State Parks spread across Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado, including two days in Yellowstone and a stay in Las Vegas
• Return direct scheduled flights from London Gatwick and Manchester, with regional departures available
• Staying in hand-picked three and four-star hotels, with nine breakfasts included
• Experience the unique landscapes and geology of Yellowstone, the world’s first National Park, with its geysers, hot springs, waterfalls and herds of bison, elk and grizzly bears
• Visit that iconic symbol of the USA – Mount Rushmore, with its colossal heads of four the USA’s greatest Presidents set in the Black Hills of South Dakota
• Drive through cowboy country in Wyoming and learn about its famous historical figures such as Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill
• See some of the remarkable, but lesser-known sights such as the Devil’s Tower, Dead Horse Point and Capitol Reef National Park
• Follow the Colorado River from its source high in the Rockies to the arid deserts of Southern Utah as it starts to carve its immense canyons
• Gaze in awe at the incredible variety of sandstone arches, spires, balanced rocks and monoliths sculpted by nature in Arches National Park
• Enjoy a fascinating optional trip by jetboat on the Colorado to explore Canyonlands National Park
• Marvel at the ‘hoodoos’ – the thousands of intricately eroded and multi-hued delicate spires and pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park
• Marvel at the ‘hoodoos’ – the thousands of intricately eroded and multi-hued delicate spires and pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park
• Escorted by our experienced tour manager

This tour visits some of the world’s finest National Parks with some its most truly spectacular and amazingly iconic scenery. Couple this with the fascinating culture of the Native Americans, the European discovery and settlement of the western USA, its resultant characters and stories and the combination is an assault on the senses.

A highlight is Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, with its stunning high altitude lakes, canyons, rivers, mountain ranges, huge waterfalls, hot springs, geysers, and free-ranging herds of bison – the oldest and largest in the USA. The extraordinary Devil’s Tower has been sacred to generations of Native American tribes including the Sioux and Cheyenne. Arches National Park is unique, where an amazing array of arches has been carved over millions of years by the erosion of huge sandstone deposits left by an ancient sea. Or the contorted, captivating colours of the rock formations and the strange, exotic pinnacles in Bryce Canyon National Park. In a complete contrast, it took fourteen years to sculpt the huge sixty foot high carvings of the heads of US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln into the granite face of Mount Rushmore to represent the first 150 years of American history. Then there are the ‘Rockies’ with some of the most spectacular alpine scenery you will ever see, with their lofty pink peaks, dense forests, mirror-like lakes and torrential rivers. We see all this and much more.

Any frontier throws up characters, some good, some notorious. Showman Buffalo Bill made his name hunting the iconic beast and bears its name, but he subsequently became one of the first international entertainers and then remarkably one of the first peace campaigners and conservationists. Wild Bill Hickok – stagecoach driver, gunfighter, scout, lawman, actor and professional gambler – met his death in an argument over a poker game in a Deadwood saloon. Brigham Young, leader of the Mormons, is said to have had 55 wives. Their jaw-dropping stories are typical of many that you’ll hear and learn about as we follow in their tracks across the ‘Wild’ West.

Finally, where else could you find the Eiffel Tower, St Mark’s Campanile, erupting volcanoes and the Sphinx - all together in one place? It could only be Las Vegas! Lavish, indulgent, sometimes shocking, but always exciting and captivating. The display of neon is without equal and is almost an art-form in its own right. Whether you’re trying your luck in one of the countless casinos, enjoying some fine dining, watching a dazzling light show that spans an entire street, or opting for a helicopter ride to the magnificent Grand Canyon, you’re simply spoilt for choice. It’s a fitting end to our amazing North American journey that’s so full of striking contrasts.

Supplier info: Riviera Travel

Since their inception 25 years ago, Riviera Travel have endeavoured to exceed the expectations of the discerning traveller, on their fascinating and innovative European and Worldwide escorted tours.

They have passion for quality and looking after all their guests in the most personal manner possible and really ‘go the extra mile'. Over the years they have received many commendations from many household names in the publishing industry. They have recently been voted by the members of one of the country's most respected consumer organisations in their biannual survey of travel companies, as one of the UK's top two Tour Operators and the most outstanding of all in terms of value for money - by some considerable margin.

Riviera Travel offers European and Worldwide Escorted Tours by Eurostar and by Air.

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Call: 0844 571 1980

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