The Independent Travel Reader Offers

15 nights from only £1699 per person

Selected departures from May to September 2012

FULLY ESCORTED

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.

The price includes:

scheduled direct flights from London Gatwick & Manchester to Las Vegas;
all transport as indicated;
14 nights accommodation in three & four-star hotels on room only;
nine breakfasts (some continental);
all tours and National Park entrance fees as mentioned;
guided city tour of Salt lake City & Denver;
porterage of one item of luggage per person;
the services of a Riviera Tour Manager.

Scheduled direct flights from London Gatwick & Manchester to Las Vegas; all transport as indicated; 14 nights accommodation in three & four-star hotels on room only; nine breakfasts (some continental); all tours and National Park entrance fees as mentioned; guided city tour of Salt lake City & Denver; porterage of one item of luggage per person; the services of a Riviera Tour Manager.

Please note: adverse weather conditions may result in some road closures in Yellowstone National Park in May or early October.

Visas and health: British passport holders do not require a visa under the USA Visa Waiver Programme.

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