Day 1: Los Angeles Meet your Tour director at the hotel. Dinner on your own. Overnight. Day 2: Los Angeles Morning sightseeing tour of exclusive Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. Continue to Hollywood for a walk down Hollywood Boulevard with the legendary Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where you will find the handprints of famous stars in the cement. Then downtown, you will see the business district and the Mexican quarter. Lunch on your own. Afternoon at leisure. Optional : transfer for the visit of Universal Studios in Hollywood, the largest movie studios in the world. First, board a tram on the studio tour to discover different movie sets like “War of the Worlds”, Jurassic Park” and the TV series “Desperate Housewives”. Then you will see a presentation on the great moments of Hollywood moviemaking or learn some secrets about special effects. Free time to explore the park on your own. Dinner (half board). Transfer back to your hotel and overnight. Day 3 : Los Angeles -­‐ Joshua -­‐ Laughlin (490 km/309 miles -­‐ 5h20) Departure towards Palm Springs. Then continue to beautiful Joshua Tree National Park. 3,000 feet below, the Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens of bushes and cacti. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park; and the higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua Tree, from which the park gets its name. At least 240 species of birds have been observed in the park and it’s a great place to observe wildlife. Lunch on your own. Drive to Laughlin. Dinner (half board) and overnight. Day 4 : Laughlin -­‐ Grand Canyon (320 km/200 miles -­‐ 3h) Morning drive to Grand Canyon, a superb geological phenomenon. This is most certainly one of the highlights of your trip. Lunch on your own and walk along the South Rim to see one of the most beautiful and awe-­‐inspiring wonders in the world. The Grand Canyon is the result of millions of years of wind and water erosion. it's an endless expanse of shapes, colors and impenetrable shadows. The Colorado River flows over a mile below the canyon rim. Optional: scenic helicopter tour of the canyon. Dinner (half board) and overnight in the park. Day 5 : Grand Canyon -­‐ Monument Valley -­‐ Moab (490 km/306 miles -­‐ 5h15) Leave for Monument Valley, where you will find yourself surrounded by dark red hills. Visit of this imposing area where numerous westerns have been filmed. This 25 mile-­‐long and 16-­‐mile wide desert plain overflows with gigantic sandstone monolithic structures rising high above the valley. Lunch on your own. Optional: jeep tour with Navajo Indians including Navajo specialties lunch. Afternoon stop at Dead Horse Point, a promontory dominating the Colorado River that can be reached by a trail. The view of Canyonlands and the Colorado is spectacular. Dinner (half board) and overnight in Moab. Day 6 : Moab -­‐ Arches -­‐ Bryce (400 km/250 miles -­‐ 4h30) Morning visit of Arches National Park in the state of Utah, with its arid and austere landscape, where you can find over 2,000 natural arches of various shapes and sizes resulting from the erosion of red and gold sandstone. Lunch on your own. Afternoon drive to Bryce. The scenery is beautiful, in particular throughout the Dixie National Forest. Dinner (half board) and overnight in Bryce. Day 7 : Bryce -­‐ St George -­‐ Las Vegas (400 km/250 miles -­‐ 4h30) Visit of Bryce Canyon, one of the most fascinating natural parks of Utah. The Mormons discovered this site in the 19th century. The dazzling shapes and shades of the memorable Pink Cliffs constantly vary from dawn to dusk. Continue to St George, a town founded by the Mormons. Photo stop at the Mormon visitor center and temple. Lunch on your own on the way. Make a stop at Valley of Fire, which was Nevada’s first state park. The Valley of Fire offers a superb desert landscape of multicolored, strangely eroded rocks that are the remains of sand dunes laid down 150 million years ago. Many westerns have been filmed there. Buffet dinner (half board) and overnight in Las Vegas. Day 8 : June-­‐October : Las Vegas -­‐ Death Valley -­‐ Mammoth Lakes (490 km/337 miles -­‐ 5h45) April-­‐May : Las Vegas -­‐ Death Valley -­‐ Bakersfiel (603 km/377 miles -­‐ 6h) This morning, cross the Nevada desert on the way to Pahrump and Shoshone. On entering the state of California, you descend to impressive Death Valley approximately 320 feet below sea level. This area is so desolate that the first cowboys who ventured here described it as “no stream to drink from, no tree to hang from”. You will discover Badwater Point, the lowest spot in the valley, Furnace Crecek, and the Stovepipe sand dunes. Lunch on your own followed by a visit of the Borax Museum with mining displays of the history of borax mining in Death Valley. Continue to Mammoth Lakes/Bakersfield for dinner (half board) and overnight. Day 9 : June-­‐October : Mammoth Lakes -­‐ Yosemite -­‐ Modesto (290 km/179 miles -­‐ 4h) April-­‐May : Bakersfield -­‐ Yosemite -­‐ Modesto (460 km/288 miles -­‐ 5h) Drive to majestic Yosemite National Park, one of the most beautiful parks in the state of California. Yosemite surprises by its fresh Alpine landscapes with pine forests and magnificent waterfalls. Sheer white monolithic cliffs tower over the valley. You will discover Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, Bridalveil Falls and Yosemite Falls, in the spring in particular, as well as a pioneer village in the southern part of the park. Lunch on your own in the park. Drive down from the mountains and across the fertile agricultural lands of Central Valley. Dinner (half board) and overnight in Modesto area. Day 10 : San Francisco Morning sightseeing tour of San Francisco, one of the most photographed, filmed, and documented cities in the world, a tantalizing mixture of history and modern sophistication. Built on several hills, the city is the gem of the magnificent bay at the foot of these hills. You will see the business district, Union Square, Chinatown, then cross world-­‐famous Golden Gate Bridge to the picturesque town of Sausalito across the bay. Lunch on your own. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner (half board) and overnight in San Francisco. Day 11 : San Francisco -­‐ departure Morning at leisure to do some last minute shopping, or sightseeing. Lunch on your own. Accommodation: Los Angeles Airport -­‐ Four Points Hotel Sheraton LAX Laughlin -­‐ The Aquarius Resort Grand Canyon -­‐ Yavapai West Lodge Moab -­‐ Aarchway Inn Bryce Canyon -­‐ Bryce View Lodge Las Vegas -­‐ Hotel Excalibur Mammoth Lakes -­‐ Sierra Nevada Lodge Bakersfield -­‐ Hotel Rosedale Patterson/Modesto-­‐ Best Western Plus Villa del Lago Inn San Francisco -­‐ Holiday Inn Express Fisherman's Wharf