8:00am Tour starts in the lobby of our San Francisco Hostel. After making introductions with your tour guide and fellow travelers, you will start your adventure by visiting all the most famous highlights of San Francisco, including: Alamo square, SF City Hall, Union square, China town, Knob Hill, Lumbar st, the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Warf and more. After lunch, we head out of the city and across the central valley towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite National Park. Your guide will take the time tonight to cover everything you need to know about Yosemite so you will go to bed with a good idea of how you want to spend your time tomorrow.
We get an early start today and spend the majority of our time in Yosemite Valley. There are many amazing hiking trails, short easy hikes and long strenuous ones. Depending on road conditions and weather conditions in the Park, we might also get the chance to see the Giant Sequoia trees…the largest living organism on earth! Your guide will make a plan that work best for the group you are traveling with and for time of year and weather conditions. You will be treated to views of Half Dome and El Cap, a 3,000 ft tall wall of granite! In the late afternoon, you will drive to Bakersfield where we stay the night in a hotel.
Today we continue our journey East and make our way towards the biggest National Park in the lower 48 states, Death Valley. In the summer, Death Valley is the hottest place on earth…so in the winter it is usually a very nice comfortable temperature. In the afternoon we arrive in Las Vegas with plenty of time for a driving tour of the city so that you can get acquainted with the layout. Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the world, but there’s plenty to do along the Strip for gamblers and non-gamblers alike – there’s the casinos and shows, plus tons of shops, outlet malls, amusement rides, dance clubs and great value ‘all you can eat’ buffets. Tonight your guide will organize an optional Vegas Limo Party which is not to be missed! Your second day in Las Vegas is your free day to do what you want. Your guide will help organize any extra activities like skydiving and also an optional group dinner so everyone can enjoy a meal together that fits with your group’s budget.
Leaving Las Vegas behind, we hit the road and start our journey to canyon country. We will arrive at Grand Canyon National Park, known as one of the seven natural wonders of the world in time for a picnic lunch. You will have the whole afternoon to explore the Canyon, visit the information plaza, and take a hike down into the Canyon itself. Tonight we will meet for sunset at a special point along the southrim of the canyon.
Our adventure continues with a drive back into Nevada to the casino town of Laughlin. We will be traveling along one of the most famous stretches of Route 66 today and visit the famous small town of Seligman, AZ, better known as “the birth place of route 66”. Once we arrive at out hotel, you will have the evening free to explore the night life of this Nevada border town, go shopping, or take a walk down to the mighty Colorado River.
Today we make a morning drive to Los Angeles in time for lunch. This afternoon your guide will take you on a city tour that will include Hollywood, the walk of stars, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Dolby Theater, Sunset Blvd, Rodeo drive and more. We will also see the “Pretty Woman” hotel before arriving in famous Santa Monica for dinner. This evening you are staying right in the heart of Santa Monica, allowing you many options from shopping, to bar hopping, walking on the beach, or checking out Santa Monica Pier.
Today we have no activities planned. If you are flying out in the afternoon, the hostel can hold your luggage until you are ready for your airport transfer. Because the hostel is so close to the beach, we recommend getting a later flight and spending all day relaxing on the beach. Our friends at the hostel can hold your bags for free until you are ready to leave town 🙂 Many of our travelers choose to take a surfing lesson today. Your guide will tell about what it’s like and help you make a reservation if you are interested.
Before you book, please know:
You must have an email address in order to book a tour.
Your plane flight is not included.
Once you pick a trip, fill out the form and we will respond within 1 day or sooner If your trip is a Guaranteed Departure you will get a big information packet with all the tour and payment information via email.
If you are one of the first 5 people to sign up, we will save you a seat, and you don’t need to pay anything now. Once we have 6 people, we guarantee the trip and we’ll send your information packet. If you change your mind after receiving the packet, no problem...please let us know :-)