8:00am Tour starts in the lobby of our Los Angeles Hostel. After making introductions with your tour guide and fellow travelers, we will start with various LA highlights. We will drive through Beverly Hills, stop a the famous Rodeo drive, and Hollywood Walk of Fame, Chinese Theater, Dolby Theater (home of the Academy awards), Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd and more. After lunch we drive up the California coast to our next stop, Pismo Beach. Here we get to walk onto the pier with incredible, expansive vistas of the Pacific Ocean. Getting your feet in the sand here is a must. Another 25 min drive this evening will get us to our camp for tonight.
*Camping night, dinner included
Today we get to drive up the famous Highway 1 all the way to Monterey CA. This is an amazing morning drive with incredible views around every corner. We will make photo stops, and even a short hike at Big Sur State Park. We like to have a picnic lunch today before having free time to explore Monterey and visit Cannery Row. We get to spend plenty of time here and there is no shortage of things to do. The most famous attraction is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Your guide will talk to the group and make the best plan for today based on all the optional activities. Tandem Kayaking is always a big hit! Even if you don’t want to spend any money on extra activities today, Monterey is a beautiful place with beaches, tide pools, and abundant sea life (sometimes we can see whales right from shore!). Your guide is there to help you make the most of today and will be able to explain in much greater detail all the different ways to enjoy this historic California town depending on your interests. This evening we make another short drive to our camping spot.
*Camping night, 1 breakfast, lunch and dinner included
We get to start today in the famous beachside town of Santa Cruz, where APA started! We will visit downtown as well as the famous West Cliff drive and Pleasure Point to see one of the most iconic surfing breaks in the world, Steamer Lane where Jack O’Niell developed the modern wetsuit. Leaving Santa Cruz behind, we continue up Hwy 1 all the way to San Francisco. We will make stops along the way at nice viewpoints, the historic Pigeon Point Light House and Whalers Cove Beach. Today we will have another picnic when the group is ready. Depending on the group, we may decide to spend more time on the beach, or we may get into San Francisco in time for some sightseeing or optional evening activities like the Sunset sailing optional.
*Hostel night, 1 breakfast and lunch included
We start today with a sightseeing tour of the most famous highlights of San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf. After seeing many of the cities highlights, the rest of the day is free time for you and your new travel buddies to enjoy this iconic city. San Francisco’s layout is small compared to other famous American cities, so most of what you will want to see is walking distance from the Hostel. A few things that are popular among our travelers include the Cable Car Museum, riding bikes across Golden Gate bridge, visiting the top of Coit tower on Telegraph hill, walking Lombard street, walking through China Town, visiting California St and Union Square and of course spending extra time at the famous Fisherman’s Wharf area. One activity that is possible, but will take some advanced planning is the Alcatraz Island tour. It is extremely popular and usually tickets will need to be purchased 2-3 weeks in advance.
*Hostel night, no meals included
This morning we will say goodbye to San Francisco and make our way across the central valley towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite National Park. After setting up camp, we will make our way into Yosemite National Park for the remainder of the afternoon. This will allow extra time for us to see and do more at this marvelous National Park. There are so many different ways we can spend time here, your guide will make the most of the day for your group. By the time we arrive back to camp, we are usually greeted by a Western Sun South-bound tour group that we will be traveling alongside for the next few days, making for fun APA road tripping!
*camping night, lunch and dinner included
We get an early start today and spend the majority of our time in Yosemite Valley. Depending on what we saw the day before will help us decide how to make the most of today. There are many amazing hiking trails, swimming spots along the Merced River, short easy hikes and long strenuous ones. There are even bikes for rent with over 12 miles of paved trails to ride. Your guide will help get you started on which ever activity suits you best. You will be treated to views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls (tallest water fall in North America!), and El Cap, a 3,000 ft tall wall of granite. This day is yours to do as much as you can take on. In the later afternoon, you will meet you guide and drive up and over Tioga pass at over 9,900 ft elevation. Once on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains we will travel south to our next camp site.
*Camping night, 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 1 dinner included
We get up early again today and make our way towards Death Valley National Park and the Mojave Desert. We spend the day surviving this extreme park where temperatures this time of year average 110 degrees! We will see various parts of this National Park, including sand dunes, salt flats and Bad Water…the lowest place in the western hemisphere. Death Valley holds the record for hottest place on earth! Making our way across the desert, we arrive at our hotel in Las Vegas with enough time to freshen up before heading out for a night on the town. Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the world, but there’s plenty to do along the Strip besides losing your money at the blackjack table – there’s all the famous shows, plus tons of free shows, shops, amusement rides, and an incredible number of Night Clubs. When you arrive in Las Vegas, your guide will drive the length of the entire strip telling you all about the history, and pointing out where all the must go spots are, all the helpful inside information!
*2 hotel nights, 1 breakfast, lunch included
Leaving Las Vegas behind, we hit the road and start our journey to canyon country. Today we will stop in the famous small town of Seligman, AZ, better known as “the birth place of route 66”. Later, we will arrive at Grand Canyon National Park, known as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. You will have the whole afternoon to explore the Canyon, visit the information plaza, or take a hike down into the Canyon itself. Tonight we will meet for Sunset at a special point along the southrim of the canyon.
*Camping night, lunch and dinner included
Our adventure continues with a drive to Lake Havasu. You know that famous APA truckers hat photo…the one at the top left of our home page…that is one of our travelers playing on a SUP board on Lake Havasu. Fed by the Colorado River, the 72 km-long Lake Havasu is very warm and a leading water sports center. This afternoon we will spend swimming and playing in the warm waters of the lake. Your guide will also be happy to teach you how to SUP (Stand Up Paddle) yes, we carry those boards with us all week just for today! Tonight makes a great night to sleep under the stars, setting up a tent is optional!
* camping night, 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and dinner
Today we have a long drive for the first part of the day to get to San Diego, 5 1/2 hours! We will make stops along the way as we make our way back to the coast through the Southern California Desert. After getting camp set-up, we will visit Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, the first European settlement on the West Coast of the present-day United States. Depending on time, we may explore some of San Diego including the Water Front and Down Town this afternoon. Tonight your guide will give you all the details on the many optional activities for your day tomorrow…because there is a lot! Two popular ones are Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. Many of our travelers also like to spend the afternoon at one of the famous beaches, like Mission Beach. San Diego also has a drive-in movie theater that we sometimes go to…APA tour van at the Drive-In theater = Awesome Time!
* 2 Camping Nights, 2 breakfast lunch & Dinner included
Today we travel up the California coast, back to where we started, Los Angeles. We will stop at the famous Venice Beach (Muscle Beach) for lunch and free time. After Getting checked into our hostel, we will have free time located in the heart of Santa Monica walking distance from the Santa Monica Pier, amazing beaches, and tons of shops. You guide will help organize a group dinner tonight depending on the group. Sometimes we stay in Santa Monica, other time we may decide on Hollywood.. one of the best things about our adventures is the flexibility to make each trip work best for the group.
*Hostel night, breakfast included
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 working on you tan or exploring more of Santa Monica. If you are staying in LA for a few more days, we recommend using the same hostel we stay at on tour as Santa Monica is the best most central location to everything.
* no meals today
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