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 with a sightseeing tour of the most famous highlights of San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf. 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, 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.
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!
Leaving Las Vegas behind, we hit the road and start our journey to canyon country. The Grand Canyon National Park is known as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. This National Park is absolutely magical and not to be missed! 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 south rim of the canyon.
Our adventure continues today with a visit to the famous small town of Seligman, AZ, better known as “the birth place of route 66”. This historic town was the inspiration for “Radiator Springs” in the very famous Disney movie “Cars”. Next we will continue our 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,
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 walk of stars, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Dolby Theater, Sunset Blvd, Beverley Hills and more. We will also visit Rodeo Drive, see the “Pretty Woman” hotel before arriving in famous Santa Monica for dinner. Our Hostel is located in the heart of Santa Monica, a short walk from the famous Santa Monica Pier, tons of shopping, and outdoor Mall, and one of the best beaches in LA.
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.
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 :-)