USA West Coast Tour by Hamilton - August 31st to September 14th

Today’s optional  excursion to San Francisco; a beautiful, exciting, diverse and cosmopolitan city! Consistently ranked as America’s favorite city, San Francisco never ceases to entertain.  We will give us a taste of what this wonderful city has to offer.  We will see the Golden Gate Bridge, Nob Hill, China Town, the financial district, North Beach, Union Square, China Town, Alamo Square and Twin Peaks.  For lunch, we will also make a stop in Sausalito(exra).   Located at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, with its scenic waterfront, panoramic views, small town charm and Mediterranean character, Sausalito make it a truly enchanting place to live.

During today’s full day guided optional tour we will drive along California’s spectacular coastline and will enjoy amazing coastal views while driving along Highway 1.  We will pass by Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz to Monterey Bay.  In Monterey we will have time to explore the shops and the historic Cannery Row. From Monterey we will drive through Pacific Grove, known for its Monarch butterflies and turn-of-the century Victorian homes and follow the scenic 17-Mile Drive, seeing the legendary Pebble Beach.  Pebble Beach is a small coastal resort destination, home to the famous golf course. Our last stop will be in Carmel, a town known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history.

We will proceed to San Francisco’s airport for our flight to Las Vegas departing at 10.50am.  We should land in Vegas at around 12.06 am.  During our stay in Las Vegas, better known as Sin City and the ‘city that never sleeps’ we will be accommodated at Excalibur Hotel(3Sup), situated on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

There is so much to do and see in Las Vegas and as often as you have seen it on TV or in a movie, nothing can prepare you for your first sight of Las Vegas. The skyline is hyper-reality, a melange of the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and also a pyramid.    The strip is at its most dramatic after dark, when several billion bulbs illuminate it.
Las Vegas is designed to keep everyone entertained, satisfied, satiated and distracted from the real world outside its glittering borders. The chances of getting bored in Las Vegas are slim at best.  With the Tour Leader, we will visit each hotel and every must see attraction that the major hotels offer like the delightful dancing waters of the Fountains at Bellagio and the lava-spewing drama of the Mirage Volcano or the white lions and tigers always at the Mirage Hotel.  Las Vegas has become one of the premier shopping destinations in the world. Shopping here is more than just a way to rack up more credit card debt, it is an experience.  Check out the Roman-themed street scene at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace and the indoor version of Venice at The Grand Canal Shops, complete with its own canals and gondoliers.  Las Vegas comes alive at night with enough dazzling shows to give Broadway a run for its money. On one of the evenings, with the Tour Leader, we will visit Freemont Street with its two million light bulbs.

On the 6th of September, as an optional, we will be proposing the Las Vegas Night Flight.  This is an amazing helicopter tour flying over the mega resorts on the Las Vegas Strip from the New York-New York skyline to the Bellagio fountains and the never-fading light of the Luxor pyramid.

For all those wanting to experience the Grand Canyon, we will be offering an optional excursion on September 8. The coach will pick us up from our hotel and will take us to the airport from where we will board a small plane. We will fly over Boulder City, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and Colorado River. We will make a stop in the Canyon from where we will board a coach which will take us to see this National Park in more details.  We will head back to Las Vegas by plane and the excursion will have a total duration of around 7 hours.

Today we will be leaving Las Vegas and head towards Los Angeles. During this trip we will be crossing over from the state of Nevada to that of California.  While in Los Angeles we shall be staying at the Spring Hill Suites Anaheim.  This hotel is located in the city of Anaheim, not far away from Disneyland.

Buffet breakfast. During today’s full day optional excursion we will visit all the main landmarks – Grand Tour of Los Angeles.  We will drive through Sunset Boulevard. We will see Olvera Street –  the oldest part of Downtown Los Angeles, Staples Centre – home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association, Mullholland Drive and China Town.  On Hollywood’s Boulevard Walk of Fame the stars are literally immortalized. The renowned stars on this boulevard salute the celebrities who made Hollywood great from the silent film stars of yesteryear to the modern action heroes of today’s blockbusters. At the TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly known as Mann’s Chinese Theatre) there are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the theatre’s forecourt. We will see (from the outside) the Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre)  where the Academy Award ceremony is held annually. We will have the opportunity to drive through Beverly Hills, home of the many stars. Driving through Rodeo Drive, the renowned shopping district known for designer labels, we will see some of the famous boutiques and shops featured in the movie ‘Pretty Woman’.  During this excursion we will also make a stop in Santa Monica, the beachfront city in Western Los Angeles county.

Buffet breakfast. Today’s full day optional excursion will take us to see San Diego, the second largest city in the state of California and one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.  San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world. The city is home to the majority of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s surface combatants, all of the Navy’s West Coast amphibious ships and a variety of Coast Guard and Military Sea lift Command vessels”.  Our guide will show us the most important landmarks of this vibrant city such as the Gas Lamp Quarter, El Prado Park and Seaport Village.  We will also have some free time.  Time permitting, one can take a tour on the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier (extra).

Today we will proceed to Los Angeles Airport for our return flight to Frankfurt departing 3.20 pm.