It’s HUGE. The land of Uncle Sam, the US of A, has more varied landscapes than you can shake a stick at. The cities are vast, varied and endlessly exciting, the countryside is stunning, and every State has its fair share of world-class attractions. The green vineyards of Virginia, the curiously familiar villages of New England, the wonderful weirdness of Portland, the staggering natural beauty and a wealth of cultural complexity is just the tip of the iceberg.
When you want to take an escorted tour of the USA, there’s a magical choice. Whether it’s an Elvis-inspired tour of Graceland or a mind-blowing hike along the rim of the Grand Canyon, a wealth of New York museums or a leisurely sail down the Mississippi, there’s probably a tour to match. Let’s take a look at what’s possible. The snows of Alaska and the Arizona desert await you – as does everything in between.
Inspiring guided holidays in America
Guided tours of America cover every State and landscape, perfect for wildlife lovers and people who just can’t resist the thrills of the fairground, Disney to the Niagara Falls, Chicago to Kentucky to Arkansas. Laid back California. LGBGTQ-friendly San Francisco. This really is a beautiful land.
Road trips across the States let you into the nation’s secrets, off the beaten tourist track and into the wilds of the real America. It’s by turn obscenely rich and shockingly poor, the ultimate in sophistication and the same time the most primitive. This is your holiday melting pot, a haven for some of the world’s best-loved escorted tours.
A love letter to guided US travel
3000 miles across and 50 states makes this an enormous place to get to grips with. You might want to experience the best restaurants in a series of electrifying cities or bar-hop your way around an everyday sort of town centre chatting to the locals. Feel the buzz of New York’s Times Square. Watch wildlife doing its natural thing in national parks. Ride with real cowboys. Soak up the vibes in Malibu. Marvel at the glitz and glamour of LA. Fulfil a fantasy in Las Vegas, one of the states’ craziest cities like something out of a sci-fi movie. Or spend time celeb-spotting in posh Palm Springs.
Visit New Jersey and New Orleans, and Miami. Stroll Chicago’s windy streets and wonder at the skyscrapers so tall they turn the roads into canyons. Climb in the Rockies, light up Instagram with photos of the spectacular Cascades, the desert landscapes of the south west, the plains and the endless forests. Take a snap next to a giant redwood or a ten foot Mickey Mouse.
Go see Crater Lake, Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks, the Black Hills, and the Great Lakes. Take your life in your hands thanks to the mind-blowing surf at world-class Oahu. Stick to the tourist hot spots or go off-piste into the Ozarks’ hidden Hollers. Traverse empty prairies, poke around in eerie ghost towns, and understand for the first time the sheer size and scope of this place.
The USA has given birth to Mohammed Ali and Louis Armstrong, Hillary Clinton and Michael Jackson, Madonna and Abraham Lincoln. Elvis Presley, Mark Twain, John Wayne and Walt Disney have all contributed to a mixed-up culture that’s always rich in the unexpected, all created to the theme tune of some of the world’s finest jazz, hip-hop, pop, rock, disco, country and western, and soul music.
Mixing it up US-style
Americans are even more varied than the UK, and that’s saying something. People have flooded here from every corner of the planet, bringing ideas and traditions from Ireland and Italy, Africa and China, Latin countries and more or less everywhere else. Texan cowboys rub shoulders with tough but warm-hearted folk from the Bronx. Seattle’s hipsters and Alabama’s extreme evangelist Christians contribute to the blend.
You might find some aspects of this curious nation hard to understand. Why the guns? Why the embedded racism? Why Trump? But you’ll find the natives warm and friendly, curious about our home country and keen to help visitors feel at home in a place that often feels more foreign and exotic than anywhere in Europe.
The USA can be cruel and generous, crazy and sane, wise and wild. This is where extreme capitalism meets cultural and religious conservatism. The result can be maddening and saddening, but it’s also diverse, beguiling, and unlike anywhere else. There really is no such thing as a typical American person.
Ideas for guided travel tours in the USA
The world is your oyster, basically. If you want your guided tour to take in more than one landscape, more than one State or destination, there’s probably something perfect out there waiting for you. Some people like to absorb great bog swathes of the country others like to stay in a small area and explore it intimately. Whatever floats your boat its ok in the USA.
As a city lover who adores the Big Apple-ness of it all, the obvious place to start is New York City, the world’s beating financial heart and one of its most exciting cities. The skyscrapers, the landmarks, the international shopping and the close proximity of poverty and riches keep things endlessly entertaining. This city is as disturbing as it is brilliant, as weird as it is magical, and you could easily spend weeks in New York City and NY State alone, New Jersey or Pennsylvania, Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.
The east coast’s landscapes are just as much of a draw, from the unexpected charm of the tiny Amish villages to the wild and Adirondack Mountain, the Catskills, and onwards into New England where there’s Boston, centuries-old villages, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and the mountains of Maine to explore.
Maybe the sheer grandeur of the Great Lakes appeals to you more than the east coast glamour. Think Minneapolis, Michigan and Minnesota, Madison and Wisconsin, each revealing its own version of the America we think we know but in fact don’t… until now. Head to Ohio and Washington DC, with its world-class capital city attractions. Visit bustling Baltimore then head south into historic Virginia, then even farther south into places so different from anywhere else it’s like being on another continent.
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi are on the menu, each offering weeks’ worth of adventures and discoveries. Miami offers the best in laid back Latino culture, with exceptional beaches and the Keys at your disposal. Cajun culture lives here, a melting pot of heavy-drinking, late night dancing culture. Then there’s Texas with its big oil, big guns, big hats and bizarre right wing versions of Christianity.
Not many people make it as far as the Great Plains. They’re much more than huge and flat though, and they’re well worth the effort. Here’s where you find Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, the magnificent Gateway Arch in St Louis, and legendary Dodge City in Kansas, an actual real place. Who knew you could actually get out of Dodge!
The dizzying peaks of the Rockies, the thrill-a-second city of Denver, the awesome Glacier National Park in Montana, brilliant skiing in Idaho’s Sun Valley, the natural wonders of Zion and Canyonlands national parks, it is fascinating stuff.
Alaska delivers a winter wonderland of mountains but little else. The landscapes are enormous and empty, people and buildings are few and far between. At the opposite end of the temperature scale there’s gorgeous Hawaii, a real holiday paradise stacked with lush jungles and roaring volcanoes. Visit Nashville and Memphis in the heart of Tennessee, home to legends like Elvis and Dolly Parton.
Why escorted US tours are so cool
Escorted USA tours are all about adventure without the hassle. Just roll up at your group’s meeting point and your guide takes you on a wonderful journey. No faffing around worrying about where to stay, wondering if you’ll get tickets for the places you want to see, arranging complex travel and connections. It’s all done for you, often on a tailored basis if you like, perfect for people with different interests.
Try a tour of the West of America, taking in LA, San Diego and Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park. Experience the Highlights of New England or take a tour across New England, Canada and New York in fall when the leaves turn a blazing orange, red and gold.
The Best of the Deep South tour comes with a Mardi Gras special departure and you can explore the worlds of Nashville and New Orleans, as well as the Epic Wonders of the National Parks. Take a look, see what you fall in love with first. It’s going to be amazing.
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