The Grand Tour - An Iconic US Road Trip

Twenty-seven nights across the American West, which is long enough to do it properly rather than at the usual sprint. Scottsdale to San Diego by hire car.

Sedona comes first for two nights by way of Jerome, a former mining town clinging to a hillside, with a backcountry jeep tour among the red rock formations. The Grand Canyon follows, 277 miles long and eighteen across at its widest, with a glass walkway out over the edge for anyone whose nerves allow it. Monument Valley comes next with a Navajo-guided tour, and the buttes there are familiar from John Ford’s Stagecoach in 1939 and most of the Westerns that followed.

Lake Powell gets two nights, reached through the Painted Desert. It is the largest artificial lake in the United States, 186 miles long with ninety-six side canyons, and kayaking it is the best way to understand the scale, with Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend nearby. Springdale follows for two nights via Kanab and the Vermilion Cliffs, giving access to Zion and optionally Bryce.

Las Vegas provides two nights via Sand Hollow and Snow Canyon, then a long drive to Mammoth Lakes and three nights at Yosemite, where the giant sequoia groves include the Grizzly Giant, which has been standing for roughly three thousand years. San Francisco closes the itinerary with three nights and a walking tour through Chinatown, North Beach and Jackson Square, the district that survived the 1906 fire. Original Travel include the hire car, accommodation, the tours, concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption. Flights and most meals are separate, and prices run from 3,750 to 5,250 pounds per person, which for twenty-seven nights is good value.