Best of the West

Day 1: Arrive Los Angeles

Hooray for Hollywood and all the other wonderful things in California! Make sure you visit the Getty Museum while you’re here and enjoy the spectacular views overlooking Los Angeles, the largest metropolitan area in the US. Take the Sunset Strip from Hollywood to Beverly Hills and shop the Sunset Strip. You’ll be returning to Los Angeles at the end of your trip, so if relaxation and not exploration is in order today, take the afternoon off and find a great place for dinner.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Airport Plaza
Deluxe Hotel: Millennium Biltmore Hotel

Day 2: Los Angeles to Palm Springs

Palm Springs is a true oasis in the California desert. If you want to have a view over the city, ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, or even do their “Ride and Dine.” The rotating tram cars offer a breathtakingly beautiful ride to the mountaintop. Joshua Tree National Park is an immense reserve of nearly 800,000 acres that combines the stark landforms and unusual vegetation of high and low desert. What may look dormant is actually teeming with life.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Inn at Palm Springs
Deluxe Hotel: Hyatt Regency Suites Palm Springs

Day 3: Palm Springs to Phoenix

As soon as you reach Phoenix, the landscape in the Valley of the Sun will start beckoning. In the “high desert, it’s sunny 325 days a year. The best places to learn about Southwestern culture are in Heritage Square, Cooper Square and the Heard Museum. Heritage Square is the only remaining group of residential structures from the original site of Phoenix. Cooper Square is 90 blocks of urban lifestyle, attractions, shops and restaurants in the heart of the city. You can also stroll the Desert Botanical Garden and the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, climb Piestewa Peak, hike in South Mountain Park and experience Rawhide Western Town.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Bell Hotel
Deluxe Hotel: Crowne Plaza Phoenix

Day 4: Explore Phoenix or Tucson

Tucson, founded before the American Revolution, blends the cultures of the US and Mexico. The city has grown from a dusty frontier town to today's Southwestern metropolis of a million people with a posttcard image of cactus forests, rolling hills and awe-inspiring mountains. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has living exhibits that include more than 1,300 types of plants and 300 kinds of animals. The DeGrazia Galley in the Sun is a landmark of both art and architecture. For Western history buffs, gunfights take place daily at the O.K. Corral.

Day 5: Phoenix to Flagstaff

Today as you move north through “red rock” country, don’t be surprised by the twisted, craggy shapes jutting straight out of the earth. Some of the West’s most beautiful country surrounds Flagstaff, from the alpine forests of our San Francisco Peaks to the rugged deserts of nearby Native American nations. Flagstaff also boasts Lowell Observatory, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort, Pioneer Historical Museum, Riordan Mansion, and genuine Route 66 nostalgia.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Kings House
Deluxe Hotel: Radisson Flagstaff

Day 6: Flagstaff to Grand Canyon

At 277 miles long, 6,000 feet deep and 15 miles wide at its widest point, the Grand Canyon is one of the seven wonders of the world. The canyon rim is only a short stroll from the Canyon View Information Plaza and Hermit Road takes you to great views of the river at Hermit’s Rest, Hopi, Mohave and Pima Points. The 25-mile scenic Desert View Drive delivers views of the canyon and the Colorado River at Moran Point, Lipan Point, and Desert View. Take a 30 minute flight over the canyon for the best view of all.
Standard Hotel: BW Grand Canyon Squire Inn or Maswick Lodge
Deluxe Hotel: El Tovar or Kachina Lodge

Day 7: Explore Grand Canyon

Tale one more day to explore this natural wonder. Visit the West Rim and venture out over the new Skywalk.

Day 8: Grand Canyon to Death Valley

Death Valley National Park is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and one of the hottest places in the world. A quick rainstorm can turn the vast acres of desert, surrounded by forest and snow covered mountains peaks, into a field of wildflowers and just as fast, the searing heat turn it back to desert. Take the lovely 9-mile Artist’s Drive and explore Scotty’s Castle, which was actually built by a Chicago millionaire.
Standard Hotel: Stovepipe Wells Village/In Park Lodging
Deluxe Hotel: Furnace Creek Ranch/In Park Lodging

Day 9: Death Valley to Yosemite National Park**

Yosemite National Park is truly one of the world’s great natural treasures. Make sure you see the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias and the other attractions as you zigzag your way north from Fish Camp to reach the Tioga Road/Big Flat Road National Scenic Byway. From a scenery standpoint, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Way Station Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Yosemite View Lodge

**From early November to late May the Tioga Pass may be closed due to weather or road conditions. In which case you will need to drive the southern route through Bakersfield and Fresno into the Yosemite Area.

Day 10: Explore Yosemite National Park

Take one more day to explore this natural wonder of mammoth redwoods and lush growth forest.

Day 11: Yosemite to San Francisco

As soon as you reach San Francisco start getting to know the city on the Barbary Coast Trail which connects 20 of the city’s most important historic sites. See Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square and Nob Hill, once an inaccessible backwater where four rich industrialists built their mansions high above the city. Be sure to take an evening trip to Alcatraz, an island with a story beyond belief.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Americania
Deluxe Hotel: Hotel Majestic/A Select Registry Property

Day 12: San Francisco to Pacific Coast Highway to San Luis Obispo

Marvel at the rocky windswept cliffs of the Pacific Coast Highway as you drive up the San Luis Obispo North Coast Byway and the Big Sur Highway National Scenic Byway. Julia Pfeiffer State Park, Andrew Molera State Park, Point Sur State Historic Park and the San Simeon National Historical State Park, better known as the Hearst Castle, with its 158 room “camp” built by William Randolph Hearst, are all along the way. Monterey has great coastline and Carmel By The Sea is one of the best, if not the best “art town” in America.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Royal Oak Hotel
Deluxe Hotel: Embassy Suites San Luis Obispo

Day 13: San Luis Obispo to Ventura

The sophisticated historic town of Santa Barbara will be a great place to stop between Los Angeles and Pismo Beach. The 1786 Mission Santa Barbara still serves as a church. Farther up the coast, Solvang, looks like it fell right out of Europe. You can opt for a “hummer” tour of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge or take an alternate route through the Central California wine region.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Inn of Ventura
Deluxe Hotel: Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach

Day 14: Ventura to Los Angeles

There are so many major attractions in Los Angeles! Visit Grauman’s Chinese Theater, take a behind-the scenes peek at Universal Studios, visit the Armand Hammer Museum, California Heritage Museum, Autry National Center Museum of the American West, the Aquarium of the Pacific, Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, California Science Center, Music Center, Japanese American National Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Grand Avenue, or the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Airport Plaza
Deluxe Hotel: Millennium Biltmore Hotel

Day 15: Depart Los Angeles