Solo - California and the Golden West

Our much-loved California holiday has been the favourite of Titan clients for many years. The attraction of the ‘Golden State’ was neatly encapsulated in The Mamas and the Papas’ 1965 hit California Dreamin’ and we invite you to experience the enticing temperatures and warm welcome for yourself. From gold rush pioneers to film industry starlets, the optimistic, adventurous and ambitious have made their way to California in search of fame and fortune for two centuries - the epitome of the American Dream. We include great cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, iconic stretches of Pacific coastal road and Route 66, and the bewitching expanse of Yosemite National Park, along with the highlights of neighbouring states - the Wild West landscapes of Arizona and the extraordinary Las Vegas, America’s playground. The awe-inspiring Grand Canyon is a certain highlight; so there is plenty of time to experience this wonder of nature from your two-night base at a top Flagstaff hotel. The perfect conclusion to your holiday is a night’s stay in the oasis of a Californian coastal resort.

Welcome to the Golden State...

Itinerary

Hyatt Regency LAX

• Day 1 London - Los Angeles

Sheraton Hotel and Marina

• Days 2-3 Los Angeles - Santa Monica - San Diego

Hilton Garden Inn or Holiday Inn Express

• Day 4 San Diego - Scottsdale

Little America Hotel

• Day 5 Scottsdale - Sedona - Oak Creek Canyon - Flagstaff
• Day 6 Grand Canyon

Tropicana

• Days 7-8 Flagstaff - Williams - Las Vegas

Wyndham Visalia or Marriott Visalia

• Day 9 Las Vegas - Calico - Visalia

DoubleTree Modesto

• Day 10 Visalia - Yosemite National Park - Modesto

Holiday Inn Golden Gateway

• Days 11-12 Modesto - San Francisco

Cambria Pines Lodge

• Day 13 San Francisco - Monterey - 17 Mile Drive - Carmel - Cambria

Hotel Maya DoubleTree by Hilton

• Day 14 Cambria - Santa Barbara - Long Beach

In flight

• Day 15 Long Beach - Los Angeles - In flight

Arrive Home

• Day 16 London

Day 1 London - Los Angeles



Titan’s VIP door-to-door travel service collects you from home, for your journey to London Heathrow Airport for a direct, scheduled Virgin Atlantic flight to Los Angeles. On arrival we transfer to the Hyatt Regency LAX (4T).




Days 2-3 Los Angeles - Santa Monica - San Diego



This morning, enjoy a brief tour of three icons of popular culture - Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard and TCL Chinese Theatre, where the handprints of the stars are famously immortalised. We’ll then visit Santa Monica, before continuing to San Diego and our hotel, the Sheraton Hotel and Marina (4T), where a welcome drink awaits. On the morning of day 3, a tour introduces this attractive harbour city, leaving the afternoon at leisure to make your own explorations and sample San Diego’s superb restaurants.




Day 4 San Diego - Scottsdale



We travel from California to Arizona, arriving in Scottsdale in the afternoon. Our hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn (3T) or Holiday Inn Express (3T).




Day 5 Scottsdale - Sedona - Oak Creek Canyon - Flagstaff



We travel to the charming artist colony of Sedona and breathtaking Oak Creek Canyon en route to Flagstaff. We spend two nights at the superb Little America Hotel (4T), allowing us plenty of time to explore the area and experience the Grand Canyon.




Day 6 Grand Canyon



The Grand Canyon is one of the most awe-inspiring natural sights the world has to offer. This geological wonder is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide and one mile deep; a huge expanse of richly-coloured rock enclosing the silvery Colorado River far below. We visit today and perhaps enjoy a pre-bookable optional flight for even more stunning views of the canyon.




Days 7-8 Flagstaff - Williams - Las Vegas



Following a brief visit to the historic train depot at Williams, where local cowboys stage a Wild West shootout, we proceed to Las Vegas, America’s entertainment capital. By turns chic, glamorous and awe-inspiring, brash, excessive and outrageous, Las Vegas is certainly never boring. You don’t need to be a high roller or slots wizard to enjoy this shimmering neon mirage in the heart of the forbidding Mojave Desert - there are shows that dazzle, from the famous Cirque du Soleil and the Beatles-inspired ‘Love’ to the regular open-air spectacles, as each iconic hotel along the famous Strip tries to outdo the next in the extravagance of their performances. Some of the world’s best restaurants may be found here, along with a vibrant nightlife, relaxing spa centres, immaculate golf courses and quirky museums. Our chosen hotel is the Tropicana (4T), located on the Las Vegas Strip - perfect for discovering an extraordinary, unique city which somehow manages to live up and down to its various reputations simultaneously and in enthralling style. Included for those who wish, is a short morning excursion to the Hoover Dam - a spectacular engineering achievement built in the 1930s. This huge dam is an awesome sight and its construction created Lake Mead, which is 100 miles long and 500 feet deep.




Day 9 Las Vegas - Calico - Visalia



We cross the Mojave Desert en route to Calico, a once-thriving centre of silver mining, now an enjoyable reminder of the days when cowboys roamed its streets. Visalia is our destination, where we stay at the Wyndham Visalia (3T) or Marriott Visalia (3T).




Day 10 Visalia - Yosemite National Park - Modesto



One of the world’s great natural sanctuaries is Yosemite National Park, in the Sierra Nevada. With its craggy mountains, postcard-perfect lakes and verdant forests of dogwood, sugar pine and white fir, Yosemite is endlessly photogenic - which is why it so appealed to the great photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams. Adams visited Yosemite for more than 50 consecutive years, recording luminously beautiful photographs of the park’s dramatic landscapes, many of which have become instantly recognisable icons of the American wilderness. After a memorable day, we continue west to our hotel, the DoubleTree Modesto (3T+).




Days 11-12 Modesto - San Francisco



Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco as many others have before and since. A sightseeing tour presents an orientation of this most cosmopolitan, liberal and attractive American city, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Union Square and vibrant Chinatown. We stay for two nights at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway (4T). The following day at leisure offers opportunities for relaxation or further exploration - perhaps independently pre-book a boat trip to notorious Alcatraz Island, where visitors may explore the remnants of the federal prison, learn about its famous inmates, discover the story behind the Native American occupation of 1969-71, or take a walk around the quaint district of Haight-Ashbury, so beloved of ‘hippies’, artists, writers and musicians, which became the crucible of ‘counterculture’ in the 1960s.




Day 13 San Francisco - Monterey - 17 Mile Drive - Carmel - Cambria



We travel south to Monterey, the old Spanish and Mexican capital of upper California, then proceed along the famous 17 Mile Drive, one of the loveliest coastal routes in the world. After lunch in the delightful town of Carmel, we continue south to Cambria. Our hotel for the night is the Cambria Pines Lodge (3T+).




Day 14 Cambria - Santa Barbara - Long Beach



Santa Barbara, a town favoured by artists, with an appealing harbour promenade and palm-fringed streets, makes a memorable lunch stop en route from Cambria to the California coast. We will stay at the Hotel Maya DoubleTree by Hilton (4T) or similar.




Day 15 Long Beach - Los Angeles - In flight



We travel on to Los Angeles Airport for a direct, scheduled, overnight Virgin Atlantic flight to London.




Day 16 London



Arrival at London Heathrow Airport where you will be met and guided to your Titan vehicle, for the journey home.

View Full Itinerary

Important Information

Visa is not included, please call for details Please note: On day 13, it is not always possible for us to be informed of 17 Mile Drive closures as it is a private road. We do expect that the 17 Mile Drive may be inaccessible for some departures in September, however if this is the case alternative arrangements will be made.

Optional Excursions

Meal Experience

This tour includes an enhanced meal service available on Virgin Atlantic flights in economy.

• Welcome Cocktails
• Your meal is served in two courses giving you a chance to enjoy both your entree and main dishes at leisure.
• With your dessert you have the choice of tea, coffee or on night flights, hot chocolate.
• As you settle down to watch one of Virgin Atlantic's selection of latest blockbusters, the cabin crew will bring around a tray of ice cream to give you that overall cinematic feel.
• On short flights a deli box will be served with either a traditional English High Tea or an energising breakfast, depending on the time of day.

Tailor your holiday with an unforgettable excursion in The Grand Canyon

Extension

Extension

When it comes to customising your Titan holiday, the sky’s the limit. Your escorted tour only needs to be part of your overall trip experience, and there are virtually limitless ways in which you can tailor-make your tour to USA so that it’s perfect for you.

Please click here for a few examples to give you some ideas.

For advice and to book, please call our expert travel advisers on 0800 988 5823.