Coach / Bus Tours & Trips in Western USA

What people love about Coach / Bus Tours in Western USA

• DorienTraveled in March

  4

  The tour was great. I saw a lot of different things and enjoeyed every bit of it. Since we started out with a small group, our first tour guide Jacob showed is some extra stops on the way to make our trip as enjoyable as possible. And the last guide Lorenzo and bus driver Tom were a great couple giving a lot of information, fitting music and discussion topics, making the tour a real experience. Lorenzo was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions and gave us the time we needed and information at the various locations. Thank you all! :)

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  Magnificent West – 8 days
• Traveled in November

  5

  TL;DR: Probably one of the - if not THE - best 2 weeks of my life. I couldn't have imagined it any better. If you want to travel the US and want a superb mix between astonishing nature, amazing beaches and not any less astonishing cities, this tour is for you. (This turned out to be more of a book than a review) I have to admit, before the tour started, I was kinda worried "what if I don't make friends with anyone?". I never really was an extrovert. Not an introvert either, I love talking with people I like and I am not shy either, I just usually take a while to get friends with people. But holy macarel, I probably made more and better friends in 2 weeks on this trip than I have in the last 2-3 years of my life. And to an extent, that's logical. As our trip manager James said in the beginning of the trip, we are all there for the same reason, we all spend 2 grand + (including the tickets to get to the US) for this trip and are just out to meet new people and have a great time. And boi, did I have that. Out of the ~50 people on this trip there is no one I wouldn't be stoked about meeting again. And sure enough I already have set up a meeting in just shy of two months in London with a couple of them. Back to the trip itself. It all started out in LA, where we stayed in the Kawada Hotel. And I gotta say, the Kawada Hotel was okay, but James did not lie when he said it only goes upwards from there. On the first evening upon arrival (I arrived the evening before the trip started) I met up with one guy of the trip that arrived at the airport around the same time as me and also wasn't going to make it to the kickstart meeting (an optional meeting the day before to get to know the tour guide and nail down some of the most basic stuff). He actually went on to become one of my "best buddies" along the trip (greetings to Emilliano). We were starving after our flights from Europe, so after checking into the Kawada Hotel, we went "Downtown" in LA, which was a pretty scary experience, at 7pm (after sunset). The Kawada Hotel seems to be located in what is not necessarily the high-life of LA, so everything looked kinda broken down and there were lot's of homeless people everywhere. It still was a cool experience, in a way, after it was over, but still, I would recommend firing up Google Maps and maybe taking an Uber. The actual location of the Hotel was good though. Alright, after we had a beer or two and something to eat, we got some sleep and the next day arose. We meet in the Hotel Lobby with the Trip Manager and the Bus Driver (Markus) and the people of the trip, and luckily there were no introductory games of any sorts :D We headed out Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier, which were kinda disappointing, as they felt rather dead. The sun didn't really come out that day, at least not in the hours we were there, but it was still really cool and a nice way to get to know all the people and ask for their names for the 4th time. After that we checked into the hotel, and headed out to the Walk of Fame, where everyone was allowed to do whatever they liked. Generally, on this trip it was a really nice mix between being guided but also having enough time to spend on your own. After the Walk Of Fame, I had a small incident with a certain plant that happened to be legal in California, so I sadly missed out on the evening and had to take the Amtrak to San Diego the next day - whoopsie. So yeah, I guess, don't do that, at least not after a couple of beers and still jet-lagged. In San Diego we stayed in the Days Inn, which was amazing, the weather was brilliant and on the second day we just had the day to ourselves. We head to the beach, enjoyed the waves and had the best sandwiches I ever had (Miss B's Coconut Club), and then head to Pacific Beach where we met up with all the people (before we were just in a small group of 5-6 or so). After a beautiful sunset, we were given the option between pizza at the pool and party at the beach. Next day, wheels rollin' for Phoenix. By the way, just gonna throw this in here. Even the bus driver was amazing. So if you book this trip, and your trip manager is called James, and your bus driver Markus, you got the jackpot. Just the right mix between casual, professional and just a good buddy. You really can feel they just want you to have a great time, and even the long trips between destinations are never wasted. You always stop at something interesting, like a big Wal-Mart (probably less so exciting for US people), Seligman (Route 66) or in Sedona. Alright, arriving in Phoenix, we have a couple of hours for ourselves, and then just head out together into an included dinner, which was really cool, as it transitioned into the nightlife scene, which Phoenix is very well known for. And it did deliver. Some poor folks however have signed up for the Hot Air Balloon on the next day, which picked up the participants at 5am.. Luckily I forgot to sign up for it, but apparently it was amazing anyway. Sadly, that was all we got to see from Phoenix, which seems to be a very beautiful and interesting city - oh, and make sure to check out In n Out Burgers. We went there just after we arrived, and it was really a cool atmosphere and no comparison to McDonalds and BurgerKing. Those only exist on the West Coast (I have been told). Next stop: Grand Canyon. And boi, those people saying the scale doesn't come across in pictures were totally right. I probably had the best day on the whole trip on my second Grand Canyon day. The first night, we just went to a basic viewing point and 2 buddies and me went to see the moon rise, by accident, which actually turned out to be amazing. But yeah, on the second day, we had a helicopter ride over the grand canyon, and if you have the option on your trip, choose the 45min one over the 25min one. I took the longer one and it felt like 5 minutes of sheer awesomeness. After that, we had the day to ourselves and just took a bike ride along the rim, which turned out to be the perfect mix between getting around but also not dying in the sun. Make sure to pack some water! There are some spots along the track though where you can refill your bottles for free, though. In the evening, we all go together to watch the sunset over the rim, brought some snacks and drinks and had an amazing evening, followed up by some room parties that may have gotten slightly out of hand (shoutout @Bevan). Next Stop: Vegas! After watching "Hangover" on our way to Vegas, we finally arrive in Sin City! And I gotta say, I was super impressed. I was imagining vegas to be probably over-hyped and dirty or something, but it was just incredible. I don't want to tell too much here, but Vegas really is something special and I came away impressed. After two tiring days of Vegas, we head to Bass Lake / Yosemite (which apparently is pronounced djosemiti with stress on the "e"). We had super cool lodges there with an oven, two stories and awesome view on the lake, on which we had a boat tour at the second evening. On the first evening though we had an included pizza party with drinks around a campfire, which was not any less cool! On day 2 we also head out to the actual Yosemite national park, where the scenery was just mindblowing. Our last stop of the trip then was San Francisco, where I and also most of the other people booked an extra night to see the city (the tour actually is two merged tours, LA to the Bay and Wild Western (I think). So the Wild Western people had it included in their trip already, but not the LA to the Bay ones. James was super cool with it though and we basically continued as one group, we just had to book our hotel on our own if we were from the LA to the Bay). There we went to Pier 39 and took a catermaran cruise below the Golden Gate Bridge. After an included chinatown dinner, it sadly was time to say farewell. I am certain though to meet a lot of those amazing people again, so I got reasons to travel to Australia, the UK and New Zealand now :) So yeah, I hope you liked this "short summary" of the trip. If you are thinking whether you should do it, DO IT. #noregrets

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  LA to the Bay
• SandyTraveled in October

  5

  We were given so much information ahead of time about the places we were headed. Whether it be a national park, we always had info about where bathrooms, snack bars and/or tshirts were! Stephen McNally did a wonderful job of keeping our schedule and Mark, the driver, was always kind and both were professional at all times! We've been on many cruises where you can see unique sights somewhat at a distance. This trip, in spite of living out of our suitcases, was one for the books that we will never forget! Great organization showed itself over and over during our 13 day trip!

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  Spectacular Canyons and National Parks (End Denver)