Reuthers
Best Of West / USA
Guided Photo Tour

Welcome to Los Angeles. After a transfer to your hotel, meet your fellow travellers at a Welcome Drink and Dinner in the evening.

We start our photo tour north along Highway 1 and eventually reach Malibu. We then head into central valley farmlands of California and the coastal hills of the Los Padres National Forest. Travelling through beautiful countryside, we stop at Santa Barbara's Stearns Wharf for lunch before visiting Solvang, the "Danish capital of America", where you will see windmills, horse drawn carriages, horse ranches, and wineries. We continue north through lush green hills, farmland, and cattle ranches before reaching Morro Bay.

In the morning we continue our trip with the Pacific Ocean on the left and the majestic Santa Lucia mountains on the right. This is the Big Sur, or "El Sur Grande", a wonderfully scenic region that we cover during today's adventure. We stop at Point Pinos Lighthouse, the entrance to Monterey Bay. Our photo tour continues through Castroville, where Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) was once crowned Artichoke Queen. Finally we reach Half Moon Bay and Pacifica, where we head north toward San Francisco and our hotel.

We start the day by driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and a photo stop. Passing Sacramento we travel to Placerville, a gold rush town, and then on to Camino in the heart of the El Dorado Wine Country. Our route now takes us through the Eldorado National Forest and into South Lake Tahoe and Stateline, where the California - Nevada State Line can be found. If you feel like trying your luck, Stateline has many world-class casinos.

Our day begins with a journey through the Toiyabe National Forest toward Genoa, the oldest permanent settlement in Nevada and one of the most attractive villages in the American West. From Genoa, we continue north to Carson City. Our destination for the night is Ely, on Highway 50, the loneliest road in the USA...

Today we are traveling through the Salt Lake Desert to the Mormon Capital, to Salt Lake City.

Next to our hotel in Idaho Falls we visit the famous water falls and relax for the next day.

Early in the morning we leave for the Yellow Stone National Park and spend the whole day in this area. Accommodation is in Cody - for a good reason.

Before leaving the western town Cody, we visit the Buffalo Bill Museum and learn more about the real Wild West of the USA. On our way south through Wyoming, we pass Thermopolis, Shoshoni and Riverton before arriving in Rock Springs.

We continue south and pass the Utah border via Dutch John with the Uinta Mountains on our right. We continue to Moab, where we have an overnight stay.

Another BIG highlight on your Photo Tour: The Monument Valley, a truly unforgettable experience. We spend the night in the Navajo Reservation in Page, close to the border Arizona - Utah.

More sightseeings are awaiting us and so we leave early for a first photo stop at the Grand Canyon. The Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park round up the day before heading to Saint George.

From Saint George we move on to Las Vegas and Las Vegas Boulevard. We stay at the legendary hotel The Mirage, the ideal place for visiting shows and walking on the Strip.

Once again we travel down Las Vegas Boulevard before turning in the direction of Barstow. Just before Needles / Calilfornia we pick up the legendary Route 66 and follow what is commonly considered the most beautiful section of the route. We stop at the Sahara Oasis for refreshments, and again in Amboy at Roy's Cafe. If there is enough time left, we turn off the highway shortly before Barstow and travel into the Mojave Desert for a few miles to see the ghost town of Calico and the old silver mine. Now populated again and lovingly restored, Calico once housed over 1000 miners and adventurers searching for their luck. This beautiful stretch of Route 66 ends in Barstow, named after the owner of the Santa Fe Railroad Company and mentioned in the classic song "Get your kicks on Route 66".

On our last day we continue on to Victorville, where we descend into the greater Los Angeles basin. We check-in at our hotel and in the evening we gather for our Farewell Dinner and to reminisce our photo tour adventure.