San Fran to Vegas

After breakfast at your hotel, it's time to hit the hilly streets of fabulous Frisco (you’ll never hear the locals calling it San Fran). A city of close-knit neighbourhoods, you’ll easily be swept away by the views at Nob Hill and quirky cosplay characters of Japantown. But it is hippy Haight-Ashbury and the city’s resident hipster hangout, the Mission district, where you should head to first. Grab lunch at pop-ups surrounded by techies, skaters and filmmakers in the Mission and ogle at psychedelic murals along Haight. Use our Dossier to plan a self-guided meander around the city or arrange guided trips with your Concierge to see the city like a local. Must-sees include visiting the infamous island prison of Alcatraz, cycling across the famous Golden Gate Bridge and eating a dozen bivalves at the no-frills Swan Oyster Depot in Nob Hill.

San Franciso is also home to the oldest enclave of Chinese immigrants outside of Asia, meaning you don't have to look far for good food. Swing by Good Mong Kok Bakery for steaming chop suey and The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory for a lesson in fortune cookie production (they produce a whopping 20,000-a-day). End evenings in the city’s myriad microbreweries and discover a new favourite craft beer to take home with you.

On your last morning in San Francisco, enjoy a long lazy brunch before picking up your hire car for the one-hour drive to Napa Valley. As one of the world’s premier wine regions, boasting more than 400 wineries, it makes sense to start your two-night stay with a winery tour. Get to know your Cabernets from your Malbecs as you are whisked between wineries and vineyards and end evenings at down-home pubs with free spirited locals. On the next day, after a breakfast of warm pastries and fresh fruits at your Sonoma hotel, swap four wheels for two on a vine trail bike ride. Coast along quiet Calistoga roads and stop en route for a tipple or two at off-the-beaten-track wineries. Back at your hotel, it’s all about rest and recouperation at its on-site spa ready for the following day’s early drive inland to Yosemite National Park.

A national park superstar, explorer John Muir called Yosemite a ‘temple of nature’ and it’s not hard to see why. Just seven miles long and less than one mile across, it’s home to 3,000ft tall, near-vertical cliffs, more waterfalls than you can count and grassy meadows flanked by oak, cedar and fir trees. After your four-hour drive from Napa, we recommend heading straight out on foot. If you’re up for the challenge, go up the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls and on to Nevada Falls (a seven-mile loop with a 1,900 ft elevation gain). It’s rated moderate-strenuous but boy is it worth it – especially once the crowds thin out after Vernal. If you’d rather keep things low key on your first day, it’s possible to do a shorter loop. Spend the next two days staving off vertigo at Glacier Point, the jaw-dropping 3,200ft overlook over Half Dome and Yosemite Falls, slinging back beers at South Gate Brewing Company and seeing the park from horseback on a five-hour hack to Grizzly Giant. Enjoy meals at your hotel’s restaurant, which comes with its own river view, and relax at its scenic spa with views over the valley.

Enjoy a slow morning in Yosemite on your last day, before taking the short two-hour drive south along the Tioga Pass to Mammoth. Note that from November to May the route is closed, but don’t worry, our Americas experts will make sure to get you down Route 120’s alpine lake, wildflower fringed-highway in time. If you have time to spare, we recommend taking a quick detour to Merced Grove and Tuolumne Grove to see their impressive 280ft sequoia forests. Another must-see spot is Olmstead Point, which is famed for its views of Half Dome. And just 0.2 miles away on foot, you’ll be greeted to knock out views of Tenaya Peak and Lake. Take the rest of the day to relax in your hotel and get to know the little mountain town of Mammoth.

Think you can’t ski in California? Well think again, because in Mammoth you can. Located 7,800ft above sea level, Mammoth is proof that the Sunshine State really does have it all. While there will be little chance of snow during your visit, you’ll barely notice during your two-day action-packed stay. Start your first day on two wheels across the Mammoth Lakes Trail System. Crisscross through country trails up Mammoth Rock and down the Mountain View Trail to Earthquake Fault. Or, if you have little ones with you, follow the easy loop round Horseshoe Lake. Reward yourselves with a tipple at one of the town’s many distilleries and treat yourself to dinners at its myriad rustic restaurants. The best way to see Mammoth though is from above. Hop on a scenic gondola ride, snap a selfie at the summit sign and stay for lunch at the Eleven53 Café. If you prefer to keep things at ground level, take to the water in kayaks on Lake Mary. You’ll certainly want to remember your camera for this one. Speaking of capturing the moment, when setting off to Death Valley make sure you time your drive with sunset. Trust us when we say there is no road quite like the 395 at sunset. Settle into your historic hotel in the heart of the valley, go for an evening dip if the desert heat gets too much and, with driving done and dusted for the day, enjoy a cool drink on the stargazing deck.

Death may be in its title but there is nothing deathly about Death Valley. In fact, the closer you look the more you realise it’s just nature putting on its most beguiling show. From extreme heat (44°C in summer) and extinct volcanic craters to windswept crevices and sunlit mud flats, Death Valley is the epitome of haunting beauty. See it in all its glory on an early morning 4x4 jeep excursion. Load up with water and suncream before getting behind the wheel and heading up the valley’s water-sculpted canyons and sun-scorched sand dunes. Stop at Racetrack Playa, a scenic dry lake with moving ‘sailing stones’ to rehydrate, before looping back to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the Western hemisphere. Once back at your hotel, it’ll be a case of musical chairs as you hop from one car back to another (your trusty hire car) for the final two-hour leg to Las Vegas. Check into your hotel on the Strip and make a beeline for its casinos.

Forget New York, this is the city that never sleeps. An indulgent oasis smack bang in the middle of the Mojave Desert, you’ll be spoilt for choice between fine-dining restaurants, mesmerising casinos and pulsing dance floors. However, we recommend starting your final full day with a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon. It is, after all, one of the world’s seven wonders and its immensity and intensity can only truly be taken in from above. Discover its 70-million-year history as you speed over the sprawling 277-mile long canyon, keeping an eye out for the weaving Colorado River as you go. Back in Sin City, there’s only one way to spend your last night in the USA – at a show. Your Concierge will be on hand to help you secure the best seats in town for the current mega-star residency artists (be it Adele, Usher, Aerosmith or Donny Osmond). Hit the Strip for drinks after or head to one of its world-class restaurants, such as Nobu for an elegant Japanese-inspired dinner.