Contiki Western US Tour – San Diego, Sonoran Desert, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas
November 2nd, 2009 by Jennie.Stewart
Flight Centre’s Jennie Stewart blogs today about her incredible travels to the Western US on a Contiki Tour. On this amazing vacation Jennie tours to Disneyland and San Diego, through the Sonoran Desert, enjoys a quick hot air balloon ride, experiences hot-hot-hot Sedona, takes a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon, and if that wasn’t enough, hits Las Vegas to take in a little Sin City. Let’s throw it over to Jennie –
Flights to Los Angeles on West Jet were fantastic; check-in and in-flight crew were so friendly and helpful all the way through the flight; leather seats, personal TV’s and on board purchase snacks were delicious.
Landed in LAX to get the transfer provided which was really easy; transferred to our hotel in Anaheim at the Best Western Stovall’s Inn. Hotel was directly across from the entrance to Disneyland. This hotel was excellent. Rooms were spacious with all the amenities you could need, mini fridge, coffee maker, double beds and plenty of space for a family. Connecting rooms are available for larger families. The breakfast room was well set up with a nice variety of food, and the staff were very friendly.
Next morning took the bus to San Diego. Bus was extremely clean and comfortable. Along the way our tour guide gave us good information regarding California, the cities we drove through, and also what we were going to see for our next destination. I would never get this kind of information on a self drive trip; having the tour manager was extremely advantageous.
San Diego was beautiful. We took a driving tour of the city, and learned a lot from the tour manager. On this tour you have the choice of spending the afternoon at the San Diego Zoo or SeaWorld. I chose the Zoo, which was wonderful, and had lots of different options for viewing the animals. I would recommend taking the lift over the zoo for a great aerial view. The most viewed animals are the pandas. Their enclosure is kept very organized, having to line up single file to walk past the new baby Panda and her mother. That evening we went for dinner and drinks in the historic “Gaslamp Quarter”.
Next day we drove from San Diego to Phoenix through the Sonoran Desert. The long drive was broken up nicely with a morning, lunch and afternoon break so patrons will not feel trapped or restless on the bus. The tour manager also keeps everyone busy by playing optional games and quizzes throughout the ride. Movies, music and entertainment are available to the patrons on the bus as well if they prefer that.
Arrived in Scottsdale and checked into our hotel, The Courtyard Scottsdale Old Town. This hotel was excellent, superior rooms (some with a balcony), access to the internet on main lobby computers and Wi-Fi throughout the property. This city is gorgeous and the cleanest city I have ever visited. Streets were spotless, shop and street front stores were exceptional. Had a very early morning (4am) to go Hot Air Ballooning. I would tell everyone visiting this city to do this excursion despite the early wake up. Crew at the Hot Air Balloon Company were well organized, friendly and very accommodating. Served half of us breakfast before we went up, and half afterwards. Breakfast was way above my expectations! Pilot in the balloon was knowledgeable, and kept us relaxed with funny stories of his flights ie. Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn’s flight!
After our flight we started the drive to Sedona, “Red Rock” country. Sedona is a beautiful city, hot-hot-hot but very beautiful. We did the optional Jeep tour through the countryside. The guides were traditional cowboys and most were born and raised in Sedona. The tour was great for information from someone who has lived there all his life; the tales and stories really made it a wonderful tour. I would recommend this excursion to anyone doing the Contiki tour.
We then went on to the Grand Canyon and we stayed at the Maswik Lodge. The usual block of rooms that Contiki uses are literally a five minute walk from the ridge of the canyon! Very nice property and rooms are rustic. There are many different options to see the Canyon and they are available right from the lodge. If you do nothing else, I would recommend the helicopter tour over the Canyon. It is about a 30 minute drive from the lodge and is very professional and well organized. The helicopter itself was amazing. The pilot let us ask questions and talk as much as we wanted! Views were absolutely stunning. There really are no words!
We were then on to Las Vegas. We stayed at the America’s Best Value Inn. This property is very basic but is great for the value. Rooms are cozy however there are no amenities like coffee makers or hair dryers. That said, the hotel does have laundry facilities and vending machines. The pool area is quite nice, and very quiet. The hotel is only about a 7 minute walk from the main strip, and right across the street from the MGM which has the new monorail – it’s a very nice location and a great value for clients. In Las Vegas I would recommend the Vegas City Tour because the tour guide will give you insight on the “old days” and the “new Las Vegas”, which you will not get from just walking the strip yourself.
To finish my Contiki trip I took the Air Canada red eye home. Service was great, seats were great and flight itself was excellent. Great flight to finish off the best trip EVER!!!!
Sedona, Arizona is highlighted on the Flight Centre travel map
Looking for more information on traveling to the US West and Contiki tours? Contact Jennie Stewart, a Team Leader with Flight Centre based in Mississauga, Ontario who can be reached at 1 866 581 7757.
Categories: Tours
