Thinking of doing ABD or Similar Tour In USA

[BadPinkTink]

Ok, this is not exactly ABD but I'm guessing this is the best place to go for advice. I'm thinking of doing an escorted tour in USA in June 2022. I am looking for something under a week. Any of the websites I check are only giving me the European versions, with flights included so the options are a lot more limited. I don't want flights included. I don't drive and I want to see more of America so this is a great option. I have been to the big cities, New York, LA, San Francisco, Vegas, New Orleans, and I'm very comfortable doing city trips DIY on my own. I'm open to any suggestions, as I know there is so much out there to see, most of which I would never think of or know about. My plan is to spend about a week then get a flight to LAX and spend some time in LA with my friends like I usually do and then fly back to Ireland from LAX.

 

[aggiedog]

Road Scholar has 100's of US tours of varying lengths, but I think you need to be at least 45 to travel with them.

Off the Beaten Path does lots of nature/national park trips, with some towns thrown in. I believe Tauck has some of those as well.

What part of the US, or what type of trip (city vs countryside) are you thinking about? I've learned about some very small companies that are very location specific while on the TripAdvisor forums.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Road Scholar has 100's of US tours of varying lengths, but I think you need to be at least 45 to travel with them.

Off the Beaten Path does lots of nature/national park trips, with some towns thrown in. I believe Tauck has some of those as well.

What part of the US, or what type of trip (city vs countryside) are you thinking about? I've learned about some very small companies that are very location specific while on the TripAdvisor forums.

Thanks, thats a start I had a look at Tauk and GADVENTURES, both had very limited options as it defaulted to the European websites. I'm kinda thinking national parks, small towns, historic places of interest as I don't drive and they are harder to do DIY than the cities.

 

[Mathmagicland]

As @aggiedog noted, with a week of travel time before LA you almost need to focus on a certain part of the country, so it’s it not all a blur out a bus window or spending a lot of time going from place to place with little time for the stops. You could do a week in California, seeing places other than LA and SF, or a week in Alaska, for example. Pacific Northwest, ie Washington state area, lots of nature. Arizona is desert area & the Gand Canyon New England (Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont) has lots of small towns and history. Virginia outside of the DC area has history and parks.

Not sure if you’ve found this site yet - it’s a link to our National Park Service site with info on all national parks. Maybe see which ones might be of interest, to get a start on a geographic area.

https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

 

[aggiedog]

I really love Road Scholar, and there are frequently singles on those trips, if you qualify age wise. They'll pair singles to save money, and their single supplement is not bad ether.

Off the Beaten Path has done 2 custom trips for us to different National Parks. Those trips were great because they're cheaper than the group tours (big consideration for my family of 6) because we drove ourselves and there's no "with you all the time" guide, but they created a detailed itinerary with local guides at all the locations, made all the lodging reservations, and gave us a detailed book on local attractions, restaurants, etc. They were fantastic and I wouldn't hesitate to use them as a group tour.

At the very least, look at their website to get an idea of what part of the country you want to explore and what's offered around each.

I've gotten rave reviews about a company called Brushbuck that does Yellowstone and Grand Teton. And there's a company near Glacier National Park that does back country llama camping trips. I really want to try that.

 

[BadPinkTink]

thanks, everyone, some great suggestions. I know I could take the easy way, do a DIY city but I kinda want to do something different.

 

[aggiedog]

Just remembered - my BFF still raves about a luxury Grand Canyon rafting trip she did several years ago.

 

[sayhello]

I'd recommend you look at Backroads. They do active trips all over, including a lot of domestic trips, and they are really great. I've honesty not gone with them in a while *because* the vast majority of their trips are 5 or 6 days, and I like at least 8 days if I'm going internationally, which I'd been doing until the pandemic. Now that I'm focusing on domestic trips again for now, I've been looking at traveling with them again. They started as a bicycling touring company, but do Multi-Adventure tours, walking and hiking tours, active river cruises, etc. I remember their Guides as being really great.

https://www.backroads.com/

Sayhello

 

[happiestpoe]

My parents did a Vacation by Rail a few years ago, and they loved it. There was quite a bit of travel each day, via train or coach, but they were able to visit Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount Rushmore, Grand Tetons, etc.

 

[SirDuff]

I'd recommend you look at Backroads. They do active trips all over, including a lot of domestic trips, and they are really great. I've honesty not gone with them in a while *because* the vast majority of their trips are 5 or 6 days, and I like at least 8 days if I'm going internationally, which I'd been doing until the pandemic. Now that I'm focusing on domestic trips again for now, I've been looking at traveling with them again. They started as a bicycling touring company, but do Multi-Adventure tours, walking and hiking tours, active river cruises, etc. I remember their Guides as being really great.

https://www.backroads.com/

Sayhello

I love Backroads. Actually, was planning on being on one in Chile right now