Compare LA to Vegas Adventure by Intrepid Travel vs New Orleans & Mississippi River Country 2023 by Tauck

Day 1 Los Angeles

Welcome to the USA! Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting in the lobby today at 6 pm. It’s very important that you attend the welcome meeting as we will be collecting insurance details and next of kin information at this time. If you are going to be late please let your travel agent or hotel reception know. If you do arrive early, perhaps take a stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or spend some time learning about the lives of the rich and famous on a celebrity homes tour. After the welcome meeting, we’ll head beachside and visit Venice and Santa Monica beach for a stroll and some people watching. Day 1 is all about introductions, so why not spend some time getting to know your fellow travellers with an optional group dinner.

Day 2 Joshua Tree National Park

Today, you’ll head away from the coast and drive to Joshua Tree National Park. Sitting between the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, the park is famous for its spectacular desert plants – including the park’s namesake Joshua trees – along with cacti and Mojave yuccas. The area is also home to striking rock formations and mountain ranges, so you might like to head out on a scenic hike around the park or take a refreshing dip in the Colorado River. You’ll head to Lake Havasu City later on to your accommodation for the night, and check out London Bridge: a 280-metre structure rebuilt in Arizona in 1971 after being transported, piece by piece, from the banks of the Thames in London.

Day 3 Grand Canyon National Park

Drive to Grand Canyon National Park, along a section of the famous Route 66, stopping in at the eccentric town of Seligman. Once we arrive at the Grand Canyon National Park, be ready to visually delight in the natural beauty for hours. This stunning gorge is 1.5 kilometres deep, formed by over six million years of erosion from the Colorado River. You'll spend two nights here, and you’ll need it, to allow for a full day of exploration tomorrow.

Day 4 Grand Canyon National Park

Today is a free day to explore the Grand Canyon, one of the largest canyon systems in the world. Stroll along the meandering South Rim Trail or hike your way down to Plateau Point. With eagles soaring overhead and chasms extending as far as the eye can see, it’s so important for you to experience its vast gorges from multiple viewpoints. In the early evening, relax at the canyon's edge and enjoy a spectacular sunset over one of the world's natural wonders.

Day 5 Las Vegas

Head out of the Grand Canyon and cross the western deserts of Arizona to Las Vegas. Las Vegas may be the gambling capital of the world, but there's plenty to do if gambling isn't your thing. Hit the shops, feel your stomach drop on a rooftop roller coaster or simply stroll along the Strip, soaking up the glitz and gaudiness. As there is no accommodation organised for tonight, you are free to leave at any time upon arriving in Las Vegas. If you would like to spend some more time here, we'll be happy to organise additional accommodation for you (subject to availability).

Day 1 Arrive New Orleans

Tour begins: 5:00 PM, Hotel Monteleone. Welcome to New Orleans and French Louisiana! A transfer is included from Louis Armstrong International Airport to the Hotel Monteleone. Please join us for this evening's welcome cocktail reception at your historic hotel at the foot of Royal Street in the heart of the French Quarter, followed by dinner at Hotel Monteleone.

MEALS : D

LODGING : Hotel Monteleone

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 2 Cooking School & Mardi Gras Insider

From the flavor of étouffée to the strains of jazz, tour New Orleans as an insider today with Tauck! Explore iconic Canal Street, the historic homes, boutiques and cafés of the Warehouse District, and the Mississippi River waterfront. Discover the French Quarter from venerable Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo to the swirl of daily – and nightly – life along fabled Bourbon Street on a guided walking tour. Learn a few secrets of Cajun and Creole cuisine from the chefs of the New Orleans School of Cooking with a private cooking demonstration followed by a lunch you won't soon forget. Attend an exclusive-to-Tauck, private jazz experience at Bourbon Street's world-famous Preservation Hall... before a Mardi Gras insider takes you for a behind-the-scenes look at the city's traditional annual celebrations at Mardi Gras World. The afternoon and evening are free to explore what interests you most in this remarkable city. 

MEALS : B, L

LODGING : Hotel Monteleone

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 3 New Orleans from above, its unique environment & more

Begin the day with a flightseeing tour of New Orleans for views of the French Quarter, Mississippi River, canals, and wetlands, with commentary by your pilot. You'll also learn about the unique geological environment of New Orleans, America's only city situated below sea level, and its vulnerability to natural and manmade disasters at a private lecture by Nellie Watson, an expert on the interplay of humans, architecture and the environment. This evening, you'll get another true taste of New Orleans' famous cuisine when you dine at Tujague's Restaurant – a local favorite for 160 years.

MEALS : B, D

LODGING : Hotel Monteleone

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 4 The bayou, Baton Rouge & Nottoway Resort

Depart New Orleans this morning and head out into the countryside for an alligator bayou tour in an excursion boat with a local guide. Continue on to downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital city, for lunch at a local restaurant. Next, learn about the life and career of Huey P. Long, Louisiana's populist Governor of the 1930s, during a guided visit to the Old State Capitol. Then travel to Nottoway Resort – an 1850's sugarcane estate on the Mississippi's west bank that's home to the largest existing antebellum mansion in the South – where you'll spend the next two nights. Your stay begins in style in the Mansion House with a guided tour and a private mint julep reception for Tauck guests only, followed by an elegant private dinner, accompanied by a string quartet in the parlor.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Nottoway Resort

Day 5 Mississippi River Country

Today, begin your discovery of Louisiana's "River Road" sites with a visit to Houmas House and Gardens along the "big bend" of the Mississippi River. Named for the local Houmas Indians who owned the land until its purchase by planters in the mid-18th century, Houmas House was the heart of a working sugar plantation whose holdings once grew as large as 300,000 acres, and at its height in the late 1800s produced some 20 million pounds of sugar annually. A docent provides insider information on a guided historic house tour; have lunch, and stroll through some of its 38 acres of exquisite gardens. This afternoon, visit Whitney Plantation, Louisiana's only museum with an exclusive focus on the lives of enslaved people. A guided walking tour of Whitney's memorials and restored buildings – including slave cabins, a freedmen's church, detached kitchen and outbuildings, a 1790s owner's house and memorials built to honor the enslaved – reveals the reality of a pre-Civil War Louisiana sugar plantation, and invites you to remember those who built and worked this property. Return to Nottoway Resort for dinner and an evening spent as you wish.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Nottoway Resort

Day 6 Back to New Orleans & World War II America

From Nottoway Plantation, return to New Orleans this morning for another two-night stay in the Crescent City, which begins with a guided visit and time on your own at the National World War II Museum. This acclaimed institution, honoring the efforts of millions of everyday American men and women who contributed to the nation's war effort in World War II on both the battlefront and the homefront, is situated in the neighborhood of the New Orleans factory that produced the ubiquitous Higgins boats, which played a key role in Allied amphibious assaults throughout the war. Your visit begins with a viewing of the award-winning "4-D" multi-media experience Beyond All Boundaries, produced and narrated by Tom Hanks and featuring the voice talents of a Who's Who of Hollywood actors including Brad Pitt, Viola Davis, and more. Late this afternoon, check into your stylish accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, on Canal Street in the French Quarter, then spend an evening as you please in this unique American city.

MEALS : B, L

LODGING : The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 7 Gardens, a private streetcar & a special farewell

Visit more iconic destinations as you continue to tour New Orleans with Tauck today. Begin with sightseeing in the Garden District, whose National Historic Landmark district preserves historic mansions dating from the 1830s to about 1900, reflecting the prosperity of their wealthy builders prior to and following the Civil War, as well as the city's antiques district. Then hop aboard an authentic New Orleans streetcar for another Tauck Exclusive – a private streetcar tour along Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, accompanied by a New Orleans resident. After a Garden District walking tour, return to your hotel and spend the rest of the day exploring more of New Orleans at your leisure. Tonight, experience more of the best of the Cresent City as you head to Galotoire's Restaurant, one of New Orleans' celebrate restaurants since it debuted in 1905.

MEALS : B, D

LODGING : The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Day 8 Journey Home

Tour ends: New Orleans. Fly home anytime. A transfer is included from The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans to Louis Armstrong International Airport. Please allow a minimum of two hours for flight check-in.

MEALS : B

PORTOFCALL : New Orleans, Louisiana, USA