Compare Roaming Western Trails by Tours of Distinction vs New Orleans & Mississippi River Country 2023 by Tauck
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| Trip |
5 | Excellent
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4 | Great
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| Duration | 8 days | 8 days |
| Price From | $ 3,789 | $ 3,990 |
| Price Per Day | $ 474 | $ 499 |
| Highlights |
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| Trip Style | Small group tour | Small group tour |
| Lodging Level | Premium | Premium |
| Physical Level |
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| Travel Themes |
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| Countries Visited | ||
| Cities and Attractions |
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N/A |
| Flights & Transport | Airfare included | No |
| Activities |
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| Meals Included |
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N/A |
| Description |
Blaze an unforgettable trail experiencing the legends and lore of America’s Wild West. This trip includes a medley of manmade and natural attractions – of gargantuan proportions - from Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons, to Mount Rushmore, and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Channel your inner pioneer spirit as you meet a colorful cast of characters in Cody, and the rough and tumble town of Deadwood. Unwind in the splendor of Jackson Hole’s profoundly beautiful landscape brimming with wildlife. Watch herds of buffalo graze against majestic mountain ranges as you float on Snake River, marvel at the timely precision of Old Faithful in Yellowstone, and have a close encounter with the nation’s first National Monument, Devil’s Tower in this small group guided tour. |
You're invited to tour New Orleans and environs as an insider with access to Tauck Exclusives like Stories by Ken Burns, private demo at the New Orleans School of Cooking, an exclusive streetcar tour, flightseeing tour, a private jazz experience at Preservation Hall, an alligator bayou boat tour, five nights at historic French Quarter hotels and much more. |
Day 1 - Arrive Salt Lake City, Utah
If you’ve ever wanted to know what it was like to be an early Frontiersman, now is your chance! Transfer to the airport for your flight to Salt Lake City. Upon arrival, we will be greeted by our local guide and our awaiting motor-coach. Enjoy a city tour of Salt Lake City, where we will see downtown, the Capitol, Temple Square and more. We will check into our hotel before our ‘welcome’ dinner.
Day 2 - Salt Lake City - Jackson, WY
This morning, we will head over to Temple Square after breakfast. Here we will have a chance to see the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s weekly broadcast performance. After, we say goodbye to Salt Lake City as we travel north along the shores of the Great Salt Lake. We will travel through Logan Canyon to beautiful Bear Lake for an included lunch. We will arrive into the fun town of Jackson, WY. Once we check into our hotel, the evening is free to explore the many shops, art galleries and restaurants on your own.
Day 3 - Jackson - Yellowstone National Park
This morning after breakfast, we are in for a wonderful experience as we are introduced to Grand Teton National Park on a half day scenic float trip on the Snake River! Enjoy amazing views of the Teton Mountains and wildlife viewing opportunities as your guide explains the geology and history of the area. After the float trip, we continue sightseeing of Grand Teton which will include: Jenny Lake, Colter Bay and Jackson Lake. Next, we enter into Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first National Park, for sightseeing including the heart of the park, Old Faithful. There will be time to witness an eruption and explore Old Faithful Village and the many thermal features in the area. Later this afternoon, we travel to West Yellowstone and check into our hotel. This evening is free to explore and have dinner on your own.
Day 4 - Yellowstone National Park - Cody, WY
After breakfast, we head back into Yellowstone National Park for another day of sightseeing. We will visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and pass through Hayden Valley and along the shores of Yellowstone Lake. As we exit the park, we enter into the historic town of Cody, where we will tour the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, which is five museums under one roof. Tonight, we enjoy food and entertainment at the Cody Cattle Company with a chuckwagon style dinner, traditional cowboy music and some laughs. Then, there is exciting cowboy action at the Cody Nite Rodeo!
Day 5 - Cody - Rapid City, SD
We will depart Cody after breakfast and continue East crossing the Bighorn Mountain. Our first stop is at Devil’s Tower National Monument for sightseeing of the country’s first National Monument. Later this afternoon, we will arrive at the historic town of Deadwood for sightseeing. This is a rough and tumble western town famous for outlaws, gunslingers and lawmen alike. There will be time to explore the town and have dinner, on your own, before continuing on to Rapid City, SD for a two night stay.
Day 6 - Rapid City
After breakfast, we take a short drive to Badlands National Park for sightseeing. This famous park consists of nearly 243,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. After lunch, we travel to Custer State Park and the historic State Game Lodge to get up close and personal with the residents of this park as you head out on a Wildlife Jeep Safari to view the buffalo herds and much more. Next, we make our way to the Crazy Horse Monument for sightseeing of the unfinished mountain carving and insight into the Lakota culture. Then, join the group for an included dinner followed by a wonderfully patriotic and inspiring event as we attend the Mt. Rushmore Evening Lighting Ceremony!
Day 7 - Rapid City - Cheyenne, WY
We start our day after breakfast with a beautiful drive to Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, where we will have morning views of this magnificent monument. Depart the Black Hills and take your journey south returning to the plains of Wyoming. We make a stop at Fort Laramie National Historic Site for sightseeing and a picnic lunch. This afternoon, we continue to the capitol city of Cheyenne and check into our hotel. After, we have time to freshen up, we will enjoy a ‘farewell’ dinner, at the hotel.
Day 8 - Depart Cheyenne
After breakfast, we take a Trolley Tour of Cheyenne. After, a nice introduction to the city, we arrive at the Cheyenne Frontier Days grounds to experience a ‘Behind the Chutes Tour.’ The Cheyenne Frontier Days Arena is the home of the world’s largest outdoor rodeo each July. Get a first-hand look at what goes on during the rodeo from behind the scenes. This exiting tour follows the path of the bulls and broncs as the animals are rounded up and threaded through the maze of gates on their way to the chutes and out into the arena with cowboy in tow. A special experience awaits as we step into the chutes and finish the tour by walking across the arena. This afternoon, we will enjoy a western lunch before departing Cheyenne for the Denver International Airport for your departing flight.
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
