Big skies, BBQ and bluegrass: authentic multi-centre holiday to America

Itinerary in brief: 

• 2 nights Seattle
• 2 nights Mount Rainier National Park
• 2 nights Portland
• 2 nights Cannon Beach
• 3 nights Chicago
• 3 nights New Orleans
• 1 night Houston
• 2 nights Austin
• 2 nights Dallas
• 2 nights Louisville
• 2 nights Lexington
• 1 night Elizabethtown
• 3 nights Nashville
• 4 nights Washington DC

Day 1: London to Seattle

Depart the UK from your chosen airport. On arrival in Seattle, you’ll make your own way into the city, before checking into your hotel for two nights.     

Included: International flight, 4* hotel

Days 2: Seattle

Wander along the waterfront where you can enjoy views across the Elliott Bay to the Olympic Mountains on clear days before touring the Seattle Aquarium, where you can learn about the marine life in this region. Make sure you explore Pike Place Market as you start getting hungry – you can visit the first Starbucks before grabbing coffee in one of the neighbouring independent cafes. The market is full of artisan food stalls – you can try bowls of garlicky mussels, dig into a catfish sandwich and finish off with a sugary cinnamon roll. In the late afternoon take a ride to the top of the Space Needle to watch the sunset over the water.

Included: 4* hotel, Pike Place Market walking tour         

Day 4: Drive to Mount Rainier      

This morning you'll pick up your hire car and drive to Mount Rainier National Park, a two-hour drive to the south. On arrival at your hotel, you will check in for two nights.

Included: Car hire, 4* hotel 

Day 5: Mount Rainier    

Spend the day exploring this stunning national park where you can hike to the Grove of the Patriarchs, where some of the oldest trees in the Washington Cascades have lived for over a thousand years or along the Snow Lake Trail, ending with spectacular views over the blue-green water. The best time to visit this park is in August when the subalpine meadows of Paradise Valley are carpeted in wildflowers and the snow has retreated to the mountain tops.

Included: Car hire, 4* hotel     

Day 6: Drive to Portland

This morning you’ll drive onwards to Portland, the largest city in Oregon, a city with a small-town feel, full of restaurants, breweries and cycling locals that make it a popular place to visit. On arrival, you’ll check into your hotel for two nights.

Included: Car hire, 4* hotel 

Day 7: Portland      

Portland is a city that loves to eat – the best way to spend your time here is to hop between cafes, breweries and restaurants, tasting the delicious fare on offer. Portland champions ‘farm-to-fork’ food, grown in the lush farmland of Oregon and served up beautifully in restaurants like Clyde Common so why not enjoy lunch before taking a walk through the Hoyt Arboretum and stopping in at the popular Portland Zoo.

Later grab a snack from Voodoo Doughnuts before heading to one of the many craft breweries that make their home in Portland and enjoy an evening tasting and learning about beer! If you’re more of a wine aficionado, there are many vineyards in the hills surrounding the city so you could either drive over and wander through the vines or simply settle into one of Portland’s slick wine bars to try them out!

Included: Car hire, 4* hotel 

Day 8: Drive to Cannon Beach      

Spend the morning in Portland before driving over to Cannon Beach, one of the nicest stretches of the Oregon coastline. On arrival, you’ll check into your hotel for two nights. 

Included: Car hire, 4* hotel 

Day 9: Cannon Beach    

Spend your day here enjoying this beautiful beach. Made famous by an iconic scene in the Goonies movie, this long stretch of sand is perfect to try to stand up paddle boarding or kayaking. At low tide, you can walk right out to Haystack Rock, where pink and purple starfish cling to the sides usually hidden under the water. You could also take a stroll through this tiny beach town, past picturesque shops and cafes before taking a picnic to the beach and watch the sun set into the sea.

Included: Car hire, 4* hotel 

Day 10: Fly to Chicago

Your road trip through the Pacific Northwest has come to an end – today you’ll take one last walk along the beach before driving back to Seattle Airport where you’ll return your car hire and catch your flight to Chicago. On arrival, you’ll make your own way to the hotel and check in for three nights.

Included: Internal flight, car hire

Days 11 - 12: Chicago

Two days should be enough time to enjoy the highlights of Chicago. Start with a trip to the Cloud Gate, more popularly known as “The Bean”, where you can snap a photo in its distorted reflection, before heading to Intelligentsia Coffee for a latte.

We’ve included the Chicago City Pass so you can use it to explore two of America’s best museums. The Art Institute of Chicago holds paintings by Picasso and O’Keefe, as well as the famous American gothic portrait by Grant Wood, while at the Field Museum you can visit Sue, the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found.

Enjoy a slice of Chicago deep-dish pizza at Giordano’s before a night of comedy at Second City, where many famous comedians made their debuts. Don’t leave before heading to the top of the Willis Tower SkyDeck, where you can stand in a glass box high above the city and admire endless views of the city and Lake Michigan below.

Included: 4* hotel, Chicago City Pass     

Day 13: Fly to New Orleans

Your time in Chicago has come to an end today so make your own way to the airport in time for your onward flight. On arrival in New Orleans, you’ll pick up your rental car at the airport and drive to your hotel, where you’ll check into your hotel for three nights.     

Included: Internal flight, car hire, 4* hotel 

Day 14 and 15: New Orleans

New Orleans is a foodie paradise, so make sure you sample all the local treats! Start at Café du Monde, famous for its beignets and coffee – you’ll be queuing along with the locals for this taste of New Orleans history. A po’boy is another popular snack, so why not share one of these delicious fried shrimp sandwiches before splitting a pot of gumbo for dinner? Finish with bananas foster, where rum, vanilla, bananas and cinnamon come together in the most delicious New Orleans dessert.

Food aside, there are many fascinating ways to spend your time in New Orleans. Wander through the spooky ornate cemeteries or stroll along Bourbon Street, listening to saxophone solos that escape from open jazz club doors. If you want to get out of the city, why not drive to visit one of the nearby plantation houses or take a tour of the bayou on the lookout for alligators.

Included: 4* hotel, car hire

Day 16: Drive to Houston

Today you’ll make the long drive to Houston. It’s a 5-hour journey, so why not break it up with a lunch stop in Lafayette? Here, you can dig into a bucket of boiled crawfish cooked in Cajun spices. On arrival into Houston, you’ll check into your hotel for one night.

The fourth-largest city in the USA, Houston is a bustling urban sprawl with a relatively small downtown area. Most visitors head straight for the NASA Space Centre, just outside the city, to learn about Mission Control for the space shuttles and Apollo projects.

In terms of food, Houston is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country, with large Jewish, Ethiopian, Chinese, Nigerian and Korean communities all cooking up their own specialities. Despite this array of international cuisine, Houston is most famous for one thing only - Tex-Mex. Whether you fancy fajitas, tostadas or street food tacos, you’ll be in heaven!

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 17: Drive to Austin

Spend the morning in Houston (breakfast burrito anyone?) before driving over to the capital of Texas - Austin - a town of music and barbecue. On arrival, you’ll check into your hotel for two nights and head out into the city to explore.

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 18: Austin

During your stay in Austin, be sure to visit the State Capitol building, which is taller than its counterpart in Washington DC. Other than that, Austin is all about smokehouses, bars, jazz clubs and dance halls. It's a city obsessed with barbecue, from juicy ribs and brisket to mouth-watering pulled pork. If you get in the queue early, you might just score lunch at Franklin’s BBQ, known as one of the best spots in the entire country.

If you have time, try to fit in a football game at the University of Texas campus  – thousands of fans dressed in orange cheering on the Longhorns is a spectacular sight! Finish your night tapping your feet at one of the many live music bars, playing everything from rock and country to jazz and bluegrass. On your way home, grab a late-night snack from one of the city's thriving food trucks. 

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 19: Drive to Dallas

Spend the morning in Austin, before heading north to Dallas. There are two ways to get to Dallas, so you can pick your route depending on your interests. The highway north will take you through Waco, where you can stop at the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame and learn about the state's favourite baseball team.

Alternatively, the scenic route follows smaller roads through the Texas countryside, past vineyards and cattle ranches towards Dallas. If you take these roads, you can stop in for a swim at Hamilton Pool on the way. When you arrive in Dallas, you’ll check into your hotel for two nights.

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 20: Dallas and Fort Worth

You’ve got a full day to explore the twin cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Why not head to Fort Worth this morning, where the Wild West begins? This former livestock market is chock-full of Texan shops and restaurants. Be sure to catch the twice-daily cattle drive, when cowboys walk their speckled longhorns through the square.

Try a local steak for lunch before heading back to Dallas to explore the museums and botanical gardens, as well as Dealey Plaza, where you can learn about JFK’s assassination. Top off the evening with a frozen margarita. Invented in Dallas, you can find these zesty cocktails in many of the city’s rooftop bars, and they're far too good to miss!

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 21: Fly to Louisville

Head to the airport today for your flight to Louisville. On arrival, you will pick up your rental car at the airport and make your way to the hotel, where you will check in for two nights.

Included: 4* hotel, car hire, flight            

Day 22: Louisville    

Today is yours to explore the city at your leisure. We recommend visiting the Kentucky Derby Museum, where you can learn about the extraordinary experience of this world-famous horserace as well as meeting their resident thoroughbred and the miniature horse called Winston. After that, you can head to Churchill Downs, where the race takes place, before driving to Frankfort Avenue, the road that connects the city’s most charming historic neighbourhoods. It’s the perfect place to grab a ‘hot brown’ for lunch – a Louisville classic open sandwich made of turkey, mornay sauce and cheese - in a cute café. You can spend the afternoon in ‘Museum Row’, hopping between science, history and sports museums, before hitting a bar with some live bluegrass and grabbing a glass of whisky.

Included: 4* hotel, car hire

Days 23 and 24: Bourbon Country and Kentucky Horses

Departing from Louisville, you’ll drive east into Bourbon country, where you’ll enter the classic Kentucky countryside – lush grass, white fences and horse farms and bourbon distilleries tucked between rolling hills. We highly recommend tasting smooth bourbon at the Jim Beam, Heaven Hill or Wild Turkey distilleries. It's something you can’t miss when visiting Kentucky. On your second day, we’ve included a half-day tour of the local horse farms – you’ll explore the bluegrass region as well as visiting Keeneland Racecourse, a national historic landmark.

Included: 4* hotel, half-day horse farm tour, car hire      

Day 25: Drive to Elizabethtown

Today you’ll drive south, enjoying the pretty Kentucky countryside as you head towards Elizabethtown, checking into your hotel for one night. From here there are lots of areas to explore. First, why not visit the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Historical Park, where you can see a replica of the cabin where Lincoln was born in and learn about the life of this celebrated president. Nearby, you’ll also find the Mammoth Caves National Park. Whether you go hiking, cycling, or canoeing down the Green River, it's a great place to spend the afternoon. Alternatively, take a picnic, relax and explore the world’s longest cave.        

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 26: Drive to Nashville

This morning, you’ll make the short drive down to Nashville, Tennessee. On arrival, you’ll check into your hotel for two nights, so get straight out into the city and start exploring. This evening why not head to Hometown Bar-B-Que for some ribs and live country music!

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Days 27 and 28: Nashville

Start your day with a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum before wandering along Music Row to RCA Studio B, where Elvis recorded many of his tracks. Stop for a plate of hot chicken, Nashville’s favourite meal, and take a walk through Centennial Park, where you’ll find a full-scale reproduction of the Parthenon.

There is so much more to see and do here; visit the Johnny Cash Museum, learn to line dance in one of the dance halls, devour a plate of meat and three. Spend each evening on Honky Tonk Highway, a street of country music bars where legends like Willie Nelson and Gretchen Wilson started their careers. The bars will be chock full of budding musicians to keep you entertained.

Included: 4* hotel, car hire         

Day 29: Fly to Washington DC

On arrival in Washington DC, you’ll make your own way into the city where you’ll check into your hotel for four nights.               

Included: 4* hotel, car hire, flight            

Days 30 and 31: Washington DC

With two days to explore the city, you’ll need to make a plan beforehand, as there's just so much to see. We recommend starting on the Mall, where you can gaze at the face of Abraham Lincoln before strolling past the reflecting pool, taking in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Constitution Gardens as you make your way towards the Washington Monument.

From here, you’ll need to decide which parts of the Smithsonian Institution you want to visit. Whether you’re interested in African American history, Native American history or even the National Archives, this colossal museum will keep you busy for hours.

On your second day, you can visit more of the big-hitters – the White House and the US Capitol - before grabbing lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a DC landmark that has been serving chilli to the country’s lawmakers since 1958.

In the afternoon, take a stroll through the pretty streets of Georgetown or wander along the Tidal Basin under the cherry trees. In the evening, why not find an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner? DC has the largest population of Ethiopians in the USA, and their delicious cuisine is served in lots of restaurants throughout the city.

Included: 4* hotel

Day 32: Gettysburg

Today we’ve added a day tour to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, where you'll learn about this bloody battle and the daily lives of soldiers in the Civil War. You’ll visit the site where Lincoln gave his famous address and gain insight into the war that split America and still has ramifications today. The tour will last all day, but why not venture out in the evening for dinner and drinks in a quiet bar in Georgetown to celebrate your time in DC?

Included: 4* hotel, Gettysburg Day tour

Day 33: Depart Washington DC

Your four weeks in the USA has come to an end, so today you’ll make your own way to the airport in time to catch your flight home.      

Included: International flight

Day 34: Arrive UK