Wild West USA: Epic canyons and fabulous Vegas

Your big adventure starts today – welcome to the USA! Once you make it to Phoenix, you pick up your hire car and head to where you're staying. That impressive mountain range in the distance? That's the Mazatzal Mountains – a truly unique skyline!

If you're just too curious about Phoenix to go to sleep yet, then why not check out the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden (optional, payable on site) and get yourself primed for the desert sand and blooming cacti to come? 

Time to dive into the desert! You slide into your hire car, crank up the tunes and zoom off on your Wild West road trip. Your first stop: the ghost town of Goldfield. With the spectacular Superstition Mountains in the background, it feels like you've stepped back in time. You head down Main Street, pass the historic saloon and keep driving till you reach the gold mine – if you ran into a gold miner here, you'd hardly be surprised. This reconstruction of the original Goldfield boomtown from the 1890s is also right on the spectacular Apache Trail, which winds through the rugged mountain landscape and is sure to awaken your thirst for adventure. When you're ready to beat the heat, make a little pitstop at Tortilla Flat and tuck into some bright pink Prickly Pear Gelato or choose from a range of Tex-Mex and American classics (optional, payable on site). Afterwards, queue up some Steppenwolf, 'get your motor runnin'' and 'head out on the highway!'

One of the greatest natural wonders on Earth awaits you today: the Grand Canyon! Once there, you're left absolutely speechless (entrance fee payable on site). You've seen so many pictures of this seemingly endless canyon with its shimmering red rock layers, but no photo can even come close to what you see with your own eyes – pure goosebumps! Follow the hiking trails, such as the Bright Angels Trail, to breathtaking viewpoints on the canyon's South Rim. Or, if you'd rather take it easy, go by car or hop on one of the free shuttle buses. Want more action? Then hike along more of the trails! The view at Hopi Point is particularly good in the afternoon, when the sun bathes the canyon in beautiful shades of red, creating a fascinating play of colours that you won't want to miss.

A bucket-list moment rarely comes alone, which is why your first stop is the famous Monument Valley (entrance fee payable on site)! In total awe, you whizz through an empty desert with not a soul in sight until suddenly, huge buttes rise up out of the ground. It feels like you're in a film. And no wonder, because films like 'Once Upon a Time in the West' and 'Easy Rider' were shot right here – Wild West vibes, and you're right in the middle of it. All that's missing is a cowboy popping up between the rocks! You find the coolest spots in the valley along the Scenic Drive, and just when you think there couldn't be more, you've got to think again! Bucket list item number two awaits you at sunset: a look into the depths at the aptly named Horseshoe Bend in Glen Canyon, where the Colorado River makes a 270° horseshoe-shaped bend (entrance payable on site). As the sun hangs low, it transforms the rocks around the river into a true spectacle of colour and bathes them in ever-changing shades of red.