Coach trip to Utah and California ?

[Thekatzenjammerkid]

Big birthday coming up in 2 years and we are considering a trip to the US and in particular Utah and California, mainly national parks and some of the coastal highway.
DP doesn’t really want to drive so considering a coach trip of some kind.
Can anyone recommend some decent tour operators that specialise in the US or that are generally good and reliable ? TIA

@Thekatzenjammerkid Never been on a USA coach but trains might be nicer. Look at Great Rail Journeys. Also don’t try and do too much in terms of distance and don’t go in the height of the summer. Titan Tours would have something too. For me, unless you have at least 3 weeks, I’d do National Parks in Utah and Arizona and possibly go into Colorado, or California. Not both if you don’t have several weeks.

I did USA as a skint 19 year old a fair few years ago now. We just turned up in LA and booked a local minibus tour company. It was fabulous. Fake age on our international driving license helped us getting into bars too!

Thanks ! I’ve heard of Titan, think a relative has been away with them. DP generally drives if we are on hols but obviously can’t look at the scenery properly at the same time.

Cosmos is excellent.

@Thekatzenjammerkid In Utah and Arizona etc there’s lots of pull offs. We stopped quite a lot. Between NPs there’s long drives that are not so interesting. However on a coach you are stuck with their itinerary and hotel choices. Plus you might not stop where you want to. Can you not share driving?

If you do self-drive, don't underestimate the distances between the NPs in Utah (and Arizona) and also that the some of the roads aren't that great. You also need to plan, with almost military precision, your park visits. e.g. Arches National Park now requires a booking to be made 3 months in advance

If you really want to fit in the US coastal highway in the same trip, I'd look to finish your NPs trip in Vegas and then fly to San Francisco or LA from there - it's a deadly, long boring drive from Vegas to the California coast