Magic Mountains to the Wild West

Fourteen nights from Denver to Las Vegas, combining two days on the Rocky Mountaineer with a self-drive through red rock country, with the price quoted on application.

The rail leg is the unusual part. The Canyon Spirit runs along the Colorado and crosses the Continental Divide through the Moffat Tunnel, six miles of it bored under the mountains, then past Mount Garfield into Utah, with a night at Glenwood Springs in between.

Denver opens it, with a baseball game at Coors Field optional. Moab follows for two nights, where the hire car is collected, with a guided walk in Arches and a long list of options in Canyonlands: a Hummer tour at either end of the day, a float on the Colorado, white water, riding, canyoneering or climbing. Monument Valley comes next for a night at The View, then three nights at Amangiri near Lake Powell, with a guided tour of Antelope Canyon, and Zion, with the Narrows hike through the river. A Grand Canyon helicopter flight from Las Vegas, landing inside the canyon for a champagne picnic, closes the trip.

The rental car, the Rocky Mountaineer journey, the named hotels, the Arches walking tour, the Antelope Canyon tour, economy flights from London, the transfers and UK airport lounge passes are all included; the helicopter flight, the Canyonlands adventure tours, equipment fees and ballooning are extra. The price is given on application. Spring and autumn are the seasons for the desert sections, since southern Utah and Arizona in high summer are extremely hot and the Narrows is closed when the river runs high. Fifteen days arranged as rail, then road, then a flight home from Las Vegas is an unusual shape and avoids doubling back on anything.