Photo Credit: J. Stephen Conn
We've compiled a list of the 19 best guided tours in the US. Sometimes you need a little expertise and a guide with local knowledge will make a visit more enjoyable. The tours below, (with the exception of the self-driving tours), are all led by informative guides, whose experience will keep you safe and give you a fun time.
Walking Tours
The Wayfarers walking vacations include trips to Alaska, New Mexico, and the Coast of Maine. For stupendous canyon scenery, the 7-day Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion trip begins at the Grand Canyon and finishes in Springdale. Highlights offered are a visit to an old western movie town and a ghost town, and watching the sun go down over Grand Canyon.
Trek America organize walking / camping tours in National Parks and wilderness areas, including the famous Appalachian Trail Walk. The 10 day trip starts and finishes in New York City and goes through New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts.
Self-Driving Tours
The lure of the open road awaits and the Trail Ridge Road, Colorado offers glacier formed peaks and forest in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Peaks reach more than 12,000 feet above sea level. This 55-mile route can be driven between half a day to a day.
To see the changing colors of fall, the Kancamagus Highway, New Hampshire from Lincoln to Conway, (34 miles) is a terrific drive with access to trails for scenic walkabouts. The route goes through the White Mountains National Forest where moose, black bears, and deer are quite common sights.
Both these routes are highly recommended by touring guides for driving.
Boating Tours
Airboat USA specialize in trips into the Florida Everglades on airboats and swamp buggies, with trips lasting between 1.5 hours and 9 hours. The longer the tour, the deeper into the everglades, passengers will go. Spotting alligators is on the itinerary, and perhaps otters and deer, and there is a stop at an Indian Village. The ‘Dining with the Gators’ trip allows passengers to bring a picnic.
The San Francisco Bay Cruise Adventure is a narrated 1-hour tour run by Blue and Gold Fleet. Passengers can choose between indoor or outdoor seating as they sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and learn about the historic waterfront.
Historical Tours
History America Tours offer the grandly named Revolution in the Southern Colonies: Wearing Down the British 9 day tour, which explores the battles against the British that involved Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The guides are historians and the tour price includes luxury coach travel, hotel accommodation, and meals.
Stephen Ambrose Tours are also led by historians and they specialize in WWII excursions, such as Band of Brothers, (Ambrose wrote the book on which the TV series is based), and Operation Overlord. Other tours include the Civil War and Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, which follows their path in Montana and Idaho.
Brewery Tours
The second oldest brewery in the United States is featured in the Minhas Craft Brewery tour in Monroe, Wisconsin. The tour includes a gift pack, a visit to the museum and gift shop, and a tasting session of the beer products.
The Stone Brewing tour at Escondido in California is in a garden setting and their brewery tours include a guided tasting and the in house bistro serves lunch following the tour.
Nature Tours
The beautiful native flora and fauna of Hawaii makes the Oahu Nature Tours a wonderful prospect. Glorious scenery is assured on these eco-tours that include the Diamond Head Crater Adventure, the Mountain Rainforest Adventure, and the Valley of the Rainbows Adventure.
Alaska is another destination with opportunities to see stunning landscapes and fascinating wildlife. Maple Leaf Adventures organize a 12-day tour called Alaska Adventures: Small Ship Cruise By Sail led by professional naturalists. Passengers travel by schooner to observe humpback whales, puffins, and bears.
Equestrian Tours
Short equestrian tours from 2 – 5 days are available from Hidden Trails in several states, including Colorado, Missouri, and New Mexico. Riders stay in lodges and inns, and are looked after by experienced rider/guides. The Grand Tetons Backcountry Rides in Idaho promise glacial lakes, mountain passes, and meadows.
Equitours organise riding treks in Utah, California, Massachusetts, Alabama, Arizona, Vermont, Texas, and Wyoming.
Movies /TV Tours
The Big Apple has provided lots of locations for shows and movies and All New York Tours organise a guided tour by bus to over 40 sites in Manhattan. Passengers can get off the bus to photograph the highlights. The 3 hour tour features places associated with Friends, Will and Grace, The Devil Wears Prada, Ghostbusters, and many more.
Hollywood’s Universal Studios have been making movies since 1915 and Hollywood Tours take visitors behind the scenes and on to film sets and special effects stages. The 10 hour tour also includes a visit to the studio’s movie themed amusement park.
Ghost Tours
Prepare to be frightened on the Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks, Ghost Hunts, and Ghost Dinners in New York as experts explain the history of haunted locations, such as the Mount Hope cemetery. There may be an encounter with the town’s notorious ghost, the Lady in White!
Spellboundtours run the Vampire and Ghost Hunt Tour through the streets of Salem, Massachusetts where the graveyard and jail is said to be haunted. Guides will tell tales of the witch dungeon in 1692 and how vampires come to be.
America’s Most Haunted City Tours run a series of ghost hunting tours in Savannah, Georgia, a city with a reputation for ghostly sightings.
Whatever your interest or hobby, there’s a tour for you. The opportunity for trying something new is also there. So many tours! So little time! Have a favorite tour that didn't make our list of the 19 best guided tours? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
