Explore Holidays launches biggest ever US product range

Explore Holidays has launched what represents its biggest ever range of US product with the release of “America 2008”.

The wholesaler has effectively doubled its range of West Coast hotels, adding new accommodation options in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Las Vegas and also on the east coast with extra choice now available at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

Coach touring options too have been expanded with several new west and east coast programs.

A 14-day/13-night ?National Parks Explorer? is one of three new west coast tours.

Priced from $2225* per person twin share, the itinerary links San Francisco and Los Angeles via Yellowstone and eight other national parks plus Reno, Salt Lake City, and the Grand Canyon.

Price includes all accommodation, sightseeing and transportation.

Features of a five-day/four-night “Great Eastern Cities” itinerary ex-New York include wine tasting at Lake Seneca, Niagara Falls, Gettysburg, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

The program is priced from $1103* per person twin share with similar inclusions.

Sightseeing options have been widened with the introduction of a new round of fresh and unusual programs featuring some of the very latest attractions on the US travel scene.

These include self-drive tours of San Francisco at the wheel of a “Go Car”, the bright yellow two-seater “talking cars:” guiding passengers along a set route complete with commentary.

“Go Car” hire starts from $52* per hour.

A “Wok Wiz Chinatown” tour explores San Francisco’s Chinese culture with guided visits to temples, markets, traditional shops and teahouses.  Priced from $59* per person, the tour includes a multi-course luncheon with dim sum.

One of the more breathtaking US sightseeing programs on offer in 2008, Explore Holidays has combined an aerial tour of Nevada’s Hualapai Indian Tribal Lands and the Grand Canyon with the region’s newest attraction, the spectacular “Skywalk” glass bridge.

Priced from $311* per person ex-Las Vegas, the seven-hour “Indian Adventure with Skywalk” includes a canyon flyover, a rustic ground tour of the Indian homelands, a canyon-edge meal and a walk on the “Skywalk” suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River.

The Colorado River also forms the venue for a new seven-hour 11 mile “Colorado River Raft Tour” priced from $149* per person including a boxed lunch.

New York sightseeing product too has been widened with a number of new short cultural and special interest tours, several of which visit famous TV and movie locations.

These include a three hour “New York TV & Movie Sites” tour visiting 40 locations used for more than 60 shows and movies. Prices for this tour start from $42* per adult

More focused “Sex & the City Hotspots” and “Sopranos Sites” tours are also available.

Explore Holidays has also beefed up its choice of Los Angeles sightseeing modules with several new programs including a “Hollywood Behind The Scenes” walking tour and an “LA City Tour By Night” tour .

*Conditions apply. Please note prices do not include international airfares.

For more information, contact Explore Holidays on 1300 73 1000 or (02) 9423 8000 or visit www.exploreholidays.com.au or book via CalypsoNet.

A Report by The Mole