Deserts and Las Vegas road trip: 9-day itinerary

Name: Deserts and Las Vegas road trip: 9-day itinerary
Brand: Étaperia
Price: 39 EUR
Availability: InStock
Author: Kylian

From the yuccas of Joshua Tree to the lowest point in America, then four nights in the excess of Las Vegas.

Compiled by Kylian, updated on Aug 23, 2026

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign lined with palm trees at the entrance to the Strip

9 days
40 places
9 nights
fast pace

Start: San Diego
End: Valley of Fire, on the road to Zion
Main transport: Car, then walking on the Strip
Recommended season: October to May, winter included, the mild season of the deserts; from June to September, Furnace Creek tops 104 °F (40 °C) and no valley-floor hike is reasonable after 10:00 AM in Death Valley and Joshua Tree

What you get

The complete itinerary: 9 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
A PDF file of 16 pages

What the price does not include

Flights
Hotel nights
Tickets and admission fees
Travel insurance
On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The itinerary preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 6

The Strip, from the Bellagio to the Venetian

Morning

Bellagio Conservatory and Fountains of Bellagio

The Bellagio winter garden, redecorated each season with tens of thousands of flowers, then the ballet of fountains on the 8.6-acre (3.5 ha) lake: 1,200 jets up to 459 feet (140 m), every 30 minutes in the evening. Free and unmissable.

Paris Las Vegas and The Cromwell

The half-scale Eiffel Tower and its observation deck at 459 feet (140 m), a scaled-down Arc de Triomphe, then The Cromwell, the smallest luxury hotel on the Strip, in the spirit of a Parisian town house.

Afternoon

The Venetian and its gondolas

Venice under air conditioning: the indoor Grand Canal with its singing gondoliers, St Mark's Square under a permanent artificial dusk. Unashamedly kitsch, astonishing in execution.

High Roller

The 551-foot (168 m) big wheel, taller than the London Eye: 30 minutes of rotation in a glass cabin, the whole Strip at your feet. The sunset slot is the most sought after.

Caesars Palace and the Forum Shops

Back "home" through the Forum Shops, their animated statues and spiral staircase: the most profitable shopping center in the United States.

Evening

KÀ by Cirque du Soleil (MGM Grand)

The most technical Cirque du Soleil show: a 40-tonne rotating vertical stage, aerial battles and acrobatics. Book online, the central seats are worth the supplement.

€39 incl. tax

that is €4.33 per day of travel

Billed in euros. If your card is in another currency, your bank converts at its own rate.

Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the terms of sale, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 9 days

Buy

A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 2 business days.

The day-by-day rundown

9 stops, 750 km as the crow flies

Day 1 From San Diego to the Joshua Tree desert Japanese Friendship Garden and Botanical Building Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 2 Joshua Tree, from the Mojave to the Colorado Ryan Mountain Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 3 Route 66 and the way into Death Valley The road from Joshua Tree to Death Valley, by Amboy and Shoshone Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 4 Death Valley, from sunrise to sunset Zabriskie Point at sunrise Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 5 From the ghost town to the neon of the Strip Rhyolite Ghost Town Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 6 The Strip, from the Bellagio to the Venetian Bellagio Conservatory and Fountains of Bellagio Free
Day 7 The other Las Vegas: atoms, the mob and neon Atomic Museum Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 8 Vegas from the sky Helicopter flight over Las Vegas Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 9 Valley of Fire, then the road to Zion Atlatl Rock, Arch Rock and Rainbow Vista Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

1 day is free to read above. The other 8 unlock when you buy. Buy the itinerary, €39

Found an error in this itinerary? Report an error

Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

Spring and autumn are the only comfortable windows: in summer, Death Valley and Joshua Tree become hostile, and any valley-floor hike after 10:00 AM is out of the question.
Badwater Basin sits at -282 feet (-86 m), the lowest point in North America, and concentrates the heat. A gallon (4 liters) of water per person per day in the car.
Three starry-sky evenings on the program (Joshua Tree, Mesquite Flat, Valley of Fire): desert nights are cool, pack a warm layer.

Transport and permits

Car for the whole module, about 1,120 miles (1,800 km), including the 4 hr 45 crossing between Joshua Tree and Death Valley via Amboy and Route 66.
Fill up before every park: stations are rare in the deserts, very expensive at Furnace Creek, and sometimes closed.
On the Strip, everything is done on foot and by monorail: the four nights in Las Vegas need no car.

Formalities and safety

Short tourist stay under ESTA: $40.62 per person since October 16, 2026, on esta.cbp.dhs.gov, no later than 72 hours before departure.
Sensitive bookings: the Jumbo Rocks and Watchman campgrounds open 6 months ahead on recreation.gov. The Sphere, Cirque du Soleil's KÀ, the helicopter flight and the Neon Museum at dusk are booked about a month ahead.
No compulsory vaccine; up-to-date routine vaccinations recommended. Insurance covering US medical costs is essential.
No signal in much of Death Valley: offline maps and booking slots downloaded before entering.

Budget and meals

America the Beautiful annual pass: $80 for US residents, $250 for non-residents, valid for the whole vehicle: Joshua Tree and Death Valley are two paying national parks on this module alone.
Las Vegas is the heaviest item: a show at the Sphere, KÀ, the helicopter flight and the resort fee of the Strip hotels, often charged on top of the room.
Meals: $15 to $25 at lunch, $30 to $50 in the evening, plus tax and an 18 to 20% tip. Two camping nights out of the nine.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening and says where you spend the night, with the address and booking link for each place to stay. Timed-entry tickets are flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is compiled day by day, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Module, classic or complete itinerary: which one should I choose?

A classic is a short trip built to stand on its own, designed for a first visit to the country. A module covers one region in depth. The complete itinerary crosses the whole country, and buying it also unlocks each of its modules in your customer account.

Can I get a refund if the itinerary doesn't suit me?

No. It is digital content delivered right away, and you waive your right of withdrawal at checkout. To judge before you pay, every product page gives one full day for free and the list of every stop. After purchase, the guarantee applies: a closed hotel or a permanently closed place is corrected within 7 days, otherwise you get a refund.