Great American West - From Denver to Yellowstone through Wyoming, North and South Dakota

Founded in 1859 by gold seekers from Kansas and Georgia, Denver marks the boundary between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains that provide a splendid backdrop. A university town and the capital of American craft beer, it is called the 'Mile High City' because it is located exactly one mile (about 1600 meters) high, as noted on the 13th step of its Capitol building. Modern and youthful, it has trendy neighborhoods for all tastes and is pleasant to explore on foot, featuring diverse architectures ranging from Victorian to postmodern, along with art, history, culture, shopping, and a vibrant nightlife.

Yellowstone is one of the largest parks in the USA, and the oldest national park in the world (it was opened in 1872). What truly makes it unique, though, is its enormous central area, which is in fact the huge caldera of a dormant volcano (the last eruption dates back to 640,000 years ago). Thousands of geysers outburst in the caldera, and several other geothermal features can be seen there – hot springs, mudpots, acid lakes. The area is also home to many animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, moose, deer, cougars and coyotes.

Bozeman, the "queen city of the Rockies" for its strategic location among mountains, canyons, valleys, lakes, and rivers, is also an important university town. Always culturally vibrant, it offers museums, art galleries, festivals, and in recent years trendy bars and hotels.

Medora is a charming western-style town, famous for its summer musical held in the scenic Burning Hills Amphitheater and for the original Pitchfork Steak Fondue, which allows you to taste excellent meat cooked and served on a pitchfork. It is the gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

At the entrance of the scenic region of the Black Hills, Rapid City was born as a camp during the gold rush. Renowned for shopping at Prairie Edge, a magnificent store of authentic Native American art, and RCC Western Stores, one of the largest and oldest western merchandise stores in the nation.

The town of Hot Springs is worth a visit for its oldest attraction, the Evans Plunge Mineral Springs water park, and for the nearby Mammoth Site, an ancient karst sinkhole where the fossilized remains of over 61 mammoths have been discovered.

Cheyenne marks the gateway to the great expanses of the north, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance and an endless horizon. The builders of the Union Pacific Railroad arrived here in 1867 and found an outpost of gamblers and gunmen, known as ‘Hell on Wheels’. The railway terminal can still be seen here, to the east of the city, while to the west are the military installations that housed the first intercontinental missile base in 1957. The cowboy atmosphere is tangible and authentic, in clothing stores such as the large Wrangler store in the main square and in the numerous honky-tonk bars, but above all during Cheyenne Frontier Days, a 9-day festival with the largest outdoor rodeo in America, which takes place every year at the end of July and attracts thousands of people to attend concerts by country music stars, parades, wagon races and air shows.