"NOW walk along the corridor until you reach cell 403, " commanded the voice. We peered through the open door to a cramped, dingy space with a narrow, spartan bed, a small desk and chair.

It's no wonder prisoners sent to the rocky island of Alcatraz thought of very little apart from escaping, especially when San Francisco lies so tantalisingly close across the bay.

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My family and I are on a three-hour tour of the infamous prison immortalised in so many films. "Here is the cell that Frank Morris dug his way out from, " continued our tour guide. We learnt that while all other attempts at freedom ended in failure, this prisoner masterminded the plan that took him and two others away on a makeshift raft in 1962, inspiring the 1979 Clint Eastwood movie Escape From Alcatraz. They were never seen again.

San Francisco was the first stop on our two-week fly-drive tour of America's West Coast. Now that our two children Sophie, 16, and 13-year-old Ben are both teenagers, my wife Julie and I decided to be more adventurous than our usual self-catering European breaks.

Planning our trip carefully, we incorporated some key sights with time out for relaxation. We were staying at bustling Fisherman's Wharf, from where the ferry departs for Alcatraz and which is home to numerous restaurants, bars and shops.

Taking one of the city's famous trolley bus tours, it began with the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

We got a glimpse of it earlier from Alcatraz, with the fog swirling around its vertical heights but crossing the 1.7 mile-long suspension bridge is a big part of the San Francisco experience, with spectacular views of the city and bay.

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The tour also took us inland and up many of the city's 43 hills. We looked down from the exclusive residential areas of Pacific Heights and Nob Hill.

It was here that railroad magnates and other rich businessmen from the Gold Rush era competed to build the best mansions, which were mostly destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire.

From the ashes arose grand hotels such as the Fairmont, also scene of many Hollywood films, whose elegant façades are characteristic of the area.

On our second day we headed back to the central Union Square for some retail therapy in Macy's and the surfer dude shops such as Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch in the fashionable Westfield Centre before lunching at the House of Nanking in Chinatown, the largest outside Asia.

Here, we tucked into some delicious shrimp and leek dumplings and pan-seared scallops.

The next day we flew to Las Vegas. Built purely to (legally) satisfy a lot of guilty pleasures, the city's brashness still knocks you sideways. We checked in to the massive 5,000-room MGM Grand, where the lobby is as loud and busy as a major railway station concourse and from where the casino floor stretches as far as the eye can see.
Even the standard rooms are big and filled with Hollywood-style decor.

Las Vegas Boulevard - or The Strip - is a great place to amble and take in the craziness of it all, although as each hotel seems to be half-a-mile in length, you need to be selective.

After the children had been on the hair-raising rollercoaster that winds its way in and out of the New York New York hotel, we went on a gondola ride in The Venetian resort and zoomed in an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel. This half-scale 460ft replica cost more than the original to build and offers amazing night-time views of the city lights.

Both fans of the TV series Friends, Sophie and Ben were eager to check out Caesars Palace, where we tracked down the chapel where Ross and Rachel married in haste.
Las Vegas is the perfect base for a trip to the Grand Canyon, another of our "must sees" on this whistlestop tour.

Our 45-minute helicopter ride was the ideal way to experience it, swooping above The Strip and the spectacular Hoover Dam before flying low over the canyon. Nothing quite prepares you for the sheer size of this geological wonder with its sides that rise 3,000ft creating endless panoramic views.

After frenetic Las Vegas, we headed to Huntington Beach, nicknamed Surf City, 40 miles south of LA. Our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa, an immaculate four-storey cream-coloured complex set in manicured gardens, overlooks a broad sweep of golden sand lined with palm trees.

Our teenagers had a surf lesson with a good-natured instructor who had lived his whole life within 100 yards of this beach. It wasn't their first time but it was the most intensive and both collapsed exhausted after an hour of catching the waves.

Eating out is a real pleasure. We had breakfast at the legendary Sugar Shack on Main Street, where you put your name on a clipboard on the sidewalk and wait your turn to savour pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. It's also a great place to people watch.

At night we settled down at Duke's at the end of the pier, a buzzing Hawaiian-themed restaurant famous for letting you choose your fresh fish and how you want it seasoned.

Huntington was a great place to laze around but we had hired a car at LA Airport so that we could cruise along the freeways for days out at both San Diego Zoo and Universal Studios in Hollywood.

At the zoo we loved the pandas and polar bears, one of which put on a great show, leaning casually against the glass viewing window munching carrots.

Universal Studios Hollywood, in sharp contrast, is a monument to man's creative talents, with displays of famous movie scenes including Jaws, War Of The Worlds and King Kong 360, the latter thrilling visitors with the world's largest and scariest 3D experience. We also enjoyed the Jurassic Park raft ride.

The real winner for us was The Simpsons virtual ride, a surround-sound cartoon rollercoaster combining funny moments with a wild and terrifying "ride".

It was scary but not half as scary as the thought of being incarcerated in a gloomy cell in Alcatraz.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
Virgin Holidays (0844 557 3859/www.virginholidays.co.uk) offers 12 nights in the US from £1,879pp (two sharing), room only. Price includes flights from Heathrow to San Francisco, Las Vegas to LA, and return flight to Heathrow, three nights at the Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf, two nights at the MGM Grand Hotel and seven nights at the Hyatt Regency.

Maverick Aviation Group (www.maverickhelicopters.com) offers Grand Canyon helicopter excursions from £287pp.

California Travel & Tourism Commission: 0207 257 6182/www.visitcalifornia.co.uk; Las Vegas CVA: 0207 367 0979/www.visitlasvegas.co.uk