California Grand Tour

San Francisco’s iconic streets twist up and down its many hills and scenic bridges connecting it to the mainland – chief among which the red Golden Gate. San Francisco is a charming, multi-faceted city, regarded as a liberal, enlightened oasis in a rather conservative America.

There are several beautiful seaside locations along the way, such as Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz and Capitola Beach. The centerpiece of Monterey is its magnificent harbor, Monterey Bay. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary provides homes for seals, sea lions, dolphins, otters, and many more marine species. To learn about these denizens of the sea you can't miss the Monterey Bay Aquarium: to avoid the big lines at the main gate, buy your tickets online and get in by the Advance Ticket Holder entrance, which, as you're facing the building, is down an alley about one hundred feet to the right of the main entrance. Monterey County is known for its wines: stop by the Cannery Row tasting room for A Taste of Monterey, which serves wines from a number of different area wineries and has a breathtaking view of Monterey Bay. Don't miss Old Monterey. This historic district isn't just there for looks; it's still a thriving downtown. Many of the historic adobes are now home to fabulous restaurants and bars.

Touted as one of the “Happiest Places in America,” San Luis Obispo is a special town full of outdoor adventures. Tucked between the Coast Range and the Pacific, San Luis Obispo, or “SLO,” is a walkable college town with a Mediterranean marine climate, a renown wine region, a downtown filled with charming shops, restaurants, and a dynamic nightlife. The town offers a large choice of quaint cafes, fine dining, breweries and wineries. With over a dozen craft breweries many breweries also serve their own hearty meals, host food trucks and feature live music. You might want to check-out Bang The Drum Brewery, the smallest brewery on the Central Coast, BarrelHouse Brewing Co, or Central Coast Brewing.

Santa Barbara has a beautiful location on the hills overlooking the ocean, about 150 km north of Los Angeles. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1925, it was completely rebuilt in a Spanish style with red tile roofs and lime walls. To find what remains of the original colonial buildings, you must visit the 200-year-old Presidio de Santa Barbara or the beautiful Mission Santa Barbara on the hills. The main street, with shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, is State Street: from here you can reach the old Stearns Wharf (1872), with more restaurants and the fish market, in the center of a beautiful stretch of beaches.

Along the Pacific coast, one encounters several iconic locations: luxurious Montecito, home to many international jet set stars; Ventura, where one can stop to visit the beautiful old town and stroll along the pier that stretches out over the ocean; Malibu, long famous for its long sandy beaches, waves perfect for surfing, luxurious hillside villas, and wellness culture. Los Angeles – the land of Hollywood, Disneyland and Universal Studios, where life is as carefree as can be. With its ever-shining sun, palms in the breeze, movie stars with their fancy houses in Beverly Hills, wonderful museums, futuristic buildings, and surfing spots, Los Angeles truly makes for an unforgettable destination.

Death Valley takes you back to what Earth looked like millions of years ago. In the summer the weather is especially scorching, reflecting on the names of the places in the area: Funeral Mountains, Furnace Creek, Dante's View, Coffin Peak, Devil's Golf Course.

Today you drive up from the Death Valley depression through the highest automobile pass (9,943 ft.) in California. The change in scenery is staggering, in the same day you will experience the hot and stark Death Valley desert and glacier-carved granite peaks with lush evergreen forests. Consider a very very early start, not only because of the 310-mile, 6-hour drive, but for the traffic jams you will find in Yosemite. You exit Death Valley via Hwy 190 then join Hwy 136 heading north to Lone Pine, where you enter I-395. The change in scenery is striking, from the desert you start traveling into the forests and mountains of the High Sierra. Lone Pine is the setting for many an old western movie, including "How The West Was Won" and "Gunga Din". Further north, at Bishop you can pick up some of the acclaimed Sheepherder’s bread and sandwiches at Erick Schat’s Bakkery. You pass Mammoth Lakes, a laid-back mountain town surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the west. At Lee Vining you turn left into Hwy 120, the Tioga Road / Big Oak Flat Road Scenic Byway that takes you to Yosemite Tioga Road/Big Oak Flat Road This byway offers a spectacular passage over the Sierra Nevada. 64 miles - Take 90 minutes to drive or three hours to visit places along the way.California. Yosemite National Park, nested amidst the Sierra Nevada mountains, is one of the most famous national parks in the world. The altitude of its peaks ranges from 600 to 4,000 m. The park boasts more than 4 million visits per year. It is divided in four areas: Yosemite Valley – the area that draws more visitors – , with its granite Half Dome, the sheer rock formation of El Capitan, and the famous waterfalls; Wavona, the park’s historic core; Mariposa Grove, close to the southern entrance, with the giant sequoia cluster of Mariposa, and the Grizzly Giant, one of the largest trees in the world; and Tuolumne Meadow, in the hidden heart of the park, a favourite destination, brimming with paths, lakes, forests and granite massifs. The park is criss-crossed by the Tioga Road, the only way to cross the Sierra Nevada (Tioga Pass, more than 3,000 m) and to go in and out of Nevada.

Blue as a topaz and circled by majestic peaks, this High Sierra gem straddling the California-Nevada border is a bucket-list staple, a place where the air is “very pure and fine...it is the same the angels breathe,” according to author Mark Twain. Lakefront towns dot the shoreline, each with their own appeal. Winter and springtime snow lets you carve it up at world-class alpine resorts. Summer brings out the water toys—sailboats, stand-up paddleboards, kayaks, and almost anything that floats. Fall paints the hills with golden aspen leaves. Lake Tahoe lays claim to some of the country’s top alpine resorts. On the north shore, Squaw Valley, Northstar California, and Alpine, the sister mountain to Squaw, are top draws, especially on powder days. On Tahoe’s south shore, Heavenly—one of the world’s biggest ski resorts—offers jaw-dropper lake views from runs as wide and bump free as freeways. Heavenly has also bumped up the fun even if you don’t ski or board, with on-mountain zip lines, tube runs, scenic gondola rides, and a party-like atmosphere on and off the mountain. Tahoe is also home to lower-key resorts—Boreal, Donner Ski Ranch, Homewood, Sierra at Tahoe, Soda Springs, Sugar Bowl, Tahoe Donner. You can also head out on groomed cross-country and snowshoe trails at Royal Gorge or Kirkwood. For a real treat, get your mush on with a sled dog ride near Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, or in Hope Valley, just south of Lake Tahoe. In summer, many of these same resorts—especially Northstar, Heavenly, and Squaw, offer summertime fun such as mountain biking, hiking, and scenic tram or gondola rides—a great way to get high up in the mountains without a lot of effort.

Roughly an hour’s drive north of San Francisco and boasting more than 400 wineries, Napa Valley is a connoisseur’s paradise, inviting visitors to explore beyond the region’s signature Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Don’t miss, for instance, the rediscovered Merlot, whose plush texture and earthy cherry flavor are appealing to a new generation of red wine fans. Long considered California’s most famous wine region, Napa Valley exploded into the global spotlight following the 1976 Judgment of Paris, when a Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from Calistoga trounced nine other Chardonnays in a blind tasting in Paris, including extremely prestigious bottles from France. At the time, France was considered the world’s forerunning wine region, but this triumph forever changed the international perception of Northern California’s wines. Today, the region boasts some of the most coveted wine grapes anywhere, including To Kalon Vineyard, planted in the 1860s, plus contemporary cult bottlings like Screaming Eagle and Harlan Estate. Napa Valley cuisine has come into its own as well, with dozens of world-class restaurants offering meals on a par with the vintages served up alongside them. When to visit Napa Valley? Each season has its charms. Spring’s emerging grape leaves turn hillsides brilliant green, plumed with golden swaths of mustard blossoms. Summer warms up with events and festivals (and their attendant crowds), so plan on packed schedules. Fall brings the crush, as vineyards and wineries bustle with workers. Winter settles into a cool hush: Insiders know this is a time to snag reservations at the area’s galaxy of Michelin-starred restaurants, shop for holiday gifts in gaily decorated but quieter towns, get a seat on the Napa Valley Wine Train, and relax in greater intimacy at posh spas.