California: Best of

San Diego has the spirit of a city en plein air. Overlooking a stunning bay, it boasts one of the largest natural harbours in the world, a thriving restaurant and nightlife scene in its historic centre, SeaWorld - the largest marine park in the world - , the world famous San Diego zoo; Seaport Village; the legendary beaches of Mission Bay and Coronado; Balboa Park.

From San Diego you either follow the I-5 freeway into Los Angeles or, if you have time, you just do the 65-mile drive to Dana Point where you can join the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy-1) that follows the coast across the pleasant seaside communties of Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, one of the largest communities in Orange County, best known as one of the places where surfing took off on the U.S. mainland. The history and culture of West Coast surfing is recounted in the fantastic International Surfing Museum (411 Olive Ave., $2), two blocks from the pier in the heart of the lively downtown business district. After Huntington Beach, Hwy-1 continues along the coast past a series of natural marshlands and small-craft marinas, then it bends inland to bypass the ritzy communities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, passing instead through the industrial precincts of San Pedro that border the Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor, one of the busiest on the West Coast. Winding south and east from Long Beach. At Hermosa Beach, one of a trio of pleasant if surprisingly blue-collar beach towns, Pacific Coast Highway changes its name to Sepulveda Boulevard, the Tarantino-esque communities of LA’s South Bay, which utterly lack the glamour of chichi Santa Monica and Malibu. After passing through a tunnel under the airport runways—worth the drive just for the experience of seeing huge jets taxiing over your head— Sepulveda runs into Lincoln Boulevard. You are in Los Angeles ready to reach your destination for the night. 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.

It is a tiny village with less than 600 inhabitants that overlooks the homonymous bay and is mainly known for the castle of publishing magnate Hearst, celebrated in Orson Welles' film "Citizen Kane".

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.

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.

Leave the Sierra Nevada behind and cross the legendary land of the 1849 Gold Rush. 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.