California: Best of

San Diego stretches across the southernmost tip of California, along the Pacific coast just steps from the Mexican border, blessed with the mildest, sunniest climate in the United States and an unmistakably laid-back seaside spirit. This is where California's first Spanish mission was founded, and that past survives in Old Town, where adobe houses, courtyards and Mexican cooking recall the city's origins. Its monumental heart, however, is Balboa Park, a vast urban garden home to Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, some fifteen museums and the famous San Diego Zoo, among the most important in the world. Towards the harbour, the Embarcadero waterfront lines up historic tall ships such as the Star of India and the floating museum of the USS Midway aircraft carrier, while the Gaslamp Quarter pulses with evening life among Victorian buildings, restaurants and bars. The beaches set the city's rhythm: the elegance of the Coronado peninsula with its historic hotel, the surf at Pacific Beach and Mission Beach, the cliffs and coves of La Jolla where sea lions and seals bask in the sun. The cuisine celebrates the closeness to Mexico with its fish tacos and a lively craft-brewery scene that has made San Diego a capital of American craft beer. All around, scenic roads lead to theme parks, nature reserves and, across the border, to Mexican Tijuana for a day trip. Between sunshine, ocean and an ever-living Hispanic-Mexican heritage, San Diego invites you to experience the most authentic California at the slow pace of days by the sea.

From San Diego, take the I-5 freeway to Los Angeles, or if you have time, drive the first 100 km until you reach Dana Point, where you can take a detour onto the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy-1) that follows the coast, passing through pleasant and interesting places like Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach, the birthplace of continental American surfing. The history of surfing on the West Coast is told in the fantastic International Surfing Museum (411 Olive Ave., $2, subject to change), two blocks from the pier. After Huntington Beach, Hwy-1 continues along the coast, crossing marshes and small harbors, and then turns inland through the industrial districts of San Pedro, bordering the Los Angeles-Long Beach port, one of the busiest on the West Coast, bypassing the upscale communities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In Hermosa Beach, the Pacific Coast Highway becomes Sepulveda Boulevard and passes through the LA South Bay communities, as depicted by Quentin Tarantino in the 1997 film Jackie Brown. After the Sepulveda Boulevard Tunnel, which passes under the runways of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) - worth it just for the experience of seeing the giant jets roll over your head - Sepulveda becomes Lincoln Boulevard. From here, choose the fastest route to your accommodation. Los Angeles, home to Hollywood, Disneyland, and Universal Studios, is the epitome of carefree living for visitors: year-round sunshine, palm trees swaying in the wind, movie stars with luxurious residences in the hills of Beverly Hills, stunning museums, avant-garde architecture, and surf beaches.

San Simeon is a small, evocative town on California's Central Coast, famed above all for being home to the extraordinary Hearst Castle, a sumptuous residence built by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst on the hills overlooking the ocean. Along the nearby shore stretches a colony of elephant seals, observable year-round. Set on the Pacific waters along the spectacular Highway 1, the area offers wild vistas and memorable sunsets. Between historic opulence, marine nature and scenic roads, San Simeon is an unmissable stop on the Big Sur.

Monterey stretches along its namesake bay on California's central coast, where the nature of the Pacific puts on a show. Its celebrated Monterey Bay Aquarium, overlooking the old canning district of Cannery Row immortalised by John Steinbeck, ranks among the finest in the world. From here begins the scenic 17-Mile Drive, winding past wind-sculpted cypresses, cliffs and coastal mansions to Pebble Beach. Nearby, Carmel-by-the-Sea charms with its art galleries and white beaches, while the bay rewards visitors with sightings of whales, otters and sea lions. Between seafood cuisine and inland vineyards, Monterey is an invitation to experience the most authentic and wild side of California.

Bass Lake rests among the forests of the Sierra National Forest in California, a mountain lake ringed by pines and granite a short distance from Yosemite. A beloved summer holiday destination, it offers swimming, fishing, water-skiing and boat trips on its sparkling waters. The surrounding trails lead to alpine views and cool pine woods.

Yosemite National Park is one of the world's most famous natural sanctuaries, set among the granite peaks of California's Sierra Nevada and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Yosemite Valley opens between the imposing walls of El Capitan and Half Dome, the thundering waterfalls such as Yosemite Falls and the meadows crossed by the Merced River. Forests of giant sequoias and alpine plateaus complete a legendary landscape. Yosemite is the ideal destination for those seeking grand nature, climbing and the iconic wilderness of California.

You leave the Sierra Nevada by crossing the region that was the protagonist of the Gold Rush in 1849. Wrapped in the fog that drifts in from the bay and draped over steep hills facing the Pacific, San Francisco is one of America's most beloved cities, refined, rebellious and deeply cosmopolitan. Its symbol is the Golden Gate Bridge, the unmistakable red span reaching out towards the ocean, revealed and hidden by the morning mists. To walk the city is to be surprised by its rolling streets, still climbed today by the famous cable cars that scale the heights of Nob Hill and Russian Hill, offering sudden glimpses of the water. Along the Fisherman's Wharf waterfront the sea lions of Pier 39 bark and the air smells of sourdough bread and fresh crab, while offshore stands the island of Alcatraz, with its historic penitentiary reachable by boat. The charm of San Francisco lives in its neighbourhoods: the Victorian Painted Ladies around Alamo Square, the Chinese energy of Chinatown, the oldest and liveliest in America, the rainbow, activist streets of the Castro, and the bohemian ferment of Haight-Ashbury, cradle of hippie culture. At the city's core, Union Square buzzes with shopping and theatres, while the Civic Center and museums such as SFMOMA and the de Young reveal its cultured soul. Green spaces abound: the vast Golden Gate Park holds Japanese gardens, conservatories and trails down to the ocean. The dining scene is among the most innovative in the country, from fusion cuisine to the wines of the nearby Napa and Sonoma Valley and organic markets. From San Francisco it is easy to set out for California's national parks, the redwoods of Muir Woods and the Big Sur coast. Free, creative and swept by the ocean wind, San Francisco wins over anyone willing to be led by its hills and its suspended light.