11-Nights Classic California Road Trip - Tailormade Journeys — CALL

Itinerary Details

1 Arrive San Francisco, Usa
With its dizzying ocean views and constellation of Michelin-starred restaurants, free-spirited San Francisco is a feast for the senses. A famous bastion of counterculture, its parks, bookshops and vintage boutiques each have a story to tell.


Meals:

2 San Francisco | Street-Level Immersion

Join a local guide on a bike ride to Sausalito, gliding through city streets, from Fisherman’s Wharf, Fort Mason and the Marina District to Presidio National Park and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, and then cruise around the bay on a shared catamaran. Keep your eyes peeled for marine wildlife such as sea lions and pelicans and watch the sun sink over the Golden Gate and infamous Alcatraz Island.

Whether it’s the towering sequoias, the cooling mists of Bridal Veil Falls as it plunges from the heavens or the sight of El Capitan, Yosemite outdoes itself at every turn. In this awe-inspiring landscape crafted over millions of years, where a raw, almost childlike sense of wonder prevails, adventure is seared into every soaring granite cliff.

Explore waterfalls and rock formations, like incredible Half Dome, and roam up to the High Country landscape of meadows, lakes and unbeatable vantage points offering envy-inducing travel photo opportunities.

Originally the site of California’s second Catholic mission, this diminutive beach city on the Monterey Peninsula has blossomed into a characterful community of storybook cottages, boutique art galleries and fine-dining restaurants. Scenic hiking trails span outwards along the coast, from the surfing hotspot of Carmel Beach to the bird sanctuary on Carmel River State Beach.

Venture privately, behind the scenes, at famed Monterey Bay Aquarium — a conservation mecca home to an astonishing 10,000 marine animals — to view kelp fronds teeming with wolf eels, sharks, sardines and more, along with an Open Sea exhibit housing the likes of puffins, sea turtles and jellyfish.

Travel along California’s scenic coastline past Big Sur, where chaparral-carpeted promontories drop dramatically into the Pacific Ocean. Stop off for a guided hike into McWay Canyon, home to towering sequoia redwoods, before proceeding to charming Santa Barbara – the “American Riviera.” Backed by the hazy Santa Ynez Mountains, this upmarket coastal city is home to some of California’s best and most exclusive beaches, its powdery shores beloved by surfers, jet skiers and fishermen alike.

Just beyond the horizon lie the sea caves and kelp forests of the remarkable Channel Islands, where you take the plunge into sea-kayaking and snorkeling, exploring this picture-perfect national park with its captivating sea caves and marine life.

Fifteen miles west of downtown Los Angeles, beach-blessed Santa Monica is the epitome of laid-back California coastal cool. Its three miles of golden sands host boardwalks, a retro amusement park and countless seafront restaurants, while the bluff-top Palisades Park is perfect for kicking off a freewheeling, three-mile cycle to Venice Beach. Soar over the City of Angels in a helicopter, soaking in Sunset Boulevard and the Hollywood sign from the air, as well as spotting celebrity real estate in the A-list neighborhoods of Hollywood Hills and Bel Air.

Get to know WeHo, as West Hollywood is known, both on and off the Sunset Strip, in style. A tour of a major studio, a drive through the scenic Hollywood Hills or a bowl of classic chili at beloved Barney’s Beanery may be in order. By night, insider access to the hottest clubs on the Strip can be arranged.

In this palm-lined paradise there’s always more to experience, from the sun-soaked beach, the chance to go surfing, the paleontological discoveries of the La Brea Tar Pits or the famed Chinese Theater.