Jump to a day
Stops, in order
California's laid-back southern corner — perfect weather, a huge cultural park, a historic aircraft carrier, and the sea lions of La Jolla.
Surreal desert of twisted trees and giant boulders, next to a mid-century-modern oasis of pools and palm-lined streets.
The sprawling capital of entertainment — Hollywood and the studios, the Getty and the Broad, the beaches at Santa Monica and Venice, and the theme parks. A big, sun-soaked stay.
The red-tiled 'American Riviera' and the Central Coast beyond — a hilltop mission, a Danish village, Hearst's fantasy castle, and elephant seals.
The biggest living things on earth — groves of giant sequoias — above one of the deepest canyons in America.
The cathedral of American wilderness — sheer granite walls, thundering waterfalls, giant sequoias, and the incomparable Yosemite Valley. A full, glorious stay.
A gorgeous stretch of coast — a world-class aquarium, Steinbeck's Cannery Row, the fairytale village of Carmel, and the wild cliffs of Big Sur just south.
California's newest national park — volcanic spires, talus caves, and the soaring California condor.
The city of fog and hills — the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, cable cars, and some of the country's best food and neighborhoods. A full stay.
California's capital and Gold Rush river town — a domed statehouse, a restored 1850s waterfront, and a great railroad museum.
America's most famous wine country — valley after valley of vineyards, tasting rooms, a wine train, and Calistoga's mud baths and geyser.
The dazzling blue alpine lake straddling the California–Nevada line — South Lake Tahoe and the gondola up Heavenly, Reno's neon and its car collection, Nevada's little capital, and the Comstock ghost town of Virginia City.
An uncrowded wonderland of the southern Cascades — bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles, and a volcano that erupted a century ago.
A New England-style village on wild headland bluffs, sea-glass beaches, and a vintage steam train through the redwoods.
The tallest living things on earth — cathedral groves of coast redwoods, a fern-walled canyon, and elk on the wild far-north coast. The last stop in California.