California Travel Guide: San Francisco, Yosemite, Napa and the Coast

California is the US state I'd tell a first-timer to visit, and the one that keeps pulling me back. It's got everything the other states specialise in rolled into one: a world city, national-park mountains, wine country, desert strangeness and one of the great road-trip highways on Earth. It's a big state - always budget more days than you think - and this guide covers the bits I know best.

San Francisco

San Francisco is the best walking city on the West Coast, and the skyline is instantly recognisable from every angle. The rotunda of the Palace of Fine Arts, reflected in its lagoon:

Don't-miss list: the Golden Gate Bridge from Crissy Field or the Marin headlands, a cable car over the hills, Fisherman's Wharf and the sea lions at Pier 39, Alcatraz (book weeks ahead - the audio tour is excellent), and the Palace of Fine Arts, which looks like Roman ruins transplanted into a neighbourhood park. The Transamerica Pyramid from the street:

Bring layers, whatever the season - the city's microclimates are real, and "coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" is not a joke.

Yosemite and the Sequoias

Yosemite is the crown jewel, and Tunnel View is the entrance worth building a day around: El Capitan on the left, Bridalveil Fall on the right, Half Dome dead centre:

In the park's southern reaches, Mariposa Grove holds the giant sequoias, including the Grizzly Giant - around 3,000 years old, and one of the largest living things on the planet:

Tips: enter early (the valley fills by mid-morning), and if you'll hit three or more national parks on the trip, the America the Beautiful annual pass pays for itself.

Napa, Sonoma and California's Wine Region

An easy day north of San Francisco sits one of the great wine regions of the world, and worth every minute. On the Napa Valley side, the Rhine House at Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena is one of the most beautiful winery buildings in the country, and the tastings along Highway 29 run from casual to serious.

Two or three tastings a day is plenty, pick a designated driver or join a tour, and book ahead on weekends - Napa gets busy. The headline act is Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga: a genuine full-scale 13th-century-style Tuscan castle built brick by brick, with its own dungeon and great hall. I did the tour and it's as good as it sounds - a full guide to the castle is coming.

Wine region doesn't mean Napa alone. Sonoma County next door is the quieter, less polished side: Sonoma Valley around the historic Mission and the Sonoma Plaza (the largest plaza in California, ringed by tasting rooms and good restaurants), Russian River Valley for pinot noir, and Healdsburg and Dry Creek for a slower afternoon. Sonoma's wineries are generally cheaper and easier to walk into than Napa's, and the region is bigger than most first-timers expect - pick one or two valleys per day rather than trying to see it all.

And if your California trip runs into the desert, Salvation Mountain and East Jesus out past the Salton Sea is the strangest day trip I've done in the state.

Los Angeles

LA is enormous - think neighbourhoods, not one city centre. The essentials: the Hollywood Sign (best seen from Griffith Park or Lake Hollywood Park), the Griffith Observatory at sunset, the Santa Monica Pier and the beach bike path down to Venice, the Hollywood Walk of Fame if you must, and the Getty museum on its hilltop with views over the city. Universal Studios Hollywood is the theme-park pick if you want one.

I got my Hollywood Sign shots from Lake Hollywood Park - it's the classic view, the sign sits right above the trees, and you don't need a strenuous hike to earn it:

Even on a grey LA morning the sign reads perfectly:

TV fans, the real Oppenheim Group office from Selling Sunset is on Sunset Boulevard if you want the photo outside it. And the LA beaches are worth the drive in their own right - this is Manhattan Beach at sunset:

Traffic is real: plan one or two neighbourhoods per day rather than criss-crossing the city.

San Diego

Two hours south of LA, and arguably the better weather. Priorities: Balboa Park with its museums and gardens, the world-famous San Diego Zoo next door, La Jolla Cove with the sea lions, the historic Gaslamp Quarter, and the beach towns - Coronado, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach. The USS Midway Museum on the waterfront is one of the best ship museums anywhere. It's an easy day trip from LA or a border-adjacent add-on if you're road-tripping the coast.

More Places Worth a Stop

California is bigger than any one trip, so here's the rest of the shortlist to build around:

• Santa Barbara - Spanish-style coastal city halfway between LA and Big Sur; the mission and State Street are worth a stop on a Highway 1 drive
• Monterey and Carmel - the aquarium, Cannery Row and 17-Mile Drive, right where Highway 1 gets dramatic
• Big Sur - Bixby Bridge, McWay Falls and the cliff-hugging road itself
• Lake Tahoe - alpine blue water straddling the Nevada line, great in both summer and ski season
• Palm Springs and Joshua Tree - mid-century desert cool and the surreal boulder-and-joshua-tree landscape, an easy add-on from LA
• Redwood National and State Parks - the tallest trees on Earth, way up on the north coast; a trip of its own

Highway 1 and Hearst Castle

The Pacific Coast Highway is the drive people fly across the world for, and it deserves two unhurried days. San Francisco down through Santa Cruz, Monterey and Big Sur, where the road clings to cliffs above the Pacific. Stop at Hearst Castle at San Simeon - William Randolph Hearst's hilltop estate with the Neptune Pool - standard tours run about $35 for adults and book up to 60 days ahead, so reserve before you drive. Then San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and on to Los Angeles.

Plan Your Visit

• When: September and October are my pick - summer fog lifted, valley heat easing, and the parks quieter. Spring brings waterfalls to Yosemite
• Getting around: you need a car everywhere except San Francisco itself. Distances are huge - Los Angeles to San Francisco is six-plus hours even on the fast road
• National parks: Yosemite needs an entry reservation in peak season; check before you go
• Wine country tastings: most charge per tasting and book ahead; weekdays are quieter and cheaper
• City costs: San Francisco and LA run at big-city prices; budget accordingly

Final Thoughts

California is the trip that spoils other trips. A single week can take in a world city, a 3,000-year-old tree, wine country and a coastal drive people rank among the best on Earth - and I still haven't seen it all. Fly in, hire a car, and don't over-schedule: the state rewards the detours. Deeper guides to San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Napa and Sonoma are on the way.

Planning the same road trip? Start with the United States Travel Guide: Tips From an Expat, and keep going with the Ark Encounter in Kentucky or Nashville.

More World Travel Guides

• Japan Travel Guide
• Salvation Mountain and East Jesus: California's Strangest Detour
• Ireland Travel Guide
• Florida Travel Guide: Theme Parks, Beaches & the Keys