California Destination Guide

Think of California and think of LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Palm Springs and a visit to the state would not be complete without including all of them. However, California has far more to offer than its four major cities. The state, which spans a large proportion of the western seaboard of the USA, appeals to those in search of the diversity and natural beauty offered by places such as Yosemite National Park, Death Valley, the Wine Country and the Big Sur coastline.

LA, as most Californians know it, is a varied, sprawling city offering a wide variety of attractions and sights. The “City of Angels” is perhaps most famous as the home of filmmaking with Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures and of course Universal Studios Hollywood® all open for tours.

Distances between the various neighbourhoods can be huge and for example, from downtown Los Angeles to Anaheim is some 60 miles! This is the city of the car and there are millions of them, so expect traffic jams at peak times! As an alternative, there is a very clean, efficient subway system, which links some of the main areas such as Universal Studios, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and even goes out as far as Anaheim, Long Beach and Redondo Beach. Possibly the most famous shopping street in the world, Rodeo Drive, is in Beverly Hills – also probably the most expensive with wall-to-wall designer stores. For more down-to-earth shopping, well, Los Angeles is really a suburban sprawl encompassing lots of small towns with their own shopping areas. Try the new mall at Hollywood and Highland or go to the pedestrianised 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica for every High Street brand name there is. If you’re looking for great nightlife, then LA is glitzy and you never know when you will see a “star”! Eating out can be as expensive as your pocket can stand, but there are some great value places too.

Things to see and do in and around Los Angeles

Beverly Hills - The most affluent and elegant residential area of southern California. Even if you don’t purchase a map of the stars’ homes and track down the mansions of the famous, allow time to shop along Rodeo Drive, the city’s premier shopping street. Whilst in Westside, as this truly glamorous area of LA is known, be sure to take a drive through the hills of Bel Air to see its lavish homes and spend some time on Sunset Strip, home to hip clubs such as Dan Aykroyd’s House of Blues.

Hollywood - For many, this is the first image of LA. You can walk along Hollywood Boulevard’s ‘Walk of Fame’ and view almost 2,000 stars’ names, see the landmark Mann’s Chinese Theatre and study the footprints and hand prints of the famous. However, don’t be fooled into thinking you will be rubbing shoulders with the stars, if you really want to see one, visit the Hollywood Wax Museum!  A brand new centre piece in the area is the ‘Hollywood Highland Centre’, the new home of the Academy Awards presentations and an entertainment centre boasting a five screen multiplex theatre, world class restaurants and one-of-a kind shops.

Universal Studios Hollywood® - The World’s Largest Movie Studio and Theme Park - Witness the live magic, music and mischief of the Rugrats Magic Adventure, experience the reality-shattering Terminator 2:3D, ride to the moon with E.T. and get T-Rex-size thrills and chills on Jurassic Park - The Ride. Don’t miss Nickelodeon Blast Zone and Animal Planet Live! Plus, visit Universal CityWalk, featuring 65 of LA’s hottest restaurants, night clubs and shops. It’s all right here and it’s all waiting for you at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Film Studio Tours - Whilst in LA take time out to visit Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers for a real taste of the movies. You can often pick up tickets for live recordings of TV shows as well.

Long Beach - Home of the Queen Mary, the Aquarium of the Pacific and five and a half miles of unspoilt beaches, this ‘Big City by the Beach’ also offers a varied selection of arts, culture, shopping, dining and night-life. Getting around is easy with free transportation to all downtown major attractions with the Passport Shuttle Service.

The Getty Centre - 110 acre arts and cultural museum in the Brentwood Hills where you can view the priceless European art and antiques the museum houses. The museum is free although advance car parking reservations are required.

Santa Monica - Five miles of white sandy beach and a varied collection of shops, night spots and restaurants make this LA’s most exciting beach community. Make time to see the ferris wheel at the famed Santa Monica Pier and check out Third Street Promenade, a browsers heaven of book stores, boutiques, restaurants and cafés.

Disneyland – the original “Disney” is in Anaheim around 60 miles from downtown LA.  Whilst smaller than the Orlando version, it is most definitely worth a visit.

Knott’s Berry Farm – in Buena Park is another popular theme park with some exhilarating rides!

Top Tips

Go to a movie at Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Go to Santa Monica and hire a bike (or for the true LA experience, rollerblades) and check out the path along the beach. Great people watching.

Take the short trip from Long Beach to Catalina Island - explore and relax.

Go and watch the world’s best basketball team - if you can get a ticket that is.

Go to McCormick and Schmick’s, round the corner from Rodeo Drive, for Happy Hour and some great value appetisers – big enough to make a meal of!

Take a tour and spot the homes of the stars.

Like most great cities, a major part of San Francisco is on the waterfront. The Pacific Ocean to the west and the stunning San Francisco Bay to the east are joined in spectacular fashion by the Golden Gate Bridge - the city’s most famous landmark. Founded in 1776 by the Spaniards, it is today one of the most well known cities thanks to the many movies that have delighted us with street scenes encompassing cable cars and vehicles flying over the city’s many hills. San Francisco’s most famous form of transport, the cable car, is also one of the best ways to travel between the two main tourist areas - Union Square and Fisherman’s Wharf. Almost all the major attractions can be visited on foot from the many boarding points. All day and multi-day public transport passes are available and offer unlimited use, not only of the cable cars, but also the extensive bus and mini-metro (underground). The best area for shopping is the Union Square area, where most of the major stores have a branch.  

Other notable areas are Ghiradelli Square, Pier 39 and the Cannery. Close to Union Square is a lively theatre district and also a wide variety of restaurants. For a unique dinner visit Chinatown. Fisherman’s Wharf also boasts a selection of restaurants, many not surprisingly, specialising in seafood.

Things to see and do in San Francisco

Fisherman’s Wharf - The centre for the city’s commercial fish industry is California’s second most visited tourist attraction. Walk through open-air fish markets and check out the craft shops at Pier 39.

Alcatraz Island - ‘The Rock’ can be visited by catching a 15 minute ferry across the one and a half miles of water from Pier 41. A fascinating and unique opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Al Capone and the famous birdman.

Golden Gate Bridge - No visit to San Francisco is complete without a photograph or two of the city’s most famous landmark.

Lombard Street - Famed as the world’s most crooked street, take the time to view the interesting façades and colourful flowers.

Golden Gate Park - A 1,000 acre area that includes bike parks, hiking trails, numerous sports fields and three lakes offering boating opportunities. A very popular place with the locals at the weekend.

Union Square - Since 1850 Union Square has been the heart of San Francisco’s downtown and boasts some of its finest department stores and most exclusive boutiques.

Chinatown - Home to one of the largest Chinese communities outside Asia, this 14 block area boasts some of the best Chinese cuisine in the States.

Nob Hill - An elegant hilltop area of hotels and residences, home to the Gothic Grace Cathedral and Huntington Park and the place to see some of the best views of the bay.

Top Tips

Take the ferry over to Sausalito, or hire a bike, cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge and catch the

Blue and Gold ferry home.

Consider buying a San Francisco CityPass, which includes a book of admissions tickets to various attractions as well as seven days  unlimited use of the cable cars and local buses.

Go on a tram, but expect to queue!

San Diego offers wonderful beaches along 70 miles of glorious coastline and five of California’s leading attractions - Sea World®, Adventure Park, San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Legoland® California and Old Town Historic Park. Add the almost perfect climate with the wide range of unique shopping and dining and you will see why San Diego is so popular. The city’s major shopping areas are Horton Plaza, Seaport Village, Fashion Valley and Old Town. Designer brands are available at big discounts at the Carlsbad Company Stores Mall to the north of the city whilst a shopping trip to Mexico is also popular. Old Town offers the largest collection of restaurants with a wide variety of Mexican cantinas. For those wanting something a little livelier, try the Gaslamp Quarter in the downtown area. The village of La Jolla boasts a popular restaurant row with many establishments offering spectacular ocean views.

Things to see and do in San Diego

Old Town Historic Park - A mixture of historic buildings and recreations on the site of California’s first permanent Spanish settlement offering a wide variety of unique shops, craft displays, restaurants, museums and exhibits.

Balboa Park - 1,400 acres of lakes, lawns and groves that are home to a complex of 12 museums, a theatre and a collection of restaurants.

Beaches - San Diego boasts over 30 great beaches. The most popular are Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and Torrey Pines Beach.

Sea World® Adventure Park - San Diego’s most visited attraction offers a rare opportunity to view a wide variety of marine life, including Shamu Backstage® - the world’s first interactive killer whale attraction.

Mission Bay - A waterfront park allowing you the opportunity to water-ski, sail or swim. One of the ‘in’ places for locals at weekends.

Mission San Diego - California’s first mission, founded in 1769, is the Mission de Alcala. It was the first of 21 missions founded by Franciscan missionaries from Spain - the site includes a museum, archeological ruins and beautiful gardens.

San Diego Zoo® and Wild Animal Park® - The world famous San Diego Zoo is found in Balboa Park, spread over 100 acres and home to 760 different types of animals. A three mile tour by bus allows you to view most of the exhibits but without the effort!

Legoland® California - Interactive Lego themed park designed especially for families with children aged 2 to 12 years old.

Top Tips

Take a stroll around Old Town and dine at one of the many international restaurants.

Take the trolley to the Mexican border and visit the shops in Tijuana.

Explore the city by taking an Old Town Trolley tour.

From mid-December to mid-March, go whale watching and see the California grey whales.

The desert town of Palm Springs and its neighbours, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells, are a major attraction for their spectacular scenery and their warm, dry climate – on average 350 days of sunshine a year and an average temperature in the 70s in January and low 100s in the summer months. The resort complexes are a lesson in leisure and relaxation – many offering championship golf courses, giant, turquoise swimming pools, tennis facilities and lush, landscaped gardens.

Coastal California

Monterey - 120 miles south of San Francisco is the Monterey peninsula - home of Monterey and gateway to the U.S.’s most beautiful coastline. Monterey is a picturesque town with a wealth of interesting shops and restaurants. When you drive south from Monterey you will soon be enjoying the famed Big Sur coastline - just follow the twisting highway for 120 miles of fantastic views. San

Luis Obispo - This former mission town is a popular stopping point for anyone driving between LA and San Francisco. It is surrounded by stunning scenery - desert like dunes, volcanic plugs and peaceful green pastures and offers excellent restaurants, first class shopping and arguably California’s most beautiful mission building.

Santa Barbara - America’s Riviera is located just 92 miles north of LA, offering a relaxing environment, outstanding scenery and a sunny climate for most of the year.

Ventura - Enjoying an average daytime temperature of 72°C Ventura deserves its year round resort status. It is located 60 miles from LA and boasts miles of uncrowded beaches, pristine offshore islands, rugged mountains plus history and culture.

California’s National Parks

Death Valley National Park - Is the lowest point in the western hemisphere and also one of the hottest (highest recorded temperature is 134°F). Located 286 miles from Los Angeles, it is surrounded by a variety of mountains and canyons, with some of the most spectacular sights being the eroded badlands of Zabriskie Point, Devils Golf and Dante’s View.

Sequoia National Park - Located 215 miles from Los Angeles and 278 from San Francisco the park is home to the most impressive sequoia trees. Not as tall as the coast redwoods but older, more impressive and set amidst stunning alpine scenery.

Yosemite National Park - Yosemite is California’s gem, over 1,000 square miles of mountains, waterfalls, forests, valleys and granite spires. The most visited part of Yosemite is the valley area which is seven miles long and one mile wide.

Northern California

Lake Tahoe - A year round resort community with a truly breathtaking setting on the California/Nevada border 195 miles east of San Francisco, Lake Tahoe offers superb hiking, beaches, cruises, a collection of casinos and all types of watersports.

Mammoth Lakes - A four season recreation area boasting spectacular scenery, located in the High Sierras, 264 miles from San Francisco. Activities include mountain biking, skiing, fishing, hiking and rock climbing.

Sacramento - California’s state capital and the heart of ‘Gold Country’, is located 94 miles east of San Francisco. In Old Town Sacramento visit the 28 acre river front area with its historic buildings, shops and restaurants.

Wine Country - Located just 46 miles north of San Francisco is America’s premier wine growing region. Napa Valley and Sonoma have around 300 wineries - most of which can be visited. The town of Napa itself is small - most of the restaurants, shops and activities are found in the beautiful valleys that surround the town.

Things to see and do in the rest of California

Visit the “fabled” Hearst Castle, approximately 40 miles north of San Luis Obispo (on the way to or from the Big Sur coastline and Monterey peninsula). Tours take you around the majestic rooms, swimming pools and courtyards of this fascinating monument.

Joshua Tree National Park – immortalised by U2 (!) - is 794,000 acres of the most ruggedly beautiful scenery. Mountains of jagged rock, cactus gardens and oases surrounded by palm trees and the rows of Joshua trees make this a marvellous day out from Palm Springs.

Top Tips

Take care when planning your route through Yosemite from October to May as the Tioga Pass on the eastern side of the park is closed.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is popular and queues can be long at peak times – get there early!

Bear in mind the distances. The scenic Highway 1 stretch from San Francisco to Los Angeles is more than 400 miles and it is a difficult road to drive. Make sure you allow time for frequent stops to admire the scenery and don’t plan to do it in one day!

Savour especially the Highway 1 section between Big Sur and Santa Barbara (with San Luis Obispo at its mid-way point) – spectacular and stunning.

It’s impossible to do California justice in one trip – plan to do a bit this time and then, come back again!

The North Coast from San Francisco to the Oregon border is dramatic and for lovers of sea life, it is home to migrating whales and other sea mammals.

Visit a winery in the Napa Valley and sample the wine (not if you’re the driver though!)

Pack for changes in temperature – the weather can change quickly as you travel from coast to mountains.