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23 Most Beautiful Places to Visit in California

From the mountaintops to the lowest point in North America, these are the best places to visit in California.

Adrian Rudd/Travel + Leisure

California has a reputation for being a surfer's paradise . And sure, its sandy beaches are something to marvel at and indeed a must-see on any visit. But as the third largest state in the nation, it’s so much more . From mountains to deserts to wine towns and the Mouse House, here are 23 most beautiful places to visit in California. 

Palm Springs

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Those seeking a chic, mid-century modern getaway should consider Palm Springs . The average high never falls below 69 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning no matter when you visit, you’ll get to enjoy some fun in the sun. Book a few nights at The Good House , a bungalow-style hotel that sits on its own natural hot springs, which will leave you feeling renewed. 

Joshua Tree

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Not far from Palm Springs, Joshua Tree offers more desert fun. However, you’ll want to trade in your poolside outfit for hiking gear. Explore the massive Joshua Tree National Park, then check out the plentiful vintage shops in downtown Joshua Tree to hunt for treasures. Stay a few nights at AutoCamp Joshua Tree for a glamping stay unlike any other.

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It’s time to head to California’s wine country . And no, we aren’t talking about Napa. Head to the southern part of the state’s wine region, Temecula . Located in southwestern Riverside County, this destination is home to gorgeous vineyards growing some 50 varietals of wine, from cabernet sauvignon to chardonnay. Enjoy a boutique stay at The New Inn , which comes with just five stunning villas for ultimate privacy.  

Santa Monica Pier

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The entire city of Santa Monica is worth a visit, but don't miss the iconic Santa Monica Pier while there. The 1,600-foot pier comes with a little amusement park featuring a roller coaster so you can get a bird’s-eye view of the beach below before taking a short, belly-flipping drop back down. Then, rest your head at the Shore Hotel , which provides views of the pier, too.

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For a dose of Southern California cool, head to Long Beach. As the name implies, the seaside community comes with plenty of beach frontage, but it also boasts its fair share of culture. That includes the RMS Queen Mary , docked at Queensway Bay; colorful pieces at the Museum of Latin American Art; and more than a few fish swimming at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Stay at The Cove Hotel , which is within walking distance of all the city’s best attractions.

Mammoth Lakes

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You'll want to trade your surfboard for a snowboard with a visit to Mammoth . The beloved ski resort is home to some of the best powder in the world, as well as one of the longest ski seasons in the nation. Don’t feel intimidated if you’re a newbie, as the mountain has a robust ski school available. Stay at the Sierra Nevada Resort , a revamped classic that’s equal parts rustic and charming, making for an ideal mountain getaway.

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Gulp in a breath of fresh air during a visit to Lake Tahoe . This lake destination, tucked in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, straddles the neighboring state of Nevada as well. It’s an all-season delight, with skiing in the winter , wildflowers in spring, warm days by the shore in summer, and fall foliage to round it out. Book a room at Edgewood for a luxurious stay with lakeside views to boot.

Santa Barbara

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Santa Barbara deserves a spot high on any must-see list of California. Its gorgeous beaches, quaint shops, stunning street art, and plenty of delicious seafood restaurants make it a place worth experiencing for more than a long weekend. Book a stay at the divine San Ysidro Ranch , a 500-acre private enclave tailor-made for total relaxation. 

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

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Take in the endless vistas at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park . Visitors here may find super blooms in the spring, but don’t skip over this destination in the summer, fall, or winter, either. The state park is a stellar place for hiking, admiring avant-garde art at Galleta Meadows, and even pitching a tent just about anywhere with a bit of backcountry camping.

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Looking for awe-inspiring views? Take a drive up Highway 1 to Big Sur . The cliffside community overlooks some of the most jaw-dropping coastline in the state, and it's home to some hiking trails worth exploring, too. Sleep at the Post Ranch Inn , which provides those epic ocean views out of every window.

Disneyland Resort/Christian Thompson

Sneak in a little magic by paying a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth:  Disneyland . Choose between visiting either one of its two parks, or snag a Park Hopper pass to see both in one go. Then, spend your nights at the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa , where you can view the park right out your window. 

Yosemite National Park

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Feel inspired by Mother Nature at every turn with a visit to Yosemite National Park . Here, you can gaze upon the breathtaking views of Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome while hiking to lookout points or taking a slow drive with the windows rolled down. Stay inside the park and camp at Curry Village , home to 14 tented cabins that sit under centuries-old trees.

Channel Islands

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Hop a boat to the Channel Islands , an archipelago that remains wild and free. Explore the eight islands, which are home to more than 2,000 species of plants and animals, by hopping from one to another or scuba diving off the coast. Again, it’s another perfect spot to pitch a tent, so you never have to leave the great outdoors. 

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Looking to paddle out with the best surfers in California? Then, it’s time to head to San Diego , the place to be for a surf lesson (or two) and lounge session on the warm, sandy shore. But the city also has plenty more to explore, from fantastic breweries to the world-class San Diego Zoo. Book a stay at Pendry San Diego , which features a rooftop pool so you can take a dip and enjoy the city skyline all in one.

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For more wine-centric fun, head to the small town of Healdsburg, where you’ll find plenty of wineries happy to pour you their best glass. Guests here can also live like a local by shopping, dining, and strolling through the Plaza, exploring the downtown area, or taking a hike through the pristine landscapes. Book a night or more at the Montage Healdsburg , which comes with so many luxuries, you may never want to leave.

San Francisco

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Get an urban escape in San Francisco . The NorCal city is home to plenty of delicious dining venues and shopping galore on Haight Street. While here, take some time to explore the outdoor spaces too, like The Presidio and Golden Gate Park, both of which offer fantastic views. Stay at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco , beloved by Travel + Leisure readers, as it was voted the best hotel in the city in our 2022 World’s Best Awards.

Death Valley

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Don’t let the name Death Valley fool you. Death Valley National Park is a place teeming with life — if you know where to look. Visit Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, and check out the endless salt flats, which happen to be home to an endemic snail only found here. It's also worth exploring Salt Creek, home to another endemic species — the pupfish, which have evolved to live in the salinated waters. Then, snag a room at the historic Inn at Death Valley , a recently revamped desert oasis that will cater to your every whim. 

Big Bear Lake

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Find smaller mountain magic at Big Bear Lake. In the winters, the community becomes a snow-filled heaven, much to the delight of skiers and snowboarders in Los Angeles, who can get there in under a three-hour drive. Come summer, Big Bear transforms into lakeside bliss, so no need to pick one or the other, as every season here is perfect. Book a stay at Noble + Proper , a gorgeous, high-design hotel.

Santa Catalina Island

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Grab a boat to Santa Catalina Island , where you can hop on a bike (we recommend an e-bike to help battle the massive hills) and pedal for as far as your legs will take you around the jagged coast. Stop in for a bite, a drink, or an ice cream in the city of Avalon, or head inland for a tour of the island’s wild buffalo herd. Lay your head at the Hotel Atwater , a more than 100-year-old gem in Avalon. 

Redwood National Park

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Located in the northern part of the state, Redwood National Park is home to some of the tallest trees in the world — some so large, you have to drive through them to get by. Again, it’s best to stay in the park, which is entirely possible, thanks to the delightfully charming little abodes at Elk Meadow Cabins . 

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Even though Hollywood is actually a relatively small neighborhood in Los Angeles, its larger-than-life reputation makes it a star. Come see the famed Hollywood sign , honor your favorite celebrities on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and tour icons like the TCL Chinese Theatre. Stay at ​ The West Hollywood Edition , a sleek property located in the center of the action.

Laguna Beach

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See one more surf mecca by visiting the Southern California gem of Laguna Beach. This coastal town is bursting with artistic talent, which you can check out in its numerous galleries or by taking a self-guided tour to admire its impressive outdoor public art. Like San Diego, it, too, is a great place for a surf lesson. Or, you can always just hang on your board long enough to watch a pod of dolphins swim by. Spend the night at the Surf & Sand Resort and leave the windows open all night to snooze to the sound of the crashing waves outside. 

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The charming community of Solvang is well-known for its Danish-style architecture that will make you feel like you've been transported to Europe. Here, visitors can indulge in more of California’s wine culture, too. Book a stay right in town at the Mirabelle Inn , home to First & Oak, a Michelin Plate-designated restaurant. 

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20 Best Places to Visit in California

California is known as the mecca of celebrity culture in the USA and in some ways, it is; this is where you’ll find Hollywood, after all! But there’s a lot more to this large American state than famous faces, film studios and the amusement parks that go with them. It’s also home to Silicon Valley, the global headquarters of many big tech companies. And don’t forget the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

There’s also some fantastic natural beauty on offer in California. There are giant redwoods to see, deserts and rock formations, and fantastic beaches along the coast. It’s home to sweeping landscapes, vineyards, and a collection of cities that are as famous as the state itself: think San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Packed full of culture and good food, the best places to visit in California are fascinating to explore.

Map of California

20. Santa Cruz

Located on the northern shore of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz lies just to the south of San Jose and San Francisco. Known for its beautiful beach boardwalk and counterculture scene, the city is a very pleasant place to spend some time, with lots of incredible scenery nearby.

Life in ‘Surf City’ revolves around its beaches and boardwalk, which attract everyone from families and students to hippies, surfers, and street performers. As such, there is a very youthful and bohemian feel about town, with watersports such as paddle boarding, sailing, and surfing to be enjoyed.

Besides its wonderful waterfront, Santa Cruz also has a fun and lively downtown home to a plethora of great restaurants, shops, and bars. In addition, the nearby Natural Bridges State Beach and Big Basin Redwoods State Park are both well worth visiting for their lovely nature trails and spectacular scenery.

19. Sonoma Valley

Part of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma Valley lies just to the north of the city, not far from San Pablo Bay. Home to lovely rural landscapes, the fertile valley is renowned for its vineyards and wineries. It was actually here that California’s world-famous wine industry began.

Much more relaxed and laidback than the glitzy and glamorous Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley is a pleasant and picturesque place to visit. In the town of Sonoma, you can find a number of excellent restaurants serving up local delicacies, as well as tasting rooms where you can sample some of the region’s fine wines.

Scattered around the Valley of the Moon (as it is also known) are sprawling estates and quaint wineries. Hiking and cycling are popular pastimes while taking a balloon ride above Sonoma Valley allows you to bask in the splendid scenery below.

18. Santa Monica

Bordered on three sides by Los Angeles, Santa Monica is a laidback beachfront city that offers a welcome respite from sightseeing around the home of Hollywood. Developed as a seaside resort town in the early 20th century, SaMo has long been a popular tourist destination due to its sun, sea and sand.

Jutting out into the Pacific is the bustling Santa Monica Pier, which sports a huge Ferris Wheel and old-fashioned amusement park. While this is great fun for the whole family, plenty of other activities can be enjoyed along its expansive beachfront, such as swimming, volleyball, and surfing.

Besides its golden sands, Santa Monica has a thriving alternative scene for visitors to delve into, with little art galleries and street murals to be found at the Bergamot Station Arts Center. A wealth of great bars, restaurants, shops, and hotels are also scattered about town catering to every budget and clientele.

17. Palm Springs

Palm Springs is a year-round desert playground on Interstate 10, connecting the Los Angeles area with Arizona. Home to many celebrities over the decades, Palm Springs is a good place to golf in the wintertime when temperatures are cooler than in summer.

The city, once popular with college students on spring break, is known for its mid-20th century modern architecture featured in many homes and business buildings. This architectural style is celebrated annually with Modernism Week. Sonny Bono, half of the defunct Sonny and Cher singing duo, once served as major of this southern California city.

While the desert oasis city once attracted Hollywood movie stars in the 50s and 60s, Palm Springs now appeals to all kinds of tourists and travellers and is home to a sizeable retiree population. There’s hiking in the nearby desert and San Jacinto Mountains as well as a plethora of museums to explore.

16. Joshua Tree National Park

Lying to the east of Los Angeles at the point where the Colorado and Mojave Deserts meet, Joshua Tree National Park is home to incredible wilderness and spectacular scenery. Named after the distinctive tree-like Yuccas that dot its diverse desert landscapes, the park has long been popular with nature lovers and outdoor aficionados.

Exploring the national park’s mountains, canyons, and rock formations really is a treat, with plenty of scenic trails and climbing routes snaking through the rugged scenery. As two separate desert ecosystems lie within the park, there is lots of diverse fauna and flora on show. Coyotes, rattlesnakes, and golden eagles can all be spotted from time to time.

While hiking, rock climbing and camping are all popular, the park’s dramatic geography and odd-shaped Joshua Trees make for some incredible photos. Such is the majesty and mystique of the Mojave Desert that U2 famously named one of their best-selling albums, The Joshua Tree, after it.

15. Laguna Beach

Set in a very scenic spot along southern California’s Pacific coastline, Laguna Beach is a beautiful place to visit with a very Mediterranean look and feel. While it is home to lots of beautiful beaches and luxury resorts, the popular seaside resort city is particularly known for its thriving artistic community.

Gorgeous public sculptures and art galleries can be found around town, with quaint cottages and artistic-looking homes and houses dotted here and there. Every summer, it hosts many fantastic events, such as the Festival of Arts, Sawdust Festival, and Pageant of the Masters, where artists showcase their latest creations.

Laguna Beach itself is just as impressive as its many artworks. Secluded coves and golden sands line the rugged cliffs that tumble down to the Pacific. While its many trails and paths are perfect for hiking or cycling, its wild waters attract surfers, and there is some exceptional scuba diving to be had beneath the waves.

14. Anaheim-Disneyland

Part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Anaheim is known for one thing and one thing only: Disneyland. However, this does it a major injustice. Over the years, it has slowly grown into the largest city in Orange County and so has much more going for it.

Home to a diverse range of attractions, Anaheim has pockets of great bars, restaurants, and shops, with many of these to be found clustered around downtown. It’s also a great place to visit if you want to watch baseball or hockey; both the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are based here. In addition, it boasts a large convention center and hosts many events and competitions throughout the year.

Its main draw is admittedly Disneyland, which attracts millions of visitors every year with its exhilarating rides and plethora of entertainment opportunities. Fun for all of the family, the major tourist destination is home to shops, restaurants, and hotels, with another theme park and spa located within the resort.

13. Carmel-by-the-Sea

Located just to the south of Monterey Bay, Carmel-by-the-Sea lies along California’s Pacific Coast Highway in a very scenic spot. Surrounded by dramatic cliffs and verdant hills, the oceanside town has long been popular among artists, writers, and poets due to its spectacular natural setting.

The former artists’ colony has a very quaint look and feel; this is in large part due to its charming cottages and atmospheric old houses. Its rich artistic heritage is still on show in the numerous art galleries and studios dotted about town. Fine restaurants, cosy cafes, and boutique shops abound, and there are lots of lovely inns and B&Bs for visitors to stay at.

At the heart of the small town is the beautiful white-sand Carmel Beach which over the years has been replicated and reproduced in countless paintings and artworks. While it is often shrouded in mist, its sumptuous setting and fierce sunsets make it very popular among locals and out-of-towners alike.

12. Channel Islands

Strung out along southern California’s scenic coastline, the Channel Islands are a small archipelago of eight islands surrounded by the sparkling Pacific Ocean. Five of the Channel Islands lie within a national park of the same name that protects and preserves its sensitive ecosystems. With rugged canyons, jagged cliffs, and pristine beaches, they are a fantastic place to explore.

While two of the islands are inaccessible to citizens (as they are used by the US Navy), fishing, scuba diving, and sailing are permitted in their surrounding waters. The only inhabited island is Santa Catalina, home to the small town and village of Avalon and Two Harbors.

The island has been a tourist resort since the 1920s, with chewing gum magnate William Wrigley kicking off the tourism movement. Catalina Island is, however, also a popular day trip destination since it’s just 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles.

It’s a good place to ride glass-bottom boat to explore reefs and old shipwrecks; snorkeling and scuba diving also are popular activities. Native Americans have lived on the island for 8,000 years; you can learn more about them and the island’s history at the Catalina Island Museum. Surprisingly, the island even boasts a small population of American bison that were brought to the island during the filming of a movie.

11. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

These two national parks are located next door to each other in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, and both are famous for their enormous giant sequoia trees. These trees can grow to be more than 300 feet (90 meters) tall and their trunks can be as much as 100 feet (30 meter) wide.

Sequoia National Park, which was established in 1890, is also home to Mount Whitney, which is the highest point in the contiguous United States. Interestingly enough, Kings Canyon boasts the deepest canyon in America.

The parks are also home to a lot of wildlife species, including bobcats, gray foxes, bears and mule deer. If they’re lucky, visitors might even be able to spot bighorn sheep or mountain lions. Both parks are popular with backpackers and hikers, and there are 14 campgrounds available for visitors.

10. Redwood National Park

Home to some of the tallest and oldest trees on Earth, Redwood National Park lies on California’s Pacific Coast in the northwest of the state. Established in 1968, the park protects the towering trees and the diverse ecosystems found in the old-growth forests.

While the mountains, rivers, and gorges dotting the region make for a fine sight, it is the enormous redwoods that are the star attraction. These magnificent trees often tower over a hundred meters, and some are more than two thousand years old. Hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding beneath them is an awe-inspiring experience as natural history lies all around you.

Redwood National Park’s rugged coast boasts some particularly dramatic scenery. Here, you can go kayaking and whale watching, with the redwoods forming a beautiful backdrop to the secluded coves and beaches along the park’s shores.

9. Santa Barbara

Set in a scenic spot between the steep slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara is one of California’s most pleasant and picturesque coastal cities. As it boasts a majestic mountain backdrop, beautiful beaches, and a sunny climate, it is often billed as the ‘American Riviera’.

Besides its breathtaking setting, the city itself looks a treat. Lush parks and charming Spanish-style buildings dot the palm tree-lined streets. Of its many attractions, the Old Mission is the most famous and impressive due to its lovely architecture, flower-filled garden, and centuries-old artworks. As it is also home to exquisite restaurants, boutique shops, and art galleries, Santa Barbara is often seen as an upmarket destination.

Lying just 160 kilometers to the northwest of LA, it makes for a fantastic day trip or weekend getaway, with many festivals and cultural events held here throughout the year. Whether it’s hiking along the scenic coastline, surfing at the beaches, or visiting the nearby vineyards and wineries, Santa Barbara certainly has something that appeals to everyone.

8. Napa Valley

Located in California’s Bay Area, Napa Valley has long been a popular tourist destination and is famed for its beautiful landscapes and world-class wineries. Driving around its rolling hills and fertile vineyards is the best way to explore the region’s sights and scenery, although the roads can get quite busy in the summer months.

While most people come to sample the valley’s delicious wines, many gourmet restaurants, classy bistros, and award-winning spas are also dotted about. As such, it is a wonderful place to relax and unwind, with plenty of boutique hotels and luxury resorts to indulge yourself at. Napa also offers excellent hiking, golfing, and horseback riding, while hot air balloon rides above its idyllic countryside make for an unforgettable experience.

The most popular thing to do is embark on a wine tasting tour. The region has more than 200 wineries for you to choose from. Set among row upon row of grapevines, the gorgeous estates are lovely to visit. Sampling some of the excellent local wines in the sunshine is what Napa Valley is all about.

Located between the Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, Big Sur is a large, rocky stretch of the Californian Coastline. True to its name, Big Sur covers a rather large expanse of the coast; although it doesn’t have any official boundaries, it lines around 70 miles (110 km) of the California’s famous Highway One.

The area is a magnet for travelers on road trips, who are attracted by the incredible jagged rocks, towering redwood trees and breathtaking beaches along the route. More than just beautiful scenery for driving through, the area also provides plenty of top hiking opportunities which wind their way through the several state parks encompassed by Big Sur. These are home to sights, such as the iconic Bixby Bridge and rock towers at Pfeiffer Beach.

Big Sur’s towering seaside cliffs and ocean views have acquired an almost mythic reputation. As such, millions of people visit the region each year for its epic wilderness, stunning views, and ample outdoor recreation opportunities.

6. Lake Tahoe

The largest alpine lake in North America, Lake Tahoe lies high in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, straddling the California and Nevada state line. Long a popular tourist destination, its beautiful blue waters lend themselves perfectly to all kinds of outdoor activities, while a number of towns and cities dot its scenic shores.

Sparkling in the sun, Lake Tahoe stands out delightfully against the majestic mountains and forests that surround it. The lake became a vibrant winter sports destination after the 1960s Winter Olympics were held in Squaw Valley on the North Shore. Summer brings hiking in the mountains and boat trips on the lake, as well as days spent lazing on the shore, swimming, and BBQs.

Lake Tahoe is a great place to relax, unwind, and immerse yourself in nature, but it also has some pretty towns and cities to discover. The Nevada side of the lake attracts gamblers due to its many casinos, while Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe have lovely beaches. In addition, Reno isn’t too far away if you want to head to a larger city at some point.

5. San Diego

Often called ‘America’s Finest City’, sun-kissed San Diego is home to miles of golden sands, a laidback surfer culture, and many world-class attractions . The second-largest city in the state, it lies on Southern California’s scenic coastline, just north of the Mexican border.

While lounging on beautiful beaches such as Mission Beach and La Jolla Shores is a must when in town, San Diego also boasts fantastic museums and historical sights. Many of these are in Balboa Park, which is also home to the world-famous San Diego Zoo. In addition, Downtown has plenty of great shops, restaurants, and bars, as well as numerous beautiful old buildings – such as Mission San Diego de Alcala – which highlight the city’s rich Spanish heritage.

See also: Where to Stay in San Diego

San Diego’s warm climate lends itself perfectly to all kinds of outdoor activities, with swimming, surfing, and watersports being very popular. Hiking and cycling along the stunning coastline is also a lovely pastime, and Tijuana is just a short drive away should you feel like a day trip to Mexico .

4. Death Valley

Home to a harsh and unforgiving environment, the fittingly named Death Valley lies in the arid Mojave Desert. Set in a national park of the same name, the valley boasts awe-inspiring landscapes and spectacular scenery.

From snow-capped mountains to colorful sand dunes, the unique desert landscapes of Death Valley are like no other place in California. Places of interests include the scenic vista of Zabriskie Point and historic sites like Scotty’s Castle, the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns and ruins of ghost towns.

The park is also home to the barren Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in North America, as well as the fiery Furnace Creek – one of the hottest places on Earth. There are also towering mountain ranges as well as epic dunes, steep gorges, and life-giving oases.

Numerous hiking trails and mountain bike paths weave their way around the park’s diverse desert landscapes, too. As Death Valley covers a vast area, it’s a good idea to stock up on water and gas before entering the national park.

3. Los Angeles

The second-largest city in the USA, Los Angeles is located in southern California surrounded by the Pacific Coast, mountains and valleys. Known as the City of Angels, the city offers a wide range of attractions and beaches, including wild-and-crazy Venice Beach and Malibu, the sandy playground favored by movie stars.

Travelers to Los Angeles , can find some of the best-known amusement parks on the planet here, including Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood. Los Angeles is also one of the best places in the United States to go in search of celebrities. Tourists can look for celebrity homes or shop at the designer stores in Beverly Hills that cater to the stars. And in L.A., travelers can also visit and eat at the same famous restaurants that the celebs and the rich and famous dine at.

See also: Where to Stay in Los Angeles

2. Yosemite National Park

One of the most famous and popular national parks in the US, Yosemite is visited by millions of people every year. Located in the western part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the park is home to some of the country’s most impressive and recognizable vistas.

Attractions include Glacier Point, with incredible views of the Yosemite Valley, the nature center and Yosemite Museum and historic places like the LeConte Memorial Lodge and the Ahwahnee Hotel.

Tucked away among its mighty peaks, sweeping canyons, and endless verdant forests are countless lakes and streams, as well as a myriad of scenic trails and paths. Hiking, rock climbing, and horseback riding around the remote wilderness is a delight. The park is most known for its gigantic granite domes and cliffs, which make for distinctive and dramatic sights.

Besides the hulking El Capitan and huge Half Dome, the park also boasts groves of the giant sequoia and a number of towering waterfalls. Of these, Yosemite Falls is the most spectacular: it plunges 739 meters down the steep rockface.

1. San Francisco

One of the most famous and photogenic cities in the world, San Francisco is renowned for its scenic beauty, iconic sights , and open, accepting culture. Set on a peninsula with the beautiful San Francisco Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, it is one of the States’ most popular tourist destinations.

Often shrouded in mist, San Francisco’s many hills are home to a myriad of diverse neighborhoods where gorgeous streetscapes with lovely old Victorian architecture on show. Superb theaters and museums can be found around Union Square, while Fisherman’s Wharf is the tourist center of the city. This is home to Pier 39, which boasts great shopping, dining, and entertainment options, as well as sunbathing seals and views of the bay. From here, you can take trips to Alcatraz Island and its famous federal prison (now as museum).

A very vibrant yet sophisticated place, San Francisco truly has something for everyone to enjoy and taking a ride on one of its cable cars is simply a must. These shoot you to the top of its steep hills where you can bask in the breathtaking views of the city and bay below and see the iconic Golden Gate Bridge stretching away into the distance.

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Reader interactions.

October 7, 2016 at 6:34 am

Where is LAKE TAHOE????????

September 8, 2016 at 4:18 am

It’s a bit SOCal-centric. There are awesome places in Northern California too.

May 11, 2016 at 12:28 pm

Yosemite is the one of the best places in the world.

April 9, 2016 at 10:31 pm

I enjoyed Yosemite and San Diego and LA, but as a person living in CA, I don’t think San Francisco would be the top #1. I think #1 would be Yosemite or San Diego.

February 6, 2016 at 9:39 pm

LA was amazing Feel like a free state to have expression Spirit and financial success. I enjoyed Rodeo drive Bel Air West Hollowood and so many more…..you have to know HOW to live there ????

June 28, 2015 at 5:10 am

I love the waterfalls in Yosemite. It was so attractive. And also San Francisco was epic. The golden gate bridge was so beautiful. But,my favorite is LA. It’s just so big and wide and has many attractions.

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Rails to Trails 35 mile Mountain River Loop Trail – We did it!

Serendipity Rides Again Before leaving the house on our Valentine’s get-a-way I grabbed the latest issue of Rails-to-Trails magazine. I thought perhaps we would dig in somewhere for a few days and I would actually have time to read it. Now I think that perhaps it was fate mixed with a little serendipity that led us here. As we vegged and relaxed in Valley of Fire (next video) I read about the River Mountain Trail near Las Vegas and directly on our route home. We had to go!

Continue reading “Rails to Trails 35 mile Mountain River Loop Trail – We did it!”

Red Rock Canyon, cool Hollywood filming location and Campground

Wow, here’s a great place to relive Hollywood movie film set locations for over 150 major motion pictures with awesome views of the Red Rock Canyon and under pristine night skies to view the Milky Way in its glory! Movie Clips: 0:32 ​ Intro 1:44 ​ Jurassic Park 3:46 ​ Lost in Space 4:38 ​ Beneath the Planet of the Apes 7:16 ​ Westworld 9:03 ​ Law and Order 10:07 ​ Four For Texas 11:22 ​ The Lone Ranger 12:33 ​ Capricorn One 14:48 ​ The Long, Long Trailer 16:10 ​ The Mummy 19:43 ​ Andromeda Strain Continue reading “Red Rock Canyon, cool Hollywood filming location and Campground”

A Day at the National Mall – Washington DC

Video 43 of our Series, Around the USA in 90 Days!

For several months now we have been bringing you our series, “90 days around the USA’, in our last video we released, in a world prior to Covid-19 we had taken public transportation into our Nations Capitol, Washington DC to visit The National Mall. One of the things we’ve built this channel on is the hope that we would provide content that is, “Entertaining, Educational and Enlighting” in lieu of the events that took place this week none of this has changed.

Continue reading “A Day at the National Mall – Washington DC”

How to Get Into Our Nation’s Capitol Using Public Transportation

Video 42 of our Series, Around the USA in 90 Days!

How to Get Into Our National Capitol Without Your RV by using Washington MTA and Uber. While travelling South from Maryland (pre COVID-19 days Sept 28th 2019), we decided to spend a day in Washington, D.C. So during the end of hot summer days, we checked into the Washington DC / Capitol KOA located in Millerville where or Siberian Husky could enjoy our A/C hookup to say cool. We took an Uber ride from the KOA to the New Carlton where we pickup up the Metro Sub and go into the Washington DC Capitol.

How We Ended up at Valley Forge National Historic Park

Video 41 of our Series, Around the USA in 90 Days!

Hudson County Rails to Trail Review

Video 40 of our Series, Around the USA in 90 Days!

The history of rails to trails began in the mid 1960’s as a project to convert unused and abandoned train rail tracks, to trails that could be repurposed and used by bike riders as well as walkers, runners, skaters and hikers. Currently there are more than 2,000 trails through-out 50 states providing more than 24,000 miles of rail-trails! There continued dedication has given us many wonderful places and provided scenic trails for tens of millions of people to visit each year. You can find out more about Rails to Trails in the link below. https://www.railstotrails.org/ In this video (taken Sept. 2019) we explore Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail Located in New York States Capitol Albany, A great start place to reach the trail can be found at 722 S Pearl St, Albany, NY 12202 The trail stretches 9 miles along the old Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Railroad between the Port of Albany and Voorheesville. The entire length of the Rail Trail, from Pearl Street in Albany to Grove Street in Voorheesville, is fully paved and open for public use during daylight hours. Check current hours as well as any restrictions here: https://www.albanycounty.com/departments/recreation/albany-county-helderberg-hudson-rail-trail For those of us who love the history, Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Railroad originally opened the tracks in 1863 and included stops from Albany to Central Bridge, Delmar, Slingerlands, and New Scotland. By 1864, one could purchase a 20 cent ticket and hop on the steam train in Adamsville (now Delmar) at 8:45 AM and arrive 15 minutes later in Albany! Commuters began to use the D&H for daily travel between their quiet country homes in Delmar, Slingerlands (and later Elsmere) and their offices in Albany. Suburbanization had begun. Incidentally, the use of the word “commuting” to describe this travel activity sprang from early railroad riders getting their fares “commuted,” or reduced, because of how often they rode the trains. Passenger service on this section of the D&H line ended in the 1930s. Freight service continued through the 1990s In our next video we are headed back to Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania

Bennington Battle Monument, The Real Story

Video 39 of our Series, Around the USA in 90 Days!

Wow, let’s learn about Bennington Battle Monument and the real stories of Patriot Colonel John Stark and British General John Burgoyne. Bennington and Saratoga might be a best kept secret if they didn’t have the prominent obelisks towering over the skyline. And we had twice as much content about Benedict Arnold and other stories to share but limited ourselves to the best 15 minutes that we hope you will enjoy. Happy Trails!

More photos below

Continue reading “Bennington Battle Monument, The Real Story”

Nathan Yan / Stocksy United

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Yosemite means "killer" in the Indigenous Miwok language, and in today's parlance it's indeed an impressive, awesome site. Everywhere you look in Yosemite…

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When Frederick Law Olmsted, architect of New York's Central Park, gazed in 1865 upon the plot of land San Francisco Mayor Frank McCoppin wanted to turn…

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With eyes on both the galaxy above and palm-flanked boulevards below, the Griffith Observatory hovers above LA like a hulking spacecraft. This is one of…

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Was it the fall of 1966 or the winter of ’67? As the Haight saying goes, if you can remember the Summer of Love, you probably weren’t here. The fog was…

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If you look close today at the clinker-brick buildings lining these narrow backstreets, past the temple balconies jutting out over bakeries, acupuncture…

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No one could have predicted the cultural force City Lights would become when it first opened in 1953. Sure, it had a proletarian ethos suggested by its…

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When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expanded in 2016, it was a mind-boggling feat that nearly tripled the institution's size to accommodate a…

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Monarch Grove Sanctuary

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Between November and February, over 25,000 migratory monarch butterflies cluster in this thicket of tall eucalyptus trees, secreted inland. During peak…

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Greater Palm Springs

This rotating cable car climbs nearly 6000ft vertically and covers five different vegetation zones, from the Sonoran desert floor to pine-scented Mt San…

Hearst Castle

Perched high on a hill, Hearst Castle is a wondrous, historic, over-the-top homage to material excess. From the 1920s into the '40s, Hearst and Marion…

Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park

Santa Barbara Wine Country

This tiny, off-the-beaten path historic site shelters pictographs painted by Chumash tribespeople over 400 years ago. The sandstone cave is protected from…

Cut-price California: the best free things to do in the Golden State

Museum of Western Film History

More than 400 movies, not to mention numerous commercials (mostly for rugged SUVs and Jeeps), have been shot in the area. This fascinating museum contains…

Redwood National Park

North Coast & Redwoods

This park is the southernmost of a patchwork of state and federally administered lands under the umbrella of Redwood National & State Parks. After picking…

Point Bonita Lighthouse

Marin County

This historical lighthouse is a breathtaking half-mile walk from Field Rd parking area. From the tip of Point Bonita, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge…

Point Sur State Historic Park

A little over 6 miles south of Bixby Bridge, Point Sur rises like a velvety green fortress out of the sea. It looks like an island, but is actually…

In the waters of Jade Cove in 1971, local divers recovered a 9000lb jade boulder that measured 8ft long and was valued at $180,000. People still comb the…

CIA at Copia

The former food museum beside Napa's famous Oxbow Public Market has been revived as a center of all things edible by the prestigious Culinary Institute of…

Manzanar National Historic Site

Eastern Sierra

A stark wooden guard tower alerts drivers to one of US history's darkest chapters, which unfolded on a barren, windy sweep of land some 5 miles south of…

French Laundry

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The pinnacle of California dining, Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star rated French Laundry is epic, a high-wattage culinary experience on par with the…

Point Reyes Lighthouse

With wild terrain and ferocious winds, this spot feels like the end of the earth and offers the best whale-watching along the coast. The lighthouse sits…

Patrick Amiot Junk Art

Russian River Area

Prepare to gawk and giggle at the wacky Patrick Amiot sculptures gracing front yards along Florence Ave. Fashioned from recycled materials, a hot-rodding…

Wild Horse Sanctuary

Northern Mountains

Since 1978 the Wild Horse Sanctuary has been sheltering horses and burros that would otherwise have been destroyed. You can visit its humble visitors…

Redding & Around

On scale with the enormous natural features of the area, this colossal, 15-million-ton concrete dam is second only in size to Grand Coolie Dam in…

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

The Deserts

The largest state park in California, Anza-Borrego comprises a staggering 640,000 acres of land punctuated with hiking trails, canyons, palm groves and…

Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve

Along Highway 101

Two miles west of Orr Hot Springs, this 2743-acre reserve protects some of the best old-growth redwood groves within a day’s drive from San Francisco. A 2…

John Muir National Historic Site

Naturalist John Muir's former residence sits in a pastoral patch of farmland in bustling, modern Martinez. Though Muir wrote of sauntering the Sierra…

Willow Creek China Flat Museum

Pop over to this museum to take in its persuasive Bigfoot collection. Footprints, handprints, hair…it has all kinds of goodies to substantiate the ole boy…

Earthquake Fault

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Cesar E Chavez National Monument

San Joaquin Valley

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Graziano Family of Wines

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15 california travel tips for your first trip.

California is one of the most diverse and exciting places in the United States. With its stunning coastline, world-class cities, incredible natural parks, and vibrant cultural scene, it’s no wonder that California is a must-visit on many traveler’s lists.

If you’re planning your first trip to California, there are a few things you should learn first, so you can have an amazing time without having to learn these lessons DURING your trip.

Since this is such a large and diverse state, you’re going to need to be armed with the best travel tips that will help you get around safely and easily, without mishaps. Here are 15 California travel tips to help you make the most of your adventure.

» You might be interested in Southern California vs Northern California: Which Destination is Right for You?

California Travel Tips

Don’t try to do everything.

California is a huge state and there is so much to see and do. If you’ve started planning a trip, you already know this. The distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles is 6 hours of driving, without traffic, and without stops.

If you’re thinking you can see it all, you’re going to be disappointed when Google tells you otherwise. My best tip for new visitors to California is “ don’t try to do everything “.

I know that seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people try to plan a crazy trip that leaves them dissatisfied with the experience – and maybe even blaming California for it. I mean, that traffic!

Instead of rushing, pick a few key places you really want to visit and take the time to enjoy them. Road trips in California are usually designed so you can see a lot of things between 2 major cities. Here are a few of ours you might enjoy.

• 12 Epic California Road Trip Routes
• The Perfect San Francisco to San Diego Road Trip
• The Perfect Northern California Road Trip
• The Ultimate Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip

Plan According to the Season

California is vast and its weather can vary significantly from region to region. Coastal areas tend to have moderate temperatures year-round, while inland regions can experience scorching summers and cold winters.

Research the areas you plan to visit, including what the weather is both day and night. You might want to change your plans depending on the heat in a particular location. For instance, it can be quite cold in Joshua Tree in the winter, but it gets up to 100 degrees F during the summer. Maybe you want to go there during the shoulder season instead of July.

If you’re visiting Disneyland , remember that there are school holidays that make visiting there not so fun. Be sure to check school calendars and their own events calendar to know what you’re getting into.

Some areas in Northern California get a lot of snow during the winter and the season starts earlier and goes later than you might think. Be sure to check whether it’s likely your destination will have snow when you visit so you can plan accordingly.

• When is the best time to visit Santa Barbara?
• When is the best time to visit Joshua Tree?
• When is the best time to visit Yosemite National Park?

Rent a Car or RV

Public transportation can be limited, especially outside of major cities. If you plan on exploring multiple areas, you’ll need to rent a car for the most flexibility. Even inside of major cities, like Los Angeles and San Diego, the public transportation options are slim. You won’t necessarily be able to get around on foot or even by bus.

If you’re not sure, try to plan your city itinerary with public transportation options only, then you can add in a car for the days you think you might need to leave the city, or to see other areas further outside the city.

Since it costs quite a bit to park at hotels in the city, you might want to build your itinerary so that you will have a few car-free days in the city first, then rent a car for the day trips you might take later on.

We also recommend renting an RV if you’re planning to do California on a budget and stop at RV parks and campgrounds along your route.

Visit the National Parks

California is home to several national parks , including Yosemite , Sequoia, and Joshua Tree . Each park offers unique landscapes and activities, so try to visit at least one during your trip.

• National parks attract a huge number of visitors, so it’s best to arrive early so you can take in the scenery before the park fills with people and/or the parking lot fills up.
• If you plan to camp you should always book in advance. Few parks can accommodate last-minute bookings as they are already full.
• If you’re planning to visit a lot of California State Parks, you can save money by getting a  California State Parks Pass  in advance. Most parks charge $8-10 a day for parking. If you plan to visit many parks, it might be more economical to buy the pass for $125.

» You might be interested in the Best Stops on a San Francisco to Yosemite Road Trip.

Respect the Environment

California is known for its commitment to sustainability. As a tourist, it’s your responsibility to maintain that standard where ever you’re visiting. You also need to be aware of any issues that a place may have and do your best to observe best practices.

In California that means you need to do your part to minimize water usage. There has been a drought in California for many years and even with recent rainfall levels, there is still a chance that drought continues. Residents are often under a water usage restriction, so you should be also.

Another important thing to remember when you’re hiking in California is to stay on marked trails and always leave with anything you brought. Leaving trash on the trail isn’t responsible or respectful. Trampling the wildflowers is also not respectful.

Try Local Cuisine

California is a food lover’s paradise, thanks to its diverse cultures and rich agricultural resources, from fresh seafood in coastal towns to Mexican food in Southern California and farm-to-table dishes in wine country. Here are some of the best places to visit and their local dishes:

• Los Angeles : Known for its multicultural food scene. Visit food trucks for authentic tacos and try Korean BBQ in K-town. Don’t miss out on the city’s famous sushi restaurants, and do try the French dip sandwich, a local classic.
• San Francisco : Known for its fresh seafood and unique fusion cuisine. Enjoy Dungeness crab, clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, and the iconic Mission-style burrito.
• Napa Valley : This area is renowned for its gourmet food scene to match its world-class wines. Dine on farm-to-table cuisine, artisanal cheeses, and locally sourced dishes.
• San Diego : Famous for its Mexican-inspired cuisine. Try the local fish tacos, carne asada fries, and California burritos.
• Santa Barbara : Known for its fresh seafood. Enjoy local spiny lobster, sea urchin (“uni”), and Santa Maria-style BBQ, a local style of barbecue featuring tri-tip steak.
• Sacramento : Known as America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, Sacramento’s local cuisine is all about fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

Explore the Cities

As you know, California has many big cities that are actually some of the best cities to visit in the United States. I would recommend that you don’t just stick to one city during your visit. Each has its own vibe and attractions that make it unique and interesting.

San Francisco has its iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Los Angeles is known for Hollywood and its beaches, while San Diego is famous for its beautiful harbor and world-class zoo.

Here are some of the city guides we’ve made so you can know what to see and do in each city.

• San Diego Trip Planner
• How to Spend 2 Days in Los Angeles
• How to Spend 2 Days in San Francisco
• How to Spend One Day in Santa Barbara

Book Accommodation in Advance

California is a popular tourist destination and accommodations can fill up quickly, especially during peak season. While it might seem attractive to just arrive with a road trip plan and wing it as far as where you’ll stay each night, it’s not a great idea.

I get the appeal of wanting to stay flexible and just stop for the night when you feel like it, but that can lead you to have no place to stay in some areas. It’s better to build a rough daily plan for yourself and at least book the accommodations you need in each area.

• Best Disneyland Hotels Within Walking Distance
• Luxury Hotels in Santa Barbara
• Where to Stay in Yosemite

Don’t Miss the Coastal Drive

Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, offers one of the most scenic drives in the world. It hugs the coastline all the way up the state, with views you won’t believe until you see it for yourself.

If you ask me, this is one of the best road trips you can take anywhere in the United States. If you are looking for a great way to see California and haven’t settled on anything yet, I’d recommend this Highway 1 road trip website.

Plan for a slow drive, with plenty of stops to admire the views. If you can swing it, plan for 1-2 full weeks to really discover the best of the best along this route.

Protect Yourself from the Sun

Traveling in sunny California requires some preparation to protect yourself from the sun’s rays. Here are some tips:

• Sunscreen : Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30. Apply it generously to all exposed skin and remember to reapply every two hours, or after swimming or sweating.
• Clothing : Wear lightweight, long-sleeved shirts and long pants when possible to protect your skin. Clothes with a tight weave are better at blocking UV rays.
• Hats and Sunglasses : A wide-brimmed hat can protect your face, ears, and neck. Sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays can protect your eyes and the sensitive skin around them.
• Shade : Seek shade when the sun’s rays are the strongest, typically between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. However, remember that you can still get sunburned in the shade or on a cloudy day due to UV reflection.
• Hydrate : The sun and heat can dehydrate you quickly, especially when you’re active. Drink plenty of water, even if you don’t feel thirsty, to stay hydrated.
• Check the UV Index : The UV Index provides important information to help you plan your outdoor activities in ways that prevent overexposure to the sun.

Take Advantage of Free Activities

There are many free things to do in California. Enjoy a stroll on the beaches, visit free museums, or explore the many vibrant neighborhoods.

Prepare for Earthquakes

Earthquakes are a part of life in California. They’re usually small. In fact, I’ve lived here for a while and I still haven’t felt one in person. But that doesn’t mean the big one won’t happen while you’re visiting. It’s important to familiarize yourself with safety procedures, in case it does.

• Familiarize yourself with the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” protocol. If you feel shaking, drop to your hands and knees, cover your head and neck (and as much of your body as you can) under a sturdy piece of furniture or against an interior wall, and hold on until the shaking stops.
• Know the safe spots in each room (under sturdy furniture, against inside walls) and danger zones (near windows, mirrors, or heavy furniture that could fall).
• Know the emergency procedures at your hotel or the place you’re staying. Identify safe places to meet outside, and establish a way to contact family or friends to let them know you’re safe.
• Consider having an emergency kit with you that includes items such as bottled water, non-perishable food, a flashlight, a first-aid kit, a multi-tool, a portable charger for your phone, and any essential medication.
• There are several apps that provide real-time alerts about earthquakes, which can give you a few extra seconds to get to a safe spot.
• Before your trip, learn about earthquakes and what to do in the event of one. The more you know, the better you can react in a real situation.

Enjoy Local Wine

California is one of the top wine-producing regions in the world. There are so many of them that it would take quite a while to travel to them all. I know, we’ve tried.

Take the time to visit a winery, tour the vineyards, and of course, taste some wine. Wine tasting, though it can be expensive, is a time honored pastime in California. When the sun is out and the vineyard is full of ripe grapes, there’s just nothing better.

You might try booking a wine tasting tour. Santa Barbara has some great ones. Check them out here.

Here are a few of our favorite wine regions to visit in California:

• Where to Go Wine Tasting in Sonoma
• Where to Go Wine Tasting in Napa
• Wine Tasting Tours in Santa Barbara County
• The Best Wineries to Visit in Paso Robles
• Wineries to Visit in San Luis Obispo
• 10 Great Los Olivos Wine Tasting Rooms to Visit

Don’t Skip the Hike

California is nothing if not an outdoor paradise. The weather is great almost year round in many spots, particularly Southern California. Because of this, and the incredibly varied terrain, there are numerous options for hiking, no matter where you are.

We always recommend building a few hikes into your itinerary, even if you’re in the city. Did you know there are lots of hikes within a short distance of Los Angeles? You can go hiking in Yosemite or Joshua Tree , you can go hiking near San Diego , or near Santa Barbara . There are dozens of possibilities.

Enjoy the Beaches

California’s beaches are world-famous, and there are plenty of ways to enjoy them. Here are some tips:

• Choose the Right Beach : California’s coastline stretches over 800 miles, and every beach has its own charm. Do some research to find a beach that fits your interests – whether that’s surfing, wildlife spotting, family activities, or simply relaxing.
• Safety First : Always pay attention to posted beach safety signs and flags. Watch out for rip currents and only swim in designated areas when lifeguards are present.
• Sun Protection : The sun can be intense on the beach. Wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30, reapply regularly, and don’t forget your sunglasses and hat.
• Pack a Picnic : Many of California’s beaches have picnic areas where you can enjoy a meal with a view. Pack plenty of water to stay hydrated.
• Explore Beyond the Sand : Many beaches are near hiking trails, parks, or towns with shops and restaurants. Consider renting a bike to explore the area or check out local wildlife on a nature trail.
• Leave No Trace : Help keep California’s beaches beautiful by packing out all trash and belongings at the end of the day.
• Plan for Weather : Even in sunny California, beach weather can change quickly. Check the forecast and be prepared with layers.

Visiting California for the first time is an exciting experience. With so much to see and do, it’s a destination that will leave you with memories to last a lifetime. These tips will help you plan and enjoy your trip to this beautiful and diverse state. Safe travels!

» Looking for more inspiration along the route? Check out all our guides to San Francisco , Los Angeles , Santa Barbara and San Diego. Find the best beaches in Monterey , waterfalls in Southern California , and national parks.

Like this article? Save it on Pinterest so you can find it again. FOLLOW US on Pinterest and Facebook for more California travel inspiration and tips!

Laura is a travel fanatic who loves seeing and doing new things. She lives in Ventura, CA, and spends a lot of time exploring California’s cities, beaches, and national parks.

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Check out videos on hundreds of California adventures

10 California Travel Tips for Your Next Visit to the State

We have been traveling California for over eight years and wanted to share some of the best tips we have for visiting the state. California is an amazing place for vacation and well worth taking the time to explore. It has amusement parks, waterfalls, beaches, great restaurants, and tons of other fun attractions. Here are ten tips that should help you when planning your trip. You can also watch these tips in video format below as well.

Tip 1: California is really big!

First off, California is absolutely huge, it can easily take 12-13 hours to drive north to south across the state, and that is without stopping. Just the LA area is massive, and you can spend a week exploring it by itself. I would recommend that you don’t try to do too much on your trip unless you are good with long drives and rushed adventures. Maybe consider a week in the northern part of the state with San Francisco, Napa, Yosemite, etc. and then another week in Los Angeles, San Diego, Joshua Tree, etc. Also, people often think they can drive Pacific Coast Highway in one day from LA to San Francisco, and while this may be technically possible, you wouldn’t be able to stop and see anything. Just don’t try to do too much during your visit, and you will have a great time.

Tip 2: Consider renting a car

When visiting California, it is probably best to rent a car. Because California is so big, its hard to see much without renting a car, especially in the LA area since public transportation is not great. I will say that in San Francisco you can get by without a car if you just want to stay in the city. The BART is easy to use from the airport and public transportation with cable cars and buses, work pretty well in the city. If you don’t plan to rent a car, be sure to download the Uber / Lyft apps, as many people use those to get around the big cities.

Tip 3: Prepare for different climates

If you stay in the LA / San Diego area, then the climate is relatively the same, especially during the summer. If you go up to Eastern Sierras, Yosemite, or Lake Tahoe, it can be cold, even in the summer, and you want to prepare for that. The same is true for san Francisco; you want to prepare for all types of weather in San Francisco as the climate changes often.

Tip 4: Plan more time than you think each day

Traffic is pretty bad in Los Angeles, and it can take a good hour to get to a destination that is only 5-10 miles away, depending on what time you go. The same can be said for rush hour in San Francisco as well, if you are trying to get out of the city or back into it. Also, Pacific Coast Highway is very windy with many two lane roads, so that drive often takes a lot longer than people think it would. Basically, there is lots of traffic in the state, so plan your drive times around it.

Tip 5: Buy a national parks pass

If you plan to go to a couple of national parks, then your best bet is to buy a national park pass. Yosemite itself costs $35 to enter, and most of the other parks are $30. If you plan to go to more then two, then it is cheaper to by the year pass for $80, then to pay for each individually. California has nine national parks and many other places that accept the pass for discounted entry. Getting a pass is a good option for many people visiting the state, and it can be done online or at the first park you go to.

Tip 6: California can be expensive

California can be expensive, and it is good to know that going in. There is a state tax on food and items that you purchase, and tipping is customary if you come from a place where they don’t tip. Also, parking can be expensive in tourist areas and hotels in San Francisco at $30-$40 per day. Gas is also pretty costly, as California has some of the most expensive gas prices in the country. Lastly, if you are looking to visit multiple places in a city, you may be able to get a discount online. Check out Go city passes or some of the other discounted tour attraction sites.

Tip 7: Food tips

Honestly, California has everything you could want for food. In the big cities, you can get most cuisines and dietary restrictions without trying too hard. In the smaller towns, this is not always the case, but there are usually at least a couple of options at most places. Amie is a vegetarian, and it is never tough for her to find something to eat when we travel. Here are a few things you have to try while in California.

• In-N-Out Burger
• California burrito- Which is a combination of carne asada, salsa, cheese, and French fries in a burrito. You can find them in cities like San Diego.
• Clam chowder in a bread bowl – I recommend Boudin in San Francisco or Splash Café in San Luis Obispo if you are driving Pacific Coast Highway
• Fish Tacos – They can be found all over, and they are usually pretty great.
• Donuts – I love donuts, so I had to recommend them. Most of the big cities have a lot of fun and unique donut shops that are worth a try.

Tip 8: Book campsites and hotels in advance

Next, book your campsites and hotels in advance, especially in popular national parks or big cities. Places like Yosemite have set dates, often six months in advance, when they release their campground reservations. If you are planning a trip, note these dates so you can be online and ready to try and get a spot. While big cities like LA and San Francisco often have rooms available close to when you visit, I always recommend booking online in advance so that you have peace of mind when going on your trip.

Tip 9: Visit popular spots on weekdays

Places like Disneyland will be packed during the weekends; however, if you can travel during the week, this is your best chance to visit the popular spots without a lot of crowds. Also, for places like Disneyland, there are crowd calendars online that help you pick the best time to go, and they can help plan your trip.

Tip 10: Take the time to enjoy it

Our last tip is just reiterating that you don’t want to try and do too much on your trip to California. The main question we get asked via email is how to fit it all in, and we would recommend that you don’t try to do it all in one trip. Take a trip to Northern California and go to San Francisco, Napa, and Yosemite over a week. Come back and take another trip to Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, and Joshua Tree. You could even take a trip where you drive Pacific Coast Highway over 3-4 days and then head over to Las Vegas. There are a lot of great 1-2 week options, so don’t try to cram it all into one trip.

That’s it for our ten California travel tips. Let us know if you have any suggestions we missed or any questions in the comments.

California Travel Tips

Sharing the best of California travel from a native Californian

California Travel Tips From a Local.

Hello! My name is Veronica Hill. I was born and raised here in California, and as you might have guessed, I love to travel! Before starting my YouTube channel in 2007, I was a travel writer and journalist, working for such publications as US Magazine, Rolling Stone and Fodor’s guidebooks. It was only natural for me to make the transition from print to video. These days, I am most active on Instagram, however you can still view all of our videos in our YouTube library!

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Climate Forward

Trains are cleaner than planes, right.

The surprising carbon footprint of an Amtrak trip across America.

By Hiroko Tabuchi

Recently, I did something I’ve long dreamed of. I took the train across America.

The views were majestic, particularly as we swayed through the West. The Wi-Fi was bad, and the food not much better. But I wanted to do it partly because trains are cleaner than flying.

But when I got back home and crunched the numbers, I discovered something surprising: it would have been less polluting for me to have flown.

As a climate journalist, I often fly to report my articles, but I’ve always worried about the climate cost. Flying in jets that burn a lot of fuel is probably one of the most polluting things we do. By taking a flight to report on a problem, I’m basically making that problem worse by causing tons of planet-warming emissions that are heating up our planet to dangerous extremes.

So when I started to work on a story that would involve spending time with two climate scientists at Stanford University — one who wants to rid the school of fossil fuel funding, the other fully funded by Exxon — I wondered whether I could try something different.

What if I traveled from New York to Stanford by train, a method of transportation that generally has a far smaller climate footprint ?

The most direct route was to take the Lake Shore Limited train to Chicago, then the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., just outside San Francisco.

That 3,400-mile journey would take a daunting 72 hours. But I convinced my editors to let me use a work day, plus a few vacation days, to take the trip.

I was set. And I was doing my part to save the planet. Right?

Wrong. In short, I took a train across America and ended up emitting more planet-warming emissions, not less. I’ll explain why in just a bit.

The journey itself was epic . I boarded a packed train at New York Penn Station and was quickly speeding along the Hudson River at sunset. After a train change in Chicago, and traversing Iowa and Nebraska, we reached the Colorado Rockies. Our ascent from the flat plains to the green forests, then through the snow-capped Rockies, the deserts of Utah and the panoramic Sierra Nevada, was nothing short of magical.

It was also a slog. A sleeper cabin would have cost more than $2,000, so I was in an upright seat the entire trip. (Compression socks helped.) That still cost $600, about the same price flying the same route would have cost during the holiday season. I’d heard that the dining car was expensive, so I brought along vegetable sticks, crackers, cheese, hummus, instant noodles and miso soup. I tried to work on the Lake Shore Limited, but the Wi-Fi was down. There was no internet at all on the California Zephyr.

But then I did the math on my emissions.

A nonstop flight from New York to San Francisco emits, on average, about 840 pounds of carbon dioxide per economy class passenger, according to Google Flights, whose data is independently reviewed . That’s equivalent to burning 420 pounds of coal, or more than the annual emissions of someone living in Cameroon. Air travel is wildly polluting.

But what about trains? I tracked down several estimates of carbon emissions per passenger-mile, including Amtrak’s official estimate. What I got back: My cross-country train journey had emitted somewhere from 950 to 1,133 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger.

There are a few reasons for this result. Amtrak is far cleaner than flying where its tracks are electrified, along the Northeast Corridor, from Washington to Boston. But outside the Northeast, Amtrak trains run on diesel, a highly polluting fuel.

What’s more, Amtrak’s trains are decades old. (Its single-level Amfleet cars were built in the late 1970s.) Add to that generous seat pitches, large old-fashioned private rooms for longer-distance trains, a longer, winding route across the country and “per-passenger-mile emissions go through the roof,” said Justin Roczniak , a co-host of “Well There’s Your Problem,” a podcast about engineering.

Amtrak is still the more climate-friendly option for the vast majority of travelers, who on average travel 300 to 400 miles, said Olivia Irvin, a spokeswoman for the rail company. (That is, not many people are crazy enough to go cross-country by train.) A 2022 Department of Transportation study found that traveling by train from Los Angeles to San Diego generated less than half the emissions , per passenger, of flying, or driving. For Boston to New York, an electrified route, taking the train generated less than a fifth the emissions of flying or driving.

It’s when journeys start getting longer than about 700 miles that planes start to gain an advantage on trains. Planes burn the most fuel when they take off and climb to altitude. That makes short flights very inefficient — you’re burning all that fuel only to travel a short distance. (Some countries, like France and Spain , have tried to ban the shortest flights when rail alternatives are available.)

Longer flights also tend to use larger aircraft, which provide economies of scale. And aircraft have become more fuel-efficient over the years. But choosing flights with several connections, for example, can quickly add to your footprint, because you’re taking off and landing multiple times. Flights for the same route can differ in terms of emissions by a factor of three, according to Dan Rutherford, director of research at the International Council on Clean Transportation, who advises Google on its flight emissions calculations. And comparing air and train travel can be tricky: Amtrak does not provide emissions estimates for different seat classes. Airplanes also emit other pollution like nitrogen oxides and soot, and form contrails , all of which warm the planet further.

And experts agree that aviation is going to be one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. With trains, electrification is already readily available. The technology is there. China, for example, has managed to electrify 70 percent of its train lines over the past decades and made them faster, too. And as the electric grid gets cleaner by adding more solar and wind, so will trains that run on electricity from that grid.

An electric, long-distance passenger plane is much further in our future.

Whether Amtrak will ever electrify outside of the Northeast corridor is another question, however. In America, tracks are owned by freight companies, which have resisted electrification. (Freight trains are also why some Amtrak trains stop frequently to make way. And all that stopping and starting makes America’s passenger trains even less energy-efficient.) Amtrak is currently updating its fleet with newer diesel trains, albeit ones that are less polluting and slightly faster.

One thing I did learn during my cross-country train journey: There are still a lot of Americans who love trains. The trains I took were booked solid. Among my fellow travelers were a college student traveling to see her long-distance boyfriend, and grandparents on a family trip (but they didn’t want to travel by car with their grandchildren).

But would I travel cross-country by train again? Probably not, unless Amtrak electrified the route. We can only dream.

More climate news

Only 57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers accounted for 80 percent of global fossil fuel carbon emissions in the last decade, a new report reviewed by Axios shows .

The Biden administration’s $7.5 billion investment in electric car charging has only produced seven stations in two years, The Washington Post reports .

Most of the European Union’s embattled farming subsidies go to meat and dairy products, researchers reported in The Conservation .

An earlier version of this newsletter stated incorrectly the train’s route after leaving Chicago. It traversed Iowa and Nebraska, not Indiana and Nebraska.

An earlier version of this newsletter also described incorrectly the pollution from airplanes. It contains nitrogen oxides, not nitrogen.

How we handle corrections

Hiroko Tabuchi covers the intersection of business and climate for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York. More about Hiroko Tabuchi

Learn More About Climate Change

Have questions about climate change? Our F.A.Q. will tackle your climate questions, big and small .

“Buying Time,” a new series from The New York Times, looks at the risky ways  humans are starting to manipulate nature  to fight climate change.

Big brands like Procter & Gamble and Nestlé say a new generation of recycling plants will help them meet environmental goals, but the technology is struggling to deliver .

The Italian energy giant Eni sees future profits from collecting carbon dioxide and pumping it  into natural gas fields that have been exhausted.

New satellite-based research reveals how land along the East Coast is slumping into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea level rise . A major culprit: the overpumping of groundwater.

Did you know the ♻ symbol doesn’t mean something is actually recyclable ? Read on about how we got here, and what can be done.

Solar eclipse 2024: Photos from the path of totality and elsewhere in the U.S.

Images show the Great American Eclipse, seen by tens of millions of people in parts of Mexico, 15 U.S. states and eastern Canada for the first time since 2017.

Millions gathered across North America on Monday to bask in the glory of the Great American Eclipse — the moment when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. 

The path of totality measures more than 100 miles wide and will first be visible on Mexico’s Pacific coast before moving northeast through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and upward toward New York, New Hampshire and Maine, then on to Canada.

Total solar eclipse 2024 highlights: Live coverage, videos and more

During the cosmic spectacle, the moon’s movements will temporarily block the sun’s light, creating minutes of darkness, and will make the sun's outer atmosphere, or the corona, visible as a glowing halo.

Here are moments of the celestial activities across the country:

Breaking News Reporter

Elise Wrabetz is a Senior Photo Editor for NBC News digital

Chelsea Stahl is the art director for NBC News Digital

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Mishka the missing dog mysteriously found safe 2,000 miles from California home

Dog that had gone missing was discovered in Michigan clean and well-fed: ‘Whoever had her took good care of her’

Nearly nine months after his disappearance, a dog that had gone missing in California was discovered more than 2,000 miles away in Michigan.

A resident in Harper Woods, a Detroit suburb, contacted police in late March to report a stray dog in her neighborhood. Police collected the terrier mix, named Mishka, and brought her to an animal welfare group.

Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society said it quickly discovered that the dog had an identity chip implanted in her with information about her owner.

Mehrad and Liz Houman live in San Diego but were traveling to Minneapolis to see relatives when the phone rang. Once the family landed in Minnesota, Mehrad drove 10 hours to Michigan to see Mishka, the adoption group said in a Facebook post with pictures and video documenting the reunion.

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“I’ve been missing my kid, so that’s I think what anybody would do to go get their kid back,” Mehrad Houman told Fox 2 .

Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society described Mishka’s story as “a tale that Hollywood would love to tell”.

“We were able to locate the Houmans through microchip technology and reunite Mishka. This is the happy ending we all wanted.”

Harper Woods police confirmed their involvement on Thursday.

Mishka had disappeared in July from Houman’s workplace.

Veterinarian Nancy Pillsbury, who examined the three-year-old dog, gave her a rabies shot and cleared her to travel home to California, said that Mishka was clean and well-fed. “Whoever had her took good care of her.”

“How she got here – that’s a story only Mishka knows,” Pillsbury told the Associated Press.

The Houman family said that they wonder how Mishka made it all the way to Michigan, and pointed out that she has learned to sit in the time she’s been away. They are grateful to have their beloved pet back and to the person who found her, they told Fox 2.

“It’s a 100% miracle, and we never gave up hope. And I knew that we were going to get her back,” Liz Houman said.

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