Introduction
California runs roughly 1,400 kilometres down the Pacific coast and contains, in one state, high granite mountains, deserts below sea level, a thousand kilometres of shoreline, two of the largest metropolitan areas in the country and the most productive agricultural valley on earth. With nearly forty million residents and nine national parks, it does not work as a single destination — it works as several, loosely joined by very long drives.
Overview
The mistake almost every first-time itinerary makes here is treating California as one trip. San Francisco to Los Angeles is a full day on the coast road and six hours on the inland freeway; Los Angeles to Yosemite is most of a day; the state is longer than the drive from London to Vienna. Pick two regions and do them properly. The obvious pairings work well: the Bay Area with the northern coast and wine country; Los Angeles with the desert parks; San Diego with the southern beaches; or a single long coastal run down Highway 1 with a park at each end. What you are choosing between is genuinely varied — the granite and waterfalls of Yosemite, the below-sea-level basin of Death Valley, the Joshua trees and boulder fields of the southern desert, the tallest trees on the planet in the northern redwoods, and a coastline that shifts from cold, wind-blasted and empty in the north to warm and crowded in the south. Two cities anchor it all and have their own guides here. And a practical constant underlies everything: outside the two big cities you will need a car, and distances are the single most underestimated fact about travelling in this state.
Discover California
The coast road is California's defining drive, and it changes completely along its length. The famous stretch is Big Sur, where the highway is cut into cliffs above the Pacific for around 150 kilometres between San Simeon and Carmel, with almost no services and a succession of pull-outs that each look like a screensaver. North of San Francisco the coast turns wilder and colder — Point Reyes, the Sonoma and Mendocino shorelines, and eventually the redwood coast — with fog a regular feature even in summer. South of Big Sur the road drops into the softer, warmer, far busier beaches of the Central Coast and Southern California. Two practical points matter more than any list of stops. First, Highway 1 closes: landslides and storm damage shut sections of Big Sur regularly, sometimes for months, and the detour inland is long, so check the current status before committing to the route. Second, drive it north to south if you can — you will be on the ocean side of the road, which is where the pull-outs are — and plan fewer stops over longer blocks, because the road is slow by design and rushing it wastes the point of it.
Ways to Experience This Destination
Nine parks across wildly different terrain — Yosemite's granite and waterfalls, Death Valley's basin, Joshua Tree's boulders and dark skies, the giant sequoias and the tallest trees on earth in the northern redwoods.
Highway 1 from the cold, empty northern shore through Big Sur's cliff-cut miles to the warm southern beaches — slow by design, prone to closure, and the state's defining drive.
A very deep alpine lake with summer swimming and the country's densest ski concentration, plus the overlooked eastern escarpment along Highway 395.
Napa's polish, Sonoma's looser agricultural range, the Central Coast's low-pressure valleys on the road-trip route, and cool-climate Anderson Valley in the north.
Balboa Park's museums and zoo, a chain of beach towns running north to Carlsbad, La Jolla's coves, and border-shaped food that is the real thing.
Compact, hilly, transit-friendly San Francisco and sprawling, district-organised Los Angeles — each the gateway to a different half of the state, and each with its own guide.
Planning Notes for California
- Distances are the most underestimated fact about this state. Allow a full day for the coast road between San Francisco and Los Angeles, most of a day from Los Angeles to Yosemite, and plan two regions rather than five.
- Highway 1 through Big Sur closes after landslides and storm damage, sometimes for months at a time, with a long inland detour. Check the current status before building an itinerary around it.
- Yosemite has operated peak-period entry reservations in recent years and the high-country Tioga Road opens only after the snow clears, usually well into summer. Confirm both before travelling.
- Death Valley is a winter and shoulder-season destination. Summer heat there is a genuine hazard rather than a discomfort, and the same applies to the low desert around Palm Springs.
- Coastal California stays cool: San Francisco summers are frequently colder than its springs, while inland valleys are 15°C hotter on the same afternoon. Pack for both if your route crosses the coastal hills.
- Outside San Francisco and central Los Angeles, a car is effectively required, and mountain routes in winter carry enforced chain-control requirements.
Cities in California
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