San Francisco
San Francisco is one of the greatest travel destinations in the world … and for good reasons. The City-by-the-Bay, with its unique natural setting, rich history, cultural diversity and vibrant life-style is a true immersive experience. This trip combines urban, cultural and nature excursions in the City and around the Bay. From exploring secret alleys in Chinatown, to dining in the Mission District, to walking among the giant sequoias in Muir Woods, to tasting the best wines of Sonoma and sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge, this could be the trip of a lifetime.
Length of trip: 7 to 12 days
Start-end points: San Francisco
Best time to travel: All year-long
Character: Combined urban, culture and nature experience
Intensity level: Easy and relax
Yosemite and the Gold Country
Just east of San Francisco and past the Central Valley, the scenery changes dramatically. At the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the adventurous traveler enters a world of tall mountains, deep rivers, lush redwoods forests and rustic communities where gold panning is still an honorable occupation. This is the Gold Country and the getaway to one of the most iconic places on earth, Yosemite. From the tiny gold-rush era towns of Sonora to the timeless granite majesty of Half-dome and El Capitan, this is a journey through history and awe-inspiring natural wonders.
Length of trip: 10 to 14 days
Start-end points: San Francisco
Best time to travel: Spring/Summer/Fall
Character: Combination urban, rural and nature
Intensity level: Easy to moderate
Los Angeles-Route 1-San Francisco
This tour is the quintessential California Coast experience. It should definitely be on the list of the traveler looking to understand what makes the Golden State tick in all its complexity, contradictions and beauty. From visiting iconic Los Angeles to relaxing in beautiful laid-back Santa Barbara, from wine tasting in Santa Ynez to exploring its grand old Spanish Mission, from cruising along Big Sur and Monterey Bay to experiencing sophisticated San Francisco. Discovering two polar-opposite cities joined by a classic coastal road-trip: It hardly gets any better than that.
Length of trip: 14 to 18 days
Start-end points: San Francisco or Los Angeles
Best time to travel: All year-long
Character: Combination urban, nature and road-trip
Intensity level: Easy and relax
Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe area are among the most beautiful regions in California. With infinite opportunities for enjoying nature and outdoors adventures, this trip combines hikes and bicycle rides on beautiful trails, water sports in pristine lakes and exciting visits to charming Old West small towns. Reno and Sacramento are nearby. Starting or ending the trip with a few days in San Francisco, the adventurous traveler can add a four-wheel-drive jeep excursion on the world-famous Rubicon Trail to complete the experience of this immense natural playground.
Length of trip: 5 to 7 days (+ option San Francisco)
Start-end points: San Francisco, Sacramento or Reno
Best time to travel: Spring/Summer/Fall
Character: Combination rustic urban, nature and outdoors adventures
Intensity level: Moderate
Death Valley and the Eastern Sierra
From busy Los Angeles or Las Vegas, the adventurous traveler rapidly enters the world of stunning beauty and expanse of the Mojave Desert and Death Valley. The scenery then changes dramatically as the road follows the foothills of the Easter Sierra Nevada, climbing to the high mountain passes of Yosemite before winding down through the Gold Country to San Francisco on the Pacific Ocean. Stark desert and remote mountain lakes, ghost towns and Indian reservations, natural hot-springs, granite peaks and the City-by-the-Bay: an adventure of a lifetime.
Length of trip: 15 - 21 days
Start-end points: San Francisco, Los Angeles or Las Vegas
Best time to travel: Spring/Summer/fall
Character: Combination urban, nature and road-trip
Intensity level: Easy to moderate
Indian Country Adventure
With the “The four Corners” as its geographic center, Indian Country is an immense landscape of red buttes and vast valleys, of Pueblo villages perched on high mesas and Anasazi dwellings under rocky arches, of deep canyons accessible only on horseback or rugged vehicles. With a history and culture going back for millennia, this is the ancestral home of the sovereign Navajo Nation, Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo Indians. This is the mythical land of the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Taos Pueblo and Chaco Canyon.
Length of trip: 10-14 days (or more with regional excursions)
Start-end points: Phoenix, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Denver or Salt Lake City
Best time to travel: Spring, summer and fall
Character: Unique nature, native history and culture
Intensity level: Moderate to challenging
Las Vegas
Las Vegas conjures many images in the traveler’s mind: a fantastical megapolis of casinos and resorts glimmering in the arid Nevada desert, a colorful history involving movie stars and gangsters alike. All true … and so much more. With the rebirth of the Old Las Vegas district, world-class restaurants, fantastic shows and extravagant hotels, the city that never sleeps has reinvented itself as a prime holiday destination. It is also the gateway to ghost towns, Route 66, Death Valley, the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and more. Love or hate Las Vegas, do not miss it.
Length of trip: 7 days (or more with side excursions)
Start-end points: Las Vegas
Best time to travel: All year long
Character: Urban and vibrant
Intensity level: Easy and relax