The California Coast Holidays
Sample itineraries
Northern California - The Great Outdoors
From £1695
Majestic giant Redwoods, a spectacular coastline, rugged mountains and crystal clear alpine lakes. Welcome to Northern California..........
The relatively undiscovered region of Northern California blends together effortlessly the coast, mountains, and the awesome wilderness. Throw in the delicious fresh air, marvellous climate and the lack of crowds and you've got yourself a truly unforgettable holiday!
Highlights of this tour include-
- San Francisco
- Bodega Bay
- Napa Wine Valley
- Mount Shasta and the Wilderness Region
- Lassen Volcanic Park
- Lake Tahoe
- Sacramento
- Sausalito
- Whale Watching (in season)
- Mendocino
- Redwood National Forest & the Giant Trees
- Victorian Ferndale
- Eureka
- Ranch stay at the Drakesbad Guest Ranch (optional)
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No crowds, pure fresh air & peace and serenity !
Price per person includes:
- Return flights to San Francisco, California
- Airport Taxes
- Mid size car hire for the duration
- 15 nights accommodation in B&B's, ranches or unique accommodation in sought after locations.
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- A personalised road book which is a complete guide to travelling within North America and provides bespoke driving instructions for your holiday.
Prices are based on off-season travel. Please call or email for costs for your preferred date of travel.
Day One San Francisco
As you get ready to land today, aaaahhhh, there’s San Francisco! Everything you’ve heard about the city is true. It’s quaint, it’s vibrant and the food is great! There are whole neighborhoods of historic homes, narrow winding streets and incredible views from the top.
If you would like an overview of San Francisco you can explore the Barbary Coast Trail, a 3.8 mile stroll (or drive) through the heart of historic San Francisco. Bronze medallions and arrows set in the sidewalk mark the trail which connects 20 of the city’s most important historic sites. Fisherman’s Wharf was created when a large seawall was built to provide more docking space for ships. Ghirardelli Square, rebuilt several times after fires, was once home to the candy company of the same name. Now it’s a vibrant shopping area. It will be hard to believe that Nob Hill was once an inaccessible backwater that became famous when four rich industrialists built their mansions high above the city.
This evening we suggest taking the ferry to Alcatraz Island from Pier 33. Even though Alcatraz is best known as a solitary prison, it also has other interesting history.
Accommodation: White Swan Inn or similar
Day Two San Francisco
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area covers the entire area north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Presidio of San Francisco, Alcatraz and Muir Woods National Monument are all units of the Golden Gate. In fact, the collection of parks that make up the Golden Gate National Recreation Area chronicle 200 years of history from Native American culture, the Spanish Empire frontier and the Mexican Republic to maritime history, the California Gold Rush and the coastal fortifications around San Francisco. The exploration possibilities are nearly endless.
We’ve included specific information about the Presidio, a former Army Post used to defend the California coast for 218 years and now a unit of the National Park Service. The forts and visitor center on the property illustrate the story of this important installation and its relationship to San Francisco. Fort Point National Historic Site is located at the very tip of San Francisco Peninsula.
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park located at Hyde Pier is also a unit of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Since it is a maritime focused facility, a portion of the park is “water-born” with historic ships available for touring.
You may want to leave Muir Woods and other points north of the San Francisco Bay Bridge in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to explore when you return at the end of your trip.
Accommodation: White Swan Inn or similar
Day Three Bodega Bay
The white sails of a Spanish sloop that were spotted by the native residents of Bodega Bay in 1775 changed everything as Don Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra Molieneda arrived to begin claiming large chunks of what is now California for Spain. Few actual settlements followed until the Russians began arriving in 1812 searching for new sources for furs, attracting the English and other immigrants to the area. Captain Stephen Smith became a Mexican citizen to receive a land grant which established Rancho Bodega. The town that sprung up around it was called Bodega Bay. You might remember the setting from the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Birds.”
While you are here, plan to get out into nature at the many parks and preserves that surround the Bay. A sampling includes
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Annadel State Park which encompasses 5,000 acres and Armstrong Woods State Reserve which lets you hike among 2,000 year old trees.
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Doran Park is a great vantage point for observing gray whales.
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Hood Mountain Regional Park is panoramic views of the Valley of the Moon from a 2,700 foot summit.
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Jack London State Historic Park commemorates the home of this world famous author.
There are also five public trails along Highway 1 that provide access to the beach.
Accommodation: Bodega Bay Lodge & Spa or similar
Day Four Mendocino
After a journey north along the California coast, you’ll reach Mendocino, a picturesque seaside village best known for its huge collection of Victorian Houses that have been lovingly restored into charming inns, restaurants, unique shops and galleries. The village sits proudly perched on a small, slightly hilly peninsula on the ocean side of Highway One. The town’s “front yard” is surrounded on all three sides by the Mendocino Headlands coastal bluffs. Locals will encourage you to explore the scenic trails with unobstructed views of the sparkling Pacific Ocean.
Fans of “Murder She Wrote” will recognize this seaside village as “Cabot Cove.” The long running television show featuring a writer from Maine was filmed in the town over several years.
For those who want to venture farther afield, the tallest and oldest living things in in the world can be found in Mendocino County in the ancient Redwood Forest that boasts the tallest trees in the world. Jughandle is best known for its ecological staircase. Russian Gulch has two parts. The ocean side features the “Devil’s Punch Bowl” and the east side has a scenic hike to a graceful waterfall.
Accommodation: Joshua Grindle Inn or similar
Day Five Ferndale
When you arrive in Ferndale, park your car and step back in time. Today, you can immerse yourself in Ferndale’s Victorian Spirit in this delightful location that the Los Angeles Times called “the best preserved Victorian village in California". The entire village is California Historic Landmark No. 883.
Although some suggest that Ferndale is a fairytale setting, it is actually a working all American town where residents take pride in their community and heritage. In the late 1800s, Ferndale was an agricultural and transportation center, a melting pot for Scandinavian, Swiss, Italian and Portuguese immigrants.
You’ll be staying right in the midst of the extremely well preserved buildings that appear to have materialized right out of the turn of the century. Explore the old-fashioned mercantile establishments, as stores were called back then. Browse the antique shops, art galleries and specialty shops, hear the ringing of the blacksmith’s hammer and watch fresh candy being dipped by hand. When you yearn for the sea, Ferndale’s historic main street is just five miles from California’s Lost Coast.
Accommodation: The Victorian Inn or similar
Day Six Eureka
High Victorian reigns in Eureka, situated between two extensive preserves of the world’s tallest coastal redwoods. Eureka literally grew out of these forests; the wood was used for hundreds of intricately detailed high Victorians standing proudly over Humboldt Bay. The city was completely focused on the Bay until an overland route was completed between Eureka and San Francisco in 1914.
Today visitors from Frisco know Eureka as the “Queen City of the Ultimate West,” unsurpassed for its style and lifestyle. It has been declared one of “The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America" and Eureka’s Old Town pronounced as one of the nation’s best preserved original Victorian historic districts where ornate Colonial Revival, Eastlake, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and stick style painted ladies can be seen in every direction.
Pick up a walking tour map and stroll the Old Town historic district that is a tribute to both heritage and preservation. First and Second streets, the central streets in the preserved quarter are lined with original buildings, interspersed with a few recreations to replace structures that could not be saved. You’ll have your pick of restaurants, boutiques and other interesting places to browse.
Accommodation: The Carter House Inn or similar
Day Seven Eureka
Today, if you want to venture out from Eureka, drive inland on the Trinity National Scenic Byway and walk in the footsteps of early American mountain men, prospectors, and settlers who sought opportunity and fortune in the untrammeled West. From Whiskeytown Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area to California's northern coast, Trinity Scenic Byway radiates with scenery, history and outdoor adventure. You may not find your fortune in gold, but the views, experiences, and memories are priceless.
Your goal at the western end of the byway is Shasta State Historical Park where you can stroll among the remains of a once booming gold rush town. History enthusiasts, photographers, and casual travelers alike find the ruins and restored relics haunting and fascinating. Inside the borders of the Whiskeytown Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area you can immerse yourself in the dense evergreen forests and cool off in the placid waters of Whiskeytown Lake. For a more in-depth look at the area's flora, fauna, and unique characteristics, take a ranger-guided tour. Tour adventures include kayaking, gold-panning, or junior firefighter training.
Accommodation: Carter House Inn or similar
Day Eight Crescent City
Be prepared for an incredible journey through Redwood National Park as you meander up the California Coast to Crescent City. When western expansion met the redwoods in the 1800s, the trees began to fall under saw and axe. The massive redwoods offered early settlers a seemingly inexhaustible lumber supply. However, within a hundred year span the vast forests were reduced to a fraction of their former range. By the early 1900s, it was apparent that the future of the old growth redwood forest was in doubt. Thanks to the visionary actions of the Save the Redwoods League, the redwoods received the protection they needed. Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park were created by the State of California in the 1920s to protect some of the finest remaining examples of coast redwoods.
An amazing diversity of life exists at Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP). The ancient coast redwood ecosystem preserved in the parks contains some of the planet's most majestic forests. Here, banana slugs, gray whales, Douglas-fir, black bears, and sea anemones are equally at home with redwoods. Park staff work to maintain and restore the area's biological diversity through a wide range of resource management and educational activities. Preserving both natural processes and the region's species and genetic diversity helps ensure that countless generations can experience the beauty and complexity of an old-growth redwood forest.
Accommodation: Anna Wulf House Bed & Breakfast
Day Nine Mount Shasta
You can begin driving the Everett Memorial Highway to Mt. Shasta in downtown, leaving behind the ballfields and high school as you head up the mountain. After passing through the first set of evergreen forests, you’ll come to the site of the huge mudslide which ripped out ancient trees and sent boulders tumbling down the slopes.
At the Everett Vista Point savor the panoramic views of Eddys, the Marble Mountains and on a clear day, even Mount Lassen. At 8000 feet you can walk through the Red Fir Forest and feed blue birds so tame that they will eat from an outstretched hand. Passing 8,000 feet, you will be about the tree line, ready to experience the alpine vegetation of Panther Meadow.
The air is thin at these elevations, so take care while making your way to the top. On the other hand, it’s a once in a lifetime journey.
Accommodation: Mount Shasta Resort or similar
Day Ten Chester
Leaving Mt. Shasta, you’ll be on you way to Lassen Volcano National Park, which in 1914 erupted, beginning a 7-year cycle of sporadic volcanic outbursts. The reawakening of this volcano profoundly altered the surrounding landscape which was protected as a National Park in 1916.
Lassen Peak is the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range which extends from here into Canada. The western part of the park features great lava pinnacles, huge mountains created by lava flows, jagged craters, and steaming sulphur vents. It is cut by spectacular glaciated canyons and is dotted and threaded by lakes and rushing clear streams. Snowbanks persist year-round and beautiful meadows are spread with wildflowers in spring. The eastern part of the park is a vast lava plateau more than 1 mile above sea level. Here are found small cinder cones--Fairfield Peak, Hat Mountain, and Crater Butte. Forested with pine and fir, this area is studded with small lakes, but it boasts few streams. Warner Valley, features hot spring areas--Boiling Springs Lake, Devils Kitchen, and Terminal Geyser. This forested, steep valley also has gorgeous large meadows.
Lassen geothermal area--Sulphur Works, Bumpass Hell (largest), Little Hot Springs Valley, Boiling Springs Lake, Devils Kitchen, and Terminal Geyser--offer bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles, and boiling water. Some of these thermal features are getting hotter. Scientists think that Lassen Park and Mount Shasta are the most likely candidates in the Cascades to join Mount Saint Helens
Accommodation: Drakesbad Guest Ranch or similar
Day Eleven Lake Tahoe
When you reach Lake Tahoe, imagine yourself happening upon a crystal blue lake, with water so clear that you can see objects 75 feet below, sunk deep into a mountain valley, ringed by majestic snow covered mountains.
Travelers have been awed by the solace and natural beauty of Lake Tahoe since John Freemont arrived in 1844. Always known for its spectacular scenery, Lake Tahoe began life in earnest as a playground for the rich and famous when socialites from San Francisco built summer homes and “cottages” around the lake in the early 1900s. The world discovered Lake Tahoe during the Winter Olympic Games in 1960, when skiers, bobsledders, skaters and all of the rest of the winter sport’s elite converged on Olympic Valley.
Accommodation: Black Bear Inn or similar
Day Twelve Sacramento
On your way from Lake Tahoe to Sacramento today, you’ll be crossing California’s Scenic Highway 49, which of course was named that to make it part of gold rush lore, is also called the Mother Lode Highway.
In contrast to the many expeditions sent out by kings and monarchs in search of gold over the centuries, the gold rush in California began very quietly. A carpenter building a mill for John Sutter picked up a few gold nuggets near Coloma and the rush was on. About 40,000 prospectors and miners travelled to California from all parts of the world to try their luck and make their fortunes.
Today, along Highway 49, you’ll find both ghost towns and thriving towns, a tribute to the most robust era in California history.
Accommodation: The Inn at Parkside or similar
Day Thirteen Sacramento
Sacramento’s history began in 1839 when Johann Augustus Sutter, the same gentlemen you discovered yesterday on California 49, settled at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers. Gold was discovered in 1848 just thirty miles east of Sacramento, in Coloma. The rest is history!
The news of the discovery spread like wildfire around the globe and fortune hunters came by the thousands from all corners of the world to California—Sacramento to be precise. In fact, it was recorded as the largest human migration in history. California became a state in 1850 and Sacramento its capital four years later. The city has been on the move ever since and is now one of the fastest growing regions in the United States.
Peacefully located in a leafy valley of scenic rivers and canopies of trees, today’s Sacramento is a cosmopolitan convergence of tall, gleaming buildings, hearty Victorians, splendid restaurants and shops and a vibrant arts scene. Sacramento has been called a snapshot of Wild West history in a modern, world-class city.
Accommodation: The Inn at Parkside or similar
Day Fourteen Napa
The name 'Napa' is derived from the language of the Wappo Indians who once shared the lush green valley with deer, grizzly bears, elk and panthers. The first recorded exploration of Napa Valley was led by Padre Jose Altamira in 1823. In the 1830's, lured by the rich volcanic soil and an ideal growing season, farmers started settling in the Napa Valley.
Many of the original farmers established small vineyards with cuttings supplied by the Catholic Missions in Sonoma and San Rafael. The Riesling cuttings that generated the premier wines in the Napa Valley were first planted in 1861. Virtually all the best known wineries offer tours and tasting daily, with the most popular time for knowledgeable visitors being from late August through early October, the time of the grape harvest and crush.
"Noted author Robert Louis Stevenson drew the most eloquent word picture of the Valley at the close of the pioneer period. After riding the train from Vallejo to Calistoga in 1880 on his honeymoon, he wrote this passage in 'The Silverado Squatters': "A great variety of oaks, stood now severally, now in a becoming grove, among the fields and vineyards. The towns were compact, in about equal proportions, of bright, new wooden houses and great and growing forest trees; and the chapel bell on the engine sounded most festally that sunny Sunday, as we drew up at one green town after another, with the townsfolk trooping in their Sunday's best to see the strangers, with the sun sparkling on the clean houses, and great domes of foliage humming overhead in the breeze."
Accommodation: Blackbird Inn or similar
Day Fifteen Sausalito
On you way from the Napa Valley to San Francisco, you can visit the Marin Headlands and the Muir Woods National Monument, units of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Famous naturalist John Muir is known as the “father of the National Park system.”
Sausalito takes its name for the "little willow" trees (Saucelito) which 18th century Spanish explorers found growing along its streams. Sausalito is a small town of only 7,500 residents, best known for its spectacular waterfront views. It's a quiet, charming town that some say reminds them of the Mediterranean. Music fans may be interested to know that performer Otis Redding wrote his hit song "The Dock of the Bay" in Sausalito, where he had rented a houseboat in late 1967 to get some peace and quiet.
Most Sausalito visitors restrict their visit to a stroll past the art galleries and souvenir shops along Bridgeway. To get a different point of view, take a walk north along the waterfront, past the yacht harbor. Along the way, you'll find the Bay Model, a three-dimensional hydraulic model of the San Francisco and Delta covering over 1.5 acres.
Accommodation: Hotel Sausalito or similar
Day 16 San Francisco
It's time to fly back to Old Blighty! But you'll have plenty of time for a bit of last minute sight-seeing before you depart San Francisco Airport on your early evening flight home.
Want to extend your stay? Perhaps hop on the plane and visit the heavenly Hawaiian Islands, jump on a train and make your way through California to sunny San Diego, or perhaps head east on the train and visit Chicago, The Windy City. The options are endless, call Bon Voyage to discuss your ideal holiday.
