California is located at the West of North America, surrounded by North Pacific Ocean, Oregon on the North, Nevada and Arizona on the East and bordered by Mexico at the South. Sacramento is the capital of California which is about 2-hour journey from San Francisco.
California is named as the Golden State with the history of gold poppies discovery since 1848. The top industry in California is made up by technology products. Western Digital is one of the largest and famous hard disk drives manufacturer in the state. For tourists that love to visit this beautiful state, do plan your itinerary accordingly as suggested below.
This is a 9-day road journey around the state starting with the arrival at Los Angeles Airport. The journey begins from South and move towards the East and North, and then on wards to the last city in San Francisco.
Day 1:
Arrival in the Los Angeles Airport, the first destination is Disneyland! It is a great amusement park that is a Must for everyone especially those who loves Disney characters and movies. This place is full of entertain such as roller coaster rides, live shows, gaming center and together with great hotels and wonderful restaurants. There are two theme parks in the same area, first of all is Disneyland Park and the second is Disney Adventure Park.
Both are wonderful park for the visitors. Disney Park opened in 1955 and it is divided into eight different themes: Fantasyland, Mickey’s Toontown, Tomorrowland and Critter Country. On the other hand, Adventure Park is combined by seven lands of Pixar stories and the unique night performance, namely World of Color. There are many adorable Disney Characters at the parks. It is fun for the entire family. There are many more activities stated from the official website, do have a look for more information.
Day 2:
After a day spent at Disneyland, it is time to move further South to San Diego city which is nearest to Mexico. This is a city with cultural blend of America and Mexico, where the tourists can enjoy Mexico culture especially in food and nightlife entertainment. Popular theme park, SeaWorld is located at the center of San Diego. SeaWorld offers marine animals viewings, exciting rides and live performances. SeaWorld is the home for wales, walruses, polar bears, penguins and dolphins. Shamu the giant killer wales is one of the biggest main attraction performance show for SeaWorld. There are many great bars and clubs located around downtown area which is suitable for those visitors who preferred some night activities such as drinking and dancing throughout the night. The famous Rooftop600 bar is located top-of-the-building with amazing atmosphere view of downtown San Diego and fantastic music.
Day 3:
With just a two-hour journey from San Diego, visitor can heading to the biggest state park in California, Anza-Borrego Desert. This state park covers about 600,000 acres of land, which is bordered by the Jacumba mountains, Bucksnorts, Vallecito Mountains, Borrego Mountains and so on. Visitors can go into the park riding on a bicycle. It is a great challenge for adventurous travelers as the routes are steep uphill and downhill on the sandy land. If visitors are lucky enough, they can view the habitats of desert bighorn sheep, coyotes and mountain lions in the surrounding area. Wildflowers are also in season of blooming in desert during spring time, especially in the month of February and March.
Day 4:
Heading to North East for about 90 minutes journey to arrive at the National Park (Joshua Tree), it is more than 800,000 acres with two deserts at different elevation. It is the combination of Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert where it is below 910m. The Giant Rock that located in Landers is the biggest free rock in the world. Visitors can do hiking and camping at the national park. There are nine campgrounds in the park, which provide basic needs for the campers. Apart from there, there are some short and long walking trail for the visitors to hike. Hikers can select which is preferred and suitable for their pace. Also, rock climbing is another popular outdoor activities for visitors during winter season.
There are other popular campground spots around the area such as Black Rock Canyon, Cottonwood Spring and Skull Rock. Every each of these places has their own uniqueness. The Black Rock Canyon is located near to the Northwest area of the park and the campsite is situated on the hillside near the entrance of Canyon. Cottonwood Spring was the important gold processing point but has become a famous campsite nowadays. It is located at Southern mouth of the park, which is one of the best secret spot in Joshua Tree. The Skull Rock is formed by erosion of granite and by raindrops after a long period of time. This is one of the favorite spot by the visitors that is located at east-west area. To get into that campsite, visitors have to walk through a miles and a half of nature trail.
Day 5:
Next destination is to the Death Valley and it is a long journey from Joshua Tree. It takes about 4 hours heading to North. Death Valley is the warmest, lowest and driest national park in California. It is known as Titus Canyon with colorful rocks and is the lowest point of North America. Temperatures and condition is extremely hot and has created beauty within the areas with salt fields, sand dunes, dry parched land, a lake that stays below sea level and mountains that build a unique landscapes. There are tonnes of outdoor activities namely camping, hiking and mountain biking for the adventurous travelers who wants to take up the challenge. Apart from outdoor activities, visitors can visit to the Borax Museum which displays a wide range of minerals and the history about borax in the Death Valley. Aside from that, there are also transportation equipment display at the back of the museum.
Day 6:
Next destination is about 8 hours drive from Death Valley and it is the Yosemite Falls. It is the number five highest waterfall with the height of 2,425 feet. It is located together with Yosemite National Park at North California, which is one of the best national park in the States. There are many popular sites such as Cathedral Spires, El Capitan, Sentinel Rock, Half Dome, and the stunning scene of Yosemite Falls from the highest peak, call Eagle Peak. Be sure to checkout the giant trees namely the Mariposa Grove, which is located at the Southern area of the national park. Tunnel View is also another great attraction with over 5,000 visitors annually during the peak season.
Day 7:
The journey heading to the West, which is Downtown San Francisco. It takes about 4 hours from Yosemite National Park. Visitors can start the journey in the morning then arrive at downtown for lunch and hotel check-in. Be sure to take a little rest and relax before dinner to enjoy the night view of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is one of the famous spots for the city of San Francisco, where the orange color bridge is crossing the San Francisco Bay. Also, there are many clubs available in the street of downtown for those visitors who love to have a drink and unwind for the entire night.
Day 8:
Drive along the Big Sur Coastline to the South, Monterey City takes about 3 hours. This is the famous Highway 1 that attracts many tourists from worldwide. It is a must experience and it is such a great journey along the coast with beautiful scenery. Along the coastline, there are few spots which worth visiting such as Pfeiffer Beach, Monterey Beach and Mc Way Fall, which is the end point of the drive. There are even more attractions on the journey including the Bixby Bridge and the historical Point Sur Lighthouse. Take a small break to Garrapata State Park while on the way back to downtown. Enjoy a little exercise, walking and hiking with pleasing views of the beach, redwoods, coastline and mountains.
Day 9:
Take a half day city tour at San Francisco with those street cable car and experience the entire city. The cable car is the last manually ran cable car system in the world. There were 23 lines operated during it’s peak time, but now there are only 3 cable cars in the city total. Lastly, select a fabulous restaurant in the city for lunch before heading to the San Francisco International Airport to end the vacation!