Guided Touring in California

Day 1: San Francisco - Fly to San Francisco and transfer to your hotel.

Day 2: San Francisco sightseeing - Cruise via Alcatraz Prison to the Golden Gate Bridge before heading downtown to see the main city sights off Union Square. Ride a cable car back to your hotel.

Day 3: Monterey - Drive along the scenic Pacific Highway to Monterey. In the afternoon explore the wharfside area and walk the promenade, Cannery Row.

Day 4: Monterey and Carmel - Enjoy coastal walks along the headland with the option to visit the excellent Monterey aquarium. Continue the famous 17 mile drive to Carmel-By-The-Sea for a visit to the historic Spanish Mission.

Day 5: Fresno - The views from Point Lobos State Preserve must rate among the world’s most dramatic coastal scenes. The rocky headland offers fantastic views down to the ocean. Then head inland to the agricultural heart of California where we spend one night in Fresno before we head into the mountains.

Day 6: Sequoia National Park - Leaving the fertile plains of the central valley through orchards of fruit and nut trees to climb into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. We drive to Kings Canyon National Park, famous for its soaring mountain cliffs and deep granite valleys. We walk an attractive route along the Riverside Trail and return on the other side of the valley along the Kanawyer Loop Trail.

Day 7: Giant Forest - Enjoy wonderful walks through the largest stand of mountain redwoods in the world. Walks are planned along the Congress Trail and to the park’s two beautiful meadow areas, with a diversion to Moro Rock, a solid granite monolith often compared to Yosemite’s Half Dome.

Day 8: Yosemite National Park - Travel through to Wawona in the southern region of Yosemite Park. Visit the Pioneer Centre, take a picnic by the river and enjoy a walk on the Wawona Meadow Loop Trail, before continuing to Yosemite Valley.

Day 9: Yosemite Valley - A day to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Yosemite Valley and orientate yourself to the park’s main sights and features. There’s the opportunity to visit the Yosemite Museum, the National Park Headquarters and the excellent Ansel Adams Photographic Gallery.

Day 10: Yosemite, Glacier Point, Vernal and Nevada Falls - Take the Glacier tour bus to Glacier Point to commence our walk on the Panorama Trail. This is a spectacular route into the High Sierra, and then down around the tops of three magnificent waterfalls to the valley.

Day 11: Tuolumne Meadows - Travel into Yosemite’s high country. Pass beautiful alpine lakes and meadows surrounded by glacially carved mountains. Walk along a trail to the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River and out through the beautiful canyon that shares its name.

Day 12: San Francisco - Head west across the Sierra Nevada and central valley to San Francisco.

Day 13: San Francisco to the UK - Some free time for sightseeing prior to our transfer to the airport for the return flight to the UK.

Day 14: Arrive UK