Essential USA - California Road Trip

Ten nights from San Francisco to Los Angeles, self-guided, through Yosemite and down Highway 1, staying in boutique hotels.

The allocation is what makes this one work: two nights in the city, two at Yosemite, two at Monterey and four at Santa Barbara, which is time to stop rather than a different bed every night.

San Francisco opens it at the Hotel Vitale, with the Alcatraz ferry, Union Square and Chinatown, and the car is collected on the third day. Yosemite follows for two nights at Rush Creek Lodge by way of Groveland, with the walk to Bridalveil Falls and a private guide available. Monterey comes next for two, with a whale watching trip that can turn up humpback, blue, fin, grey or killer whales, though nothing is ever promised, the aquarium, and Carmel-by-the-Sea, where Clint Eastwood served as mayor in the late 1980s. Santa Barbara closes it with four nights at the Hotel Californian, reached by the 17 Mile Drive and Big Sur, with condors overhead, beach days, wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley and a boat trip to the Channel Islands available.

The accommodation, a private arrival transfer, a mid-range hire car with full insurance and the one-way fee, the Alcatraz entry and ferry, the whale watching on a shared basis and a dune buggy at Pismo Beach are all included; flights, most meals, excursions not listed and a 45-dollar nightly resort fee at the Hotel Californian are not. The price shown is per person sharing. Spring and autumn avoid both the summer fog and the crowds.