Northern California

Fourteen nights looping out of San Francisco and finishing in the Napa vineyards, and the only trip in their range that includes Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Flights, car and hotels come as one package from the UK with a road book for the route.

Three nights in San Francisco start it, then two at Monterey for the aquarium, Cannery Row and the 17-Mile Drive, with Carmel-by-the-Sea and the headlands at Point Lobos alongside. Big Sur and Hearst Castle follow, and then the route turns inland and upward, away from the coast every other California trip sticks to.

That inland half is what makes it. Sequoia brings the General Sherman tree, the largest living thing on earth by volume, and the drive through the Tunnel Tree. Kings Canyon follows, then two nights at Yosemite for the valley floor and Glacier Point. Lake Tahoe gets two nights and a 71-mile shoreline drive past Emerald Bay, before two in Napa to finish among the vineyards.

Around 920 miles over a fortnight, which the operator rightly calls short on mileage, and five of the eight stops run to two nights or more. Worth asking about timing when you enquire: the Tioga Pass and the Hetch Hetchy road are both seasonal and the page does not say so. The itinerary is bespoke, with nights addable and stops removable, and departures are arranged around your dates. It suits anyone who wants the giant sequoias and the high Sierra as well as the coast, and does not mind skipping Los Angeles entirely to get them.