California: pure gold by road
By KEVIN JONES
New
York apart, there is no more glamorous holiday destination
in the whole of the United States than California.
Stunning, spectacular, sophisticated and sun-drenched, California
caters for everyone from the surfer to the skier, from movie
buffs to museum-heads.
You can be in the heart of Hollywood
one day, baking your bones in Death
Valley the next. You can be shaking your head at the awesome
scenery at Yosemite's Glacier
Point one day and crossing San Francisco's Golden Gate
the next.
But hey, why rush? This is, after all, the land of the laid-back.
California is a big and brash place and cannot be enjoyed
fully in a quick trip. Ideally, you would want to spend several
weeks in the state - even a month's holiday there would allow
you to spend only a week here, four days there and so on.
The tourist traps of Los Angeles alone would require you
to devote a week in the City of Angels. And if you intend
on doing this, click
here for some L.A. accommodation solutions.
When you consider that there is the splendour of the Pacific
Coast road trip to San
Francisco (definitely not to be rushed), the beguiling
charms of Frisco itself; the state's wine country, places
of breathtaking beauty like Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur,
Death Valley …… the list goes on and so does the length of
time you're going to need to do California justice.
This brief Web Wombat series will take you on a road
trip around the state and give you some starting points and
tips along the way. We'll give you loads of links to outside
sites for up-to-the-minute tourism information.
And if you decide to give California a try, just remember
to pack your drivers' licence, your shorts, sunnies and sun-screen,
your camera and your best movie-star smile. After all, everybody
else in California seems to be waiting for the moment when
they are discovered by Tinseltown.
Click below to start your road trip
Los Angeles
Santa Barbara and Highway One
Big Sur
Monterey and Carmel
San Francisco
Yosemite
Death Valley
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