Day 1 To San Francisco:
Fly to San Francisco and transfer to
our centrally located hotel for 2 nights.
Day 2 San Francisco:
Enjoy a morning tour to Union Square
and Chinatown, followed by a bay cruise to Alcatraz prison and
the Golden Gate Bridge, and rides on the city's famous cable
cars.
Day 3 To Carmel:
Travel out of the city to the Big
Basin Redwood State Park, with gentle valleys and creeks and its
large collection of virgin coastal redwood trees. Continue on
the famous 17 mile drive to Monterey, once the capital of
Spanish California, for 2 nights.
Day 4 Andrew Molera State
Park: We
follow the famous coastal highway to one of California’s
premier state parks, to walk on coastal trails and remote
beaches. Later we visit the beautiful and historic Carmel
mission.
Day 5 Point Lobos State
Reserve: This
morning we visit Monterey, the former capital of Spanish
California, and continue for walks on the shoreline trails of
Point Lobos State Reserve, with splendid ocean views and marine
and bird life to be seen. We continue inland to Fresno for 1
night.
Day 6 To Kings Canyon
National Park: Head
into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and the Kings Canyon
National Park for 2 nights. Walk the beautiful trail through
Zumwalt Meadows to Roaring River Falls, with a longer option
into Paradise Valley.
Day 7 Sequoia National
Park: Enjoy walks in
Sequoia National Park, including the Congress Trail to the
park’s two beautiful meadow areas and the trail to the massive
General Sherman tree.
Day 8 To Yosemite:
Journey north to Yosemite National
Park, where we stay for 4 nights. Today we enjoy short walks in
the Mariposa region of the park among the giant redwoods.
Day 9 Yosemite:
A day free to relax in the national
park, perhaps visit the museum, the Ansel Adams Gallery or join
a park ranger-led programme. There are of course a variety of
short trail walks such as Sentinel Bridge or Mirror Lake for
views of Half Dome.
Day 10 Yosemite:
Take the park’s hiker bus to
Glacier Point to walk on the Panorama Trail, a spectacular route
into the High Sierra, or a lovely walk along the Merced River to
Vernal Falls.
Day 11 Yosemite:
Today we travel into Yosemite’s
high country to the Tuolumne Meadows area and the impressive
Lyell Canyon, for level walks with a choice of distances.
Day 12 To San Francisco:
Travel through the Californian wine country to San
Francisco for 1 night.
Day 13 Depart
for home..
