California - In the Footsteps of John Muir 7896

Enjoy access to the airport executive lounge before we depart from London to San Francisco. Upon arrival in San Francisco, we will be met by our coach and transferred to our hotel.  The remainder of the day is free to explore and relax after our journey.

This morning after our American breakfast, we will board the coach for our city tour taking in the sights of this “City by the Bay” including North Beach, famous for its Italian community; Nob Hill, where the city’s elite have their homes; Chinatown, which boasts the largest Chinese community in North America, and fashionable Union Square, home of some of the finest shopping in the country.In the afternoon we will visit Botanic Garden at the University of California, Berkeley.  We return to our hotel in San Francisco where the evening is at leisure.

This morning, after breakfast, we will cross the famous Golden Gate Bridge to visit Muir Woods, a 559-acre forest of towering coast redwood trees. Until the 1800s many northern California coastal valleys were covered with redwoods and the forest along Redwood Creek, now Muir Woods, was spared from logging because it was difficult to reach. President Theodore Roosevelt established Muir Woods as a national monument in 1908.After lunch in Sausalito (not included) we enter the Golden Gate Park for our visit to Strybing Arboretum & botanical garden. There is much to see here, including Mediterranean and Tropical Climate Gardens with plants from as far afield as South-west Australia, Temperate Gardens, providing an array of colourful shrubs that bloom almost year-round, and a host of Speciality Gardens. Our visit includes a tour of the conservatory and the neighbouring Japanese garden.

This morning after breakfast we head to Filoli Gardens, a 654-acre estate situated 30 miles to the south of San Francisco. These magnificent gardens are untouched by the passage of time and surround the grand Georgian mansion with hundreds of rare flowers, plants and trees. The extensive 16-acre formal garden was developed as the construction of the house neared completion, the lawns and shrubs being planted in 1917. The woodlands and undeveloped Crystal Springs Watershed lands surround the estate and provide a magnificent backdrop for the formal garden. Isabella Worn supervised the planting of the garden and enriched it with hundreds of camellias, rhododendrons, roses and magnolias. Her ingenious designs and great sense of colour are hallmarks of this garden. A tour of the house as well as the gardens is included.We will return to the hotel where we will have a free afternoon to relax and explore. Alternatively, you may wish to take part in our optional excursion to Alcatraz, the infamous island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The visitor centre depicts the history of the island including the notorious federal prison and the West Coast’s first lighthouse and bird colonies.

This morning after breakfast we enjoy a full day tour to the Napa Valley and the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Francis Ford Coppola is perhaps better known for making movies but has been making wines since 1977. The winery, located near Geyserville, is influenced by the idea of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, with swimming pools, bocce courts and a restaurant. As well as showcasing the forty or so wines produced here, the winery also displays several of Coppola’s Oscars along with memorabilia from his movies, including Vito Corleone’s desk from The Godfather and a restored 1948 Tucker Sedan as used in Tucker: The Man and His Dream. A wine tasting is included here.

This morning, after breakfast, we leave our hotel in San Francisco and head to the suburbs of Walnut Creek to the Ruth Bancroft Gardens and Nursery. One of the finest dry gardens in the world, we see an expansive display of climate resilient plants.We later travel to Yosemite National Park, a region of outstanding natural beauty. Yosemite lies in central California on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. The park has a grand collection of waterfalls, meadows and forests that include groves of giant sequoias, the world’s largest living things.We will check into our hotel in Bass Lake where the evening will be at leisure.

This morning after breakfast we will tour Yosemite. The highlights of the park include Yosemite Valley and its high cliffs and waterfalls; Wawona’s history centre and historic hotel; the Mariposa Grove, which contains hundreds of the giant sequoias; Glacier Point’s spectacular view of Yosemite Valley and the high country; a large sub-alpine meadow surrounded by mountain peaks and Hetch Hetchy, a reservoir in a valley considered to be the twin of Yosemite Valley.

This morning after breakfast we leave our hotel in Yosemite and travel to Monterey Peninsula. Described as the greatest meeting of land, sea and sky, this beautiful seaside community combines all the charm of small-town America with an endless variety of recreational and cultural activities.  Monterey’s rich history, the saga of the California’s Mission Trail, historic Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row, the world’s best aquarium, unique shops and galleries and a spectacular assortment of parks and natural areas combine to provide an outstanding destination.We will arrive at our hotel in Monterey in the afternoon and the evening will be at leisure.

This morning, after breakfast, we have a real treat in store as we travel along the stunning 17 Mile Drive. Passing through the Del Monte Forest there are approximately 20 stops along this well marked route, each with a landmark of interest, including the trademark Lone Cypress Tree, the Restless Sea, Seal Rock, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill. Over 100 years ago this two-lane road was a trail on which covered wagons carried guests from a hotel to picnic grounds along Pebble Beach.We will then visit the Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel. Founded in 1770 by Father Junipero Serra, President of the California Missions Chain, the building was started by 40 Indians from Baja California Missions, along with three soldiers and five sailors. The Indians were trained as ploughmen, shepherds, blacksmiths and carpenters and by 1836 over 4,000 Indians were baptized at the Mission. Vineyards were planted, cattle and sheep were raised and agriculture was used for trade and to supply visitors to the mission.  Today the Mission is one of the most popular tourist sites in California and a place of pilgrimage for visitors from all over the world, including Pope John Paul II in 1987.

This morning after breakfast we will leave our hotel in Monterey and explore the Monterey Peninsula.  Monterey Bay is twice as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon with an abundance of sea life such as sea otters and sea lions, making it a scuba diver’s dream.Heading south, we will make a stop at Hearst Castle. In 1927 William Randolph Hearst told architect Julian Morgan he wanted to build “a little something” on the California coast.  18 years later, La Cuesta Encantada (“the Enchanted Hill”), also known as Hearst Castle, crowned the hilltop above tiny San Simeon.  In its heyday Hearst Castle had its own zoo, tennis courts and two magnificent swimming pools and today it is a State Monument giving glimpses into the Hearst’s opulent lifestyle.This evening, we will travel along the Pacific Coast to arrive in our hotel in Santa Barbara, where the evening is at leisure.

This morning following breakfast we depart for Ventura Harbor, 30 miles south of Santa Barbara, the starting point for our boat trip to the Channel Islands National Park. Encompassing five remarkable, uninhabited islands and their ocean environment, the Park preserves and protects a wealth of natural and cultural resources. Isolation over thousands of years has created unique animals, plants, and archeological resources found nowhere else on Earth and helped preserve a place where visitors can experience coastal southern California as it once was. After a brief stop at Prisoners Harbour, our boat continues to Painted Cave along the north shore of Santa Cruz. Where our catamaran will enter the first chamber of the cave to view one of the largest known sea caves on the planet. After visiting Painted Cave, the vessel returns to Prisoner’s Harbor where we have some free time to explore. This area is a recently renewed wetlands area. The National Park and The Nature Conservancy together recovered this area once lost to ranching needs.

After breakfast we visit the Lotusland Gardens. This 37-acre estate once belonged to the Polish opera singer Ganna Walska. Many of the exotic trees and subtropical flora were planted in 1882 by horticulturist R. Kinton Stevens. The highlights include an outdoor theatre, a topiary garden, large collection of rare cycads and a lotus pond.In the afternoon we will visit the Santa Barbara Mission Garden and the private garden of Casa del Herrero, giving us an insight into the pleasures and pitfalls of gardening here in California.

This morning, after breakfast, we depart Santa Barbara to the California Botanic Garden, the largest of its kind, focussing solely on the Golden State’s native plant species. The garden is dedicated to the conservation of critically endangered plants and now protects a number of them that had were on the brink of extinction, such as the Catalina Mountain mahogany (less than a dozen individual plants remain in the wild).

This morning after breakfast we depart for Fullerton Arboretum. A former orange grove the site is now the largest botanical garden in Orange County. We take some time to stroll amongst more than 4,000 plants spread over collections devoted to woodland, desert and mediterranean plants as well as extensive cultivated gardens such as an orchard and wildflower gardens.En route to the airport, our final visit is to Huntington Botanical Gardens, which consist of 15 specialised gardens arranged within a park-like landscape.  Among the most remarkable are the Desert Garden with its mature cacti, the Japanese Garden with its house and drum bridge and the Rose Garden, demonstrating the history of the rose.We leave the garden and board the coach for transfer to Los Angeles International Airport for our return evening flight to London.

We will arrive at London in the afternoon (local time) where the group will disperse or transfer to regional flights.