California

The shoreline south of Monterey is one of California’s top places to visit. We were driving down the Californian coast and found so many things to do in Monterey and Carmel that we just had to stay some extra nights to see it all. This post will tell you what to do in Monterey and Carmel and around them. Places ...

We made a day trip to Santa Barbara, California and explored this pretty Spanish-style city on the Californian coast. What did we see in Santa Barbara in one day? Purple trees and whitewashed houses, a lot of them. I can guess Santa Barbara looks good at all times of the year but in May jacarandas in flower make the city look like something ...

The coastal drive from San Francisco to Monterey is one of the top scenic drives in the US. I will show you the sights along Highway 1 and tell you what to see and where to stop. To begin with, we will explore the rugged coastline and sandy beaches south of San Francisco and stop for a while in the tiny ...

California is famous for its giant redwoods but redwood forests have almost disappeared from Californian shores. To see giant trees I made a day trip to Muir Woods Redwood Forest that is the only remaining redwood forest in San Francisco bay area.   The trip was a half day self drive tour and I was traveling with my husband. Muir Woods ...

The Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country is one of the new wine regions of California. In addition to vineyards and wine tasting the valley offers pretty small towns like Solvang, Los Olivos and Los Alamos.  The Santa Ynez Valley is in the Central Coast of California between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We toured this new wine region on our road trip ...

Golden Gate Bridge is for many people the thing they know about San Francisco. We went to see what the bridge is like. In addition we wanted to see the other Golden Gate area sights. We walked across the bridge and along San Francisco coast and had a great day out. And there was so much more to see in the area. There was a large green area ...

This post will show you a San Francisco sightseeing itinerary by car. As distances are long in San Francisco, driving is by far the best way to explore the city. No need to worry about driving in Central San Francisco. It’s super easy, yet its best to visit on a Saturday or Sunday when there is less traffic. Parking, however, may ...

The small town of Sonoma one hour north of San Francisco is the center of the wine-growing valley with the same name. Sonoma’s main attractions are its many wineries and the pretty, historic Sonoma Plaza. This post is a small photo gallery of the historic Spanish-style town of Sonoma, California. The historic town of Sonoma in north California About Sonoma’s ...

This post will show you our Napa Valley day trip by car. We spent a sunny day driving around the valley and looking for top wineries. Here are my top picks for your Napa Valley day trip. Napa Valley is a scenic wine-growing region one hour north of San Francisco and home to about 300-400 wineries. A day trip to ...