What to do in California: 12 places you cant miss

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California is one of the most touristic and appreciative states in the United States. Everyone wants to go; it always has something to offer and its attractions attract several million travelers each year. And besides, you almost always have guaranteed good weather. "Sunny California" they call it. If you are thinking of going, you will want to know what to do in California and what places you cannot miss, but as important as that is to have the best insurance to travel to the United States.

Knowing this, take good note of these 12 places that you cannot miss in California to make the most of your trip to the west coast of the United States.

1. Yosemite National Park

If there are several essential places to visit in California, Yosemite National Park is undoubtedly one of the first. For many, it is the most beautiful National Park in the United States and there are many reasons to think about it. Its huge granite gorges were sculpted by the force of glaciers and today it is famous for its high and numerous waterfalls. You have valleys, forests, meadows, a wild nature and endless trails to fill your lungs with fresh air. If you want to sleep in one of the accommodations that the Park offers, we recommend you book it as far in advance as possible.

2. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

Very close to Yosemite is Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. If you think you have seen large trees in your life, wait until you see these, because without a doubt they will leave you speechless. Here you will enter a land of giants, where sequoias that are practically 2,000 years old rise together as you pass by. You will have to go visit General Sherman, a sequoia that despite its 84 meters high and 11 in diameter is neither the widest nor the widest, but it is the largest. A walk through the Giant Forest, which is a true museum of trees, and you will never, ever return even though the trees you have seen until then are large. You can also find more sequoia specimens at Muir Woods National Monument, Redwood National & State Parks, and Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

what to see in California?

3. The city of San Francisco

Another must see in California. The city of San Francisco asks that you dedicate several days of your time to it. It goes without saying that your first stop should be at the Golden Gate, so that if it gets cloudy you have time to come back later if the sun shines. Also waiting for you are Alcatraz, the most famous prison in the world, the picturesque neighborhoods of Castro and Mission, the old streets of Chinatown, the lively Fisherman's Wharf, the Coit Tower, Pier 39 with its sea lions and the curious Musée Mecanique , among many other things. To fill the stomach a clam chowder would not be bad at all.

4. The California Missions

The Spanish left their mark of their presence in Californian lands and from 1769 up to 21 missions were built from San Diego to Sonoma. Great responsible for this was the Franciscan Junípero Serra, who built 9 of them, and you can still visit many of them today. For example, the one in San Francisco de Asís , in San Francisco, the Old Mission of Santa Bárbara , in Santa Bárbara, the Mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa , in San Luis Obispo, or the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo del Río is striking. Carmelo, in Carmel, to name just a few of the ones you have while passing between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

the California missions

5. The city of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a city a bit crazy and difficult to cover, but with a few essential points that you cannot miss as soon as you get ready to see their faces with its dense traffic. Of course you will have to go to Hollywood and one of its studios, to take a tour of the walk of fame and look for the star of your favorite actors and actresses, to go to Beverly Hills or Bel Air to hallucinate with their houses and go up to the Griffith Observatory to contemplate the city of stars at your feet.

6. The beaches of Santa Monica and Venice

Along with Los Angeles you have two other places of interest that will come in handy if you escape the bustle of the city. Santa Monica beach offers miles of sand for you to enjoy at your leisure, as well as the famous Santa Monica Pier where its attractions, including a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel, illuminate the silhouette of the coast every night. If you walk a little further south you will arrive at Venice Beach , a much more casual and alternative beach that has little to do with Santa Monica, but that delights lovers of the slow movement.

Santa Monica and Venice beaches7. The Big Sur

The route that connects Los Angeles with San Francisco is the Pacific Coast Highway and all of it has no waste, but it is even more beautiful if we focus on the section known as Big Sur. The highway winds along the coast avoiding cliffs between forests and ocean constantly looking out over the Pacific. Along this route you will pass through beautiful natural spaces, such as Point Lobos , ideal for observing marine fauna, through charming towns (and a lot of money) such as Carmel by the Sea , through bridges such as Bixby Creek and through Piedras Blancas, a small beach where you will find a huge population of elephant seals.

8. Napa Valley and Sonoma

They are the quintessential wine regions of California, and we could say that the entire United States, the American "Wine Country". They are only an hour's drive from San Francisco and if you are a wine lover you will appreciate taking a walk here to lose yourself in the secondary roads of its hills. There are more than 600 wineries, the Cabernet-Sauvignon variety is the protagonist in the Napa vineyards and the Zinfandel and Syrah those of Sonoma. If you want to visit any of its wineries, we recommend that you make your reservation in advance.

California, Napa Valley and Sonoma

9. The Valley of Death

The Valley of Death, Death Valley California, is a place that impresses. An almost apocalyptic and bleak terrain that can be scorching. But a work of art of nature after all. It holds the record for being the hottest spot in the United States, where it has reached 57º C., and the lowest, 86 meters below sea level at the Badwater location. A landscape of canyons carved by water, sand dunes and a huge plain of pure salt.

10. Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is the border between California and Nevada. A cluster of brilliant blue water in the middle of nature that offers endless different activities, whatever the time of year, with snow in winter and overflowing vegetation in spring. An ideal place if water activities call you, because taking a canoe ride along its shores will be like getting into a real postcard, a landscape of colors so intense that they seem to be retouched.

11. The Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert is the Mojave National Preserve , a vast, hot expanse of land worth traversing to see one of California's most impressive landscapes. Here you can see the largest concentration of Joshua trees in the world, some dunes, volcanic cones, desert tortoises, coyotes and, beware, dangerous rattlesnakes. A place to go if what you are looking for is to listen to the most absolute silence.

12. The city of San Diego

Some say that it is the best city to live in in California, and it has not been for nothing that it has earned the nickname of "the most elegant city in the United States." Here you can take a walk through Old Town , where the historic center of the city from the mid-19th century is preserved, visit the USS Midway , an aircraft carrier turned museum that was in service from 1945 to 1992, enter Balboa Park and know some from its museums, or stroll through the Gaslamp Quarter, the cultural and commercial center of the city. If to this you add beaches like Imperial Beach, Coronado Beach or Mission Beach, you already have enough reasons to approach this city on the border with Mexico.

What to do in California: 12 places you can't miss

USA