The Best of California

From relaxing hotels to gorgeous vineyards to endless beaches, there’s a reason California is called the Golden State. Here are six must-visit spots on the West Coast.

Photo: Montecito Inn
Photo: Montecito Inn

Santa Barbara: Stay in a boutique hotel seeped in history, check out Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, drive along the American Riviera, and taste Pinot Noirs before watching the sun set on a beach in Montecito.

Photo: Solage Calistoga
Photo: Solage Calistoga

Calistoga: Explore a famous wine region in the off-season to find natural hot springs, cottages with cruiser bikes and local coffee, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and, of course, lots of wine in the Napa Valley.

Photo: en:User:Squirrel 22 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sausalito.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: en:User:Squirrel 22 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sausalito.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sausalito: Find a peaceful alternative in a picturesque town with wooded hills, tidal flats, a yacht-filled harbor, houseboats, water taxis, and three amazing hotels after exploring San Francisco.

Photo: Weedwhacker128 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Weedwhacker128 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Two Harbors: Escape to the Channel Islands to find chaparral-filled hills, azure water, ice cream cones at a general store, and a hillside hotel with harbors views.

Photo: Joseph Plotz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Joseph Plotz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Big Sur: Travel down the Central Coast to find state parks, deep gorges, a jagged coastline, hairpin turns, sapphire water, hidden beaches, and a weathered inn on 240 acres of secluded land.

Photo: Esterlina Vineyards
Photo: Esterlina Vineyards

Anderson Valley: Venture up Highway 1 to find stunning vineyard and valley views, a large deck, small snacks, and high-quality wines at your favorite winery in Philo.

Advertisement

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.