9780679001485

Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Updated each year and containing a full-color, foldout Rand McNally map, a Fodor's Gold Guide is an essential tool for any kind of traveler. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze, and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you. Great tours, from neighborhood walks in San Francisco and San Diego to drives along the coast and in the mountains Beaches, the redwoods, Lake Tahoe, Monterey, Palm Springs, Death Valley, Santa Barbara, and Yosemite Where to bike, canoe, fish, golf, hike, ski, and surf, plus tips on whale-watching and adventure cruises Balloon rides, panning for gold, and other good times The best nightlife -- from the "in" to the far out Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Beachside resorts and hilltop ranches, Gold Rush inns and sleek hotels, simple motels and rustic campgrounds California cuisine in Beverly Hills, seafood in coastal La Jolla, dim sum in San Francisco's Chinatown, and "grub" at a North Coast loggers' cookhouse Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands 81 pages of maps, 15 vacation itineraries, and more Smart travel tips Festivals Complete index

On the Road with Fodor's	p. v
About Our Writers	p. v
Connections	p. vi
How to Use This Book	p. vi
Don't Forget to Write	p. vii
The Gold Guide	p. xvi
Smart Travel Tips A to Z
Destination: California	p. 1
Restless Nirvana	p. 2
New and Noteworthy	p. 3
What's Where	p. 4
Pleasures and Pastimes	p. 6
Fodor's Choice	p. 8
Books and Videos	p. 9
Festivals and Seasonal Events	p. 12
The North Coast	p. 14
The Far North	p. 41
The Wine Country	p. 55
San Francisco	p. 80
Sacramento and the Gold Country	p. 171
Lake Tahoe	p. 198
The Sierra National Parks	p. 220
The San Joaquin Valley	p. 247
Monterey Bay	p. 266
The Central Coast	p. 299
Los Angeles	p. 328
Orange County	p. 433
San Diego	p. 460
Palm Springs	p. 536
The Mojave Desert and Death Valley	p. 560
Index	p. 577
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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This partial excerpt, from the Pleasures and Pastimes section, gives you a taste of what California has to offer and the sights and scenes that make it a great place to visit.

Beaches

With 1,264 miles of coastline, California is well supplied with beaches. You can walk, lie, and sun on them, watch seabirds and hunt for shells, dig clams, or spot seals and sea otters at play. From December through March you can witness the migrations of the gray whales. What you can't always do at these beaches is swim. From San Francisco northward the water is too cold for all but the hardiest souls. Even along the southern half of the coast some beaches are too dangerous for swimming because of the undertow. Look for signs and postings and take them seriously.

Access to beaches in California is generally excellent. The state park system includes many fine beaches, and ocean-side communities maintain public beaches. Through the work of the California Coastal Commission, many stretches of private property that would otherwise seal off a beach from outsiders have public-access paths.

Dining

California's name has come to signify a certain type of healthful, sophisticated cuisine made from local ingredients, creatively combined and served in often stunning presentations. San Francisco and Los Angeles contain top-notch restaurants -- an expensive meal at one of these gourmet shrines is often the high point of a trip to California. The Wine Country north of San Francisco is also known for superb restaurants, as is the city of Santa Barbara. In coastal areas, most menus usually include some seafood, fresh off the boat. Don't neglect the state's many ethnic eateries -- among them Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Scandinavian, Italian, French, Belgian, Vietnamese, English, Thai, and German.

Golf

Golf is a year-round sport in California. Pebble Beach and the Palm Springs desert resorts have the most famous links, but there are championship courses all over the state.

Hot-Air Ballooning

Large, colorful balloons drift across the valleys of the Wine Country, where the air drafts are particularly friendly to this pastime, as well as in San Diego, the Palm Springs area, and the Gold Country. Hot-air ballooning is not cheap, however: a ride costs in excess of $100.

Parks

National Parks

There are eight national parks in California: Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Lassen Volcanic, Redwood, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and the Channel Islands. National monuments include Cabrillo, in San Diego, and Muir Woods, north of San Francisco.

California has three national recreation areas: Golden Gate, with 87,000 acres both north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; the Santa Monica Mountains, with 150,000 acres from Griffith Park in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County; and Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity, with 240,000 acres, including four major lakes, in the far north. The Point Reyes National Seashore is on a peninsula north of San Francisco.

State Parks

California's state park system includes more than 200 sites; many are recreational and scenic, others historic or scientific. Among the most popular are Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, reached by ferry from San Francisco or Tiburon; Anza-Borrego Desert, 600,000 acres northeast of San Diego; Humboldt Redwoods, with its tall trees; Empire Mine, one of the richest mines in the Mother Lode, in Grass Valley; Hearst Castle at San Simeon; and Leo Carrillo Beach, north of Malibu, with lively tidal pools and numerous secret coves. Most state parks are open year-round.

Skiing

Snow skiing in the Lake Tahoe area and elsewhere is generally limited to the period between Thanksgiving and late April, though in years of heavy snowfall skiers can hit some trails as late as July. Other ski options include Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park in the Far North; Mammoth Lake and the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California; and Badger Pass in Yosemite National Park.

Water Sports

Swimming and surfing, scuba diving, and skin diving in the Pacific Ocean are year-round pleasures in the southern part of the state, although these become seasonal sports on the coast from San Francisco northward. Sailboats are available for rent in many places along the coast and inland. River rafting -- white-water and otherwise -- canoeing, and kayaking are popular, especially in the northern part of the state.

Wine Tasting

You can visit wineries in many parts of the state, not only in the Wine Country of the Sonoma and Napa valleys. Vintners associations in the Gold Country, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and other wine-growing areas provide brochures with lists of wineries that have tastings. Wineries and good wine stores will package your purchases for safe travel or shipping.

Excerpted from California '99: The Complete Guide with Coastal Drives, National Parks, Cities, and the Wine Country by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Fodor's 1999 California

Fodor's 1999 California

0679001484

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Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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