- Home
- The best of the West Coast USA
The best of the West Coast USA

The best of the West Coast USA
California is the Golden State - an apt moniker indeed. Historically, the name evokes the 1840s Gold Rush, when prospectors swept in to seek their fortunes and the region boomed. But it also conjures up the sun-kissed skin of its beach-loving residents, the glint of a Hollywood Oscar, the honeyed hue of its Chardonnays and San Francisco's iconic bridge.
Head out on the highway
The best way to explore is by road because here they are generally spectacular. For instance, the Pacific Coast Highway north of glitzy LA hugs wave-crashed cliffs, inches over precipitous bridges and slices through a rugged hinterland.
There are interesting stop-offs too. Visit arty Monterey, whose bay is reportedly the only place in the world where you can find five different species of seal and sea lion. You’ll also see Hearst Castle, the flamboyant, hilltop mansion of former newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. His life inspired the movie Citizen Kane.
San Francisco’s famous bridge
San Francisco, familiar from countless films, doesn't disappoint either. The streets are just as vertiginous and twisty, the famous bridge just as misty, the harbour-side bright and bustling. The countryside nearby is equally mesmerising, with some of the USA's finest wines produced amid the rolling hills and Mexican-style plazas of the Sonoma Valley. Many of the vineyards offer tastings.
Mirror-clear lakes and snowy peaks
Head further inland and the geography becomes even more dramatic. Beyond state capital Sacramento – a key hub during Gold Rush days – the Sierra Nevada Mountains wind their way down eastern California. Here, unlike in Hollywood, Mother Nature is the premier director, fashioning a landscape of mirror-clear lakes hugged by snowy peaks, grand granite valleys and gorgeous gorges.
Tahoe is the USA's largest alpine lake, formed two million years ago. It's an ideal spot for a sunset cruise or simply marvelling at the mountains' reflections.
The tallest trees on the planet
Yosemite, to the south, is the place for hikes – hundreds of trails riddle this valley of pungent pines, whispering streams and rock monoliths. It's no coincidence that John Muir, grandfather of the entire conservation movement, was so inspired here in the world's second-oldest national park.
Further south lie the parks of Sequoia and King's Canyon. Between them they protect some of the planet's tallest and oldest trees – the General Sherman is 84m high and reputedly 2,700 years old – and conceal some of the deepest gorges, which plunge down 2,500m. To arrive back in LA after all this is to have looped around 1,000 miles – quite some road-trip.
Every Travelsphere holiday offers exceptional value for money. Included in the price are return scheduled flights/rail travel and internal flights, where applicable, overseas transfers and transportation, carefully chosen hotels, many meals and excursions and the services of a Travelsphere Tour Manager or Local Guide.
Privacy Policy
At Travelsphere we are committed to protecting your privacy. This online Privacy Policy sets out how we will use your personal data after it has been collected by us through our website, brochures, speaking to our customer services staff or otherwise. This policy may be updated from time to time.
Where 'you' are referred to in this policy, this shall mean you and every member of your party. You should ensure that all your party members have read this policy and agree that you may act on their behalf in dealing with us.
Travelsphere is part of G Touring Limited, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7QD. Registered in England with company number 04956006. For your protection, we are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and have made appropriate notifications to the Information Commissioner's Office. Personal data relating to individual customers is collected, processed, stored and used securely and in accordance with relevant data protection laws. Personal Data shall only be kept for as long as is necessary or required by law.
What we collect and why
When you make an enquiry, join our mailing list or book a holiday with Travelsphere we may need to collect information about you including (but not limited to) your name, contact details and company name and position (if applicable). We may also collect such data if you enter competitions, register for promotions, take part in surveys, provide us with feedback or make use of our 'call you back' facility. We may also collect payment details and/or relevant health information to process bookings.
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with the service you have requested. We use it to advise you of information concerning your holiday booking, enquiry or other transaction.
We may use the information to advise you of our new services, products, promotions, special offers and/or other information which we think will be of interest to you. We may use your data for our business management and operation and for monitoring, marketing and customer care purposes in order to achieve our aim to provide you with the highest standard of quality and service and increase our customers' choices wherever possible.
Some of the information we collect may be 'sensitive personal data' (for example 'special requirements' data relating to disability, diet, health or religion) in which case we will only collect, retain and pass it on with your positive consent other than in the case of emergencies whilst on one of our holidays when it may be necessary to share this information with doctors, next of kin, our insurers, advisors and your medical insurers.
Live Chat
All live chat conversations are recorded and retained for monitoring and training purposes. At the end of your live chat session, you can send a transcript of the conversation to your email address for your own records.
Who else do we give your details to?
Travelsphere is part of G Touring Limited which is part of G Adventures. We may share your personal information with other G Adventures companies in order to provide you with the latest news and offers on products or services which may be of interest to you.
We may share your information with our credit checking companies, public authorities (e.g. customs/immigration), companies who process data on our behalf or to our professional advisers.
We may also share your information with carefully selected market research companies that may contact you (by post, email, telephone or otherwise) to help us understand your preferences and help us to improve our products and services and the customer experience.
We may pass on your personal details to those companies or organisations that need to know them in order that your holiday or other service or product can be provided. For example, the tour operator, the airline, hotel or credit card company, governments, immigration, port state control, police, flag state and other competent authorities and or as may be required by law. This may include the transfer of information outside the European Economic Area where data protection controls may not be as strong as in the UK. When you make a booking or enter into a transaction this means you consent to our passing on such details.
On all of our direct marketing and email communications you will be given the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such communications in the future. If you do not wish us to use your data for direct marketing and email purposes or to pass your details to carefully selected third parties, please contact us at Travelsphere, Data Administration, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7QD or email optoutofmailings@travelsphere.co.uk.
Cookies - What are they? How do we use them?
Many websites use 'cookies' to help to improve the service provided on the website.
'Cookies' are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive.
For more info on the cookies we are using, please view our Cookies Info page
Other web sites
Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. We use encryption when collecting or transferring sensitive or financial data.
Consent
By disclosing your personal data to us, whether using our website, telephone services or otherwise, you consent to the collection, processing and use of your personal information by Travelsphere in accordance with the terms of this privacy policy.
Data Subject Access Request
You are entitled to ask us by letter what details of yours are being held or processed, for what purpose and to whom they may be or have been disclosed. There is a maximum charge of £10 for this service and we will respond to legitimate requests within 40 days of receiving your written request and fee.
Questions
If you have any questions about Travelsphere’s online Privacy Policy, please contact us at Travelsphere, Data Administration, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7QD.
Privacy Policy
At Travelsphere we are committed to protecting your privacy. This online Privacy Policy sets out how we will use your personal data after it has been collected by us through our website, brochures, speaking to our customer services staff or otherwise. This policy may be updated from time to time.
Where 'you' are referred to in this policy, this shall mean you and every member of your party. You should ensure that all your party members have read this policy and agree that you may act on their behalf in dealing with us.
Travelsphere is part of G Touring Limited, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7QD. Registered in England with company number 04956006. For your protection, we are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and have made appropriate notifications to the Information Commissioner's Office. Personal data relating to individual customers is collected, processed, stored and used securely and in accordance with relevant data protection laws. Personal Data shall only be kept for as long as is necessary or required by law.
What we collect and why
When you make an enquiry, join our mailing list or book a holiday with Travelsphere we may need to collect information about you including (but not limited to) your name, contact details and company name and position (if applicable). We may also collect such data if you enter competitions, register for promotions, take part in surveys, provide us with feedback or make use of our 'call you back' facility. We may also collect payment details and/or relevant health information to process bookings.
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with the service you have requested. We use it to advise you of information concerning your holiday booking, enquiry or other transaction.
We may use the information to advise you of our new services, products, promotions, special offers and/or other information which we think will be of interest to you. We may use your data for our business management and operation and for monitoring, marketing and customer care purposes in order to achieve our aim to provide you with the highest standard of quality and service and increase our customers' choices wherever possible.
Some of the information we collect may be 'sensitive personal data' (for example 'special requirements' data relating to disability, diet, health or religion) in which case we will only collect, retain and pass it on with your positive consent other than in the case of emergencies whilst on one of our holidays when it may be necessary to share this information with doctors, next of kin, our insurers, advisors and your medical insurers.
Live Chat
All live chat conversations are recorded and retained for monitoring and training purposes. At the end of your live chat session, you can send a transcript of the conversation to your email address for your own records.
Who else do we give your details to?
Travelsphere is part of G Touring Limited which is part of G Adventures. We may share your personal information with other G Adventures companies in order to provide you with the latest news and offers on products or services which may be of interest to you.
We may share your information with our credit checking companies, public authorities (e.g. customs/immigration), companies who process data on our behalf or to our professional advisers.
We may also share your information with carefully selected market research companies that may contact you (by post, email, telephone or otherwise) to help us understand your preferences and help us to improve our products and services and the customer experience.
We may pass on your personal details to those companies or organisations that need to know them in order that your holiday or other service or product can be provided. For example, the tour operator, the airline, hotel or credit card company, governments, immigration, port state control, police, flag state and other competent authorities and or as may be required by law. This may include the transfer of information outside the European Economic Area where data protection controls may not be as strong as in the UK. When you make a booking or enter into a transaction this means you consent to our passing on such details.
On all of our direct marketing and email communications you will be given the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such communications in the future. If you do not wish us to use your data for direct marketing and email purposes or to pass your details to carefully selected third parties, please contact us at Travelsphere, Data Administration, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7QD or email optoutofmailings@travelsphere.co.uk.
Cookies - What are they? How do we use them?
Many websites use 'cookies' to help to improve the service provided on the website.
'Cookies' are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive.
For more info on the cookies we are using, please view our Cookies Info page
Other web sites
Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. We use encryption when collecting or transferring sensitive or financial data.
Consent
By disclosing your personal data to us, whether using our website, telephone services or otherwise, you consent to the collection, processing and use of your personal information by Travelsphere in accordance with the terms of this privacy policy.
Data Subject Access Request
You are entitled to ask us by letter what details of yours are being held or processed, for what purpose and to whom they may be or have been disclosed. There is a maximum charge of £10 for this service and we will respond to legitimate requests within 40 days of receiving your written request and fee.
Questions
If you have any questions about Travelsphere’s online Privacy Policy, please contact us at Travelsphere, Data Administration, Compass House, Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7QD.
