Compare Monterey and Carmel Two Day Tour with Accommodation by Extranomical Tours vs California Dreaming: From Yosemite National Park to Napa and Sonoma Valley by Culture Trip

Day 1: Exploring the Coast and Monterey Bay Attractions

After joining the tour from San Francisco, you’ll be swept into a Pacific Coast wonderland. As your Expedition Leader cruises along California State Route 1 toward Monterey, every bend in the road presents picture-perfect beaches, jagged cliffs and golden hills. At your first rest stop, be sure you don’t miss the opportunity to take beautiful morning photos with the Pacific Ocean as your backdrop!

Keep an eye out for the sea otters along the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which stretches from San Francisco to Cambria along 276 miles of coastline.

After arriving in Monterey just in time to grab a seafood lunch at Old Fisherman’s Wharf, explore the many shops and arcades along Cannery Row, a former 19th century sardine-packing district made famous by California author John Steinbeck. You are on your own for the rest of the day, but we offer a collection of excursions so you can customize your tour.

Fascinated by local Pacific Coast sea life? Visit the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium during your free time, a wildly popular ocean conservation and research facility. Want something different? We can arrange tours to the Big Sur wilderness or the Carmel Valley wine country.

If you prefer more adventurous activities, we can help arrange kayaking, biking, or paddleboarding along the grand Monterey Bay Coastal Trail. Don’t miss out on these fantastic adventures!

You are on your own for dinner, but you can choose from the many ocean-view restaurants in the area and lose yourself in the rhythmic sound of waves crashing along the beach. At the end of the day, be sure to capture one last glimpse of the beautiful Pacific sunset before retiring to your comfy Monterey lodging, included in your tour price.

Day 2: Rejoining the tour, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and the journey home

Enjoy a leisurely morning after checking out of your hotel with just enough time to take another excursion - maybe a visit to the local wine country or to the Salvador Dali museum, a stroll out to Lovers’ Point, the self-guided Path of History, or more.

Once you’ve had lunch on your own, you’ll join up with the tour vehicle and enjoy Pacific beauty as we follow the scenic 17-Mile Drive and stop to photograph the renowned Lone Cypress Tree. These rare Monterey Cypress trees are found only here in Pebble Beach and Point Lobos.

After leaving 17-Mile-Drive, you’ll arrive in the enchanting town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Check out the quaint shops on Ocean Avenue or get some white Pacific sand between your toes!

Then it’s time to head back north to San Francisco exhilarated but knowing it was the trip of a lifetime.

Day 1: Welcome to the Hotel California

Accommodation: The Stanford Court

Activities Included: Welcome dinner of dim sum in Chinatown

Well, not quite – but your accommodation is just as lovely as the one described in the song. In fact, unlike the actual Hotel California, your hotel puts you on the edge of San Francisco’s storied Chinatown district, which – after you’ve met your group at 6pm – is where your journey starts. Our Local Insider will also accompany the group throughout the trip. A guided tour is followed by an authentic dim sum dinner, before rounding off with a cocktail at a top-secret speakeasy bar.

Day 2: Into the wild

Accommodation: Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort

Activities Included: Tuolumne Grove hike

After a full-American breakfast, you’ll head east towards the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, stopping at the oldest bar in California, the Iron Door Saloon, for cold beer and buffalo wings. Next up is Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite National Park, where you’ll walk among giant sequoia trees – some up to 300ft (91m) tall – and spy the mountain peaks, El Capitan and Half Dome, from Tunnel View.

Day 3: Hiking, biking and a sunset view in Yosemite

Accommodation: Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort

Activities Included: Guided Yosemite Valley hike, Sentinel Dome hike with champagne

Optional Activities: Bike ride

Pinch yourself. Yes, you really have awoken in Yosemite. Breathe in a lung-full of fresh mountain air and enjoy a hearty California breakfast. Today is all about seeing the highlights of Yosemite. You decide what you’d like to do next: a full-day guided hike in Yosemite Valley, a leisurely bike ride, or an extended session in the eco-spa. Finish the day by ascending Sentinel Dome to watch the multicolored sunset.

Day 4: Sweeping meadow views and swimming in Tenaya Lake

Accommodation: Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort

Activities Included: Pothole Dome hike, Swimming at Tenaya Lake

Today, you’ll have the chance to beat the crowds and explore lesser-known spots within Yosemite. To start, you’ll take the high road to Tuolumne Meadows, a high-altitude area and the starting point of a short hike to the top of Pothole Dome. You might feel slightly breathless, but the panoramic views waiting at the top make it worthwhile. Later, cool off with a swim in Tenaya Lake, or pick a lakeside spot and lounge around while taking in your epic environs.

Day 5: Wine, wine and more wine in Napa and Sonoma

Accommodation: Best Western Dry Creek Inn

Activities Included: Napa bike tour

Wave goodbye to Yosemite and hello to California’s world-famous wine country. To make the most of your time (and wine) in the Napa Valley, you’ll get around by bike, before a gourmet lunch at chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, served alongside the best wines from the region. And if that wasn’t enough, there will be time for more in the vineyards of Sonoma Valley on the way to your hotel in Healdsburg.

Day 6: Towering redwoods and road-trippin’ the Pacific Coast

Accommodation: Best Western Dry Creek Inn

Activities Included: Guided hike in Samuel P Taylor State Park, Road trip to Goat Rock Beach, Farewell dinner

Optional Activities: Swimming at Russian River

Your day begins with a morning stroll among towering redwood trees in Samuel P Taylor State Park, giving you the chance to work up an appetite for lunch at the Marshall Store in Tomales Bay, well-known for its Pacific oysters. The road trip continues after lunch with a drive along the coast and a stop at Goat Rock Beach, before pizza at the Russian River Brewing Company.

Day 7: Return to San Francisco

Activities Included: Lands End Trail hike

Optional Activities: Mission District tour

It may be your final day, but the trip is far from over. Back in San Francisco, there are a few more treats in store, including a hike along the Lands End Trail – a one-way clifftop route with amazing views over the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. Lunch in the Mission District means one thing: the Mission burrito, popular since the 1960s and a must-eat if you’re in this part of town. You’ll also discover the local street art, which forms the largest concentration of murals in the world, before finally bidding farewell to your travel companions at the hotel at 3pm.