Nickname: Golden State

Country : United States of America (USA)
State : California (CA)
Nickname : The Golden State
Largest city : Los Angeles
Highest point : Mount Whitney (4,348 m, 14,494 ft)
State bird: California Valley Quail
State flower: California or Golden Poppy
Capital: Sacramento
Date of admission to the Union: 9th Sep 1850
Population: 35,484,453
Population density: 79.9 per sq km
2002 total overseas arrivals/US ranking: 4,053,000/3
Time: Pacific (GMT - 8). Daylight Saving Time is observed.
QuickFacts : California QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

 

California weather

California weather and climate

 

California public transportation and driving information

California Mileage Charts
California Department of Transportation
American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
California Local and State Transportation Web Sites
National Scenic Byways Online - California Byways

 

National Parks and State Parks in California

National Parks in California
Cal-Parks: Welcome to California State Parks

 

Statewide and regional information

Welcome to the California (Official state homepage)
California - Find yourself here (California Division of Tourism)
The American Southwest - California National Parks and Tourist Guide
Tales
Insider's Guide to Southern California
Tour Southern California Travel and Vacation Guide
ACCESS Northern California

 

Cities, towns and places in California

Alameda
Welcome to the USS Hornet Museum

Anaheim
Anaheim / Orange County Welcomes You!
The Official Disneyland Web Site

Bakersfield
Greater Bakersfield Convention & Visitors Bureau

Barstow
Calico Ghost Town

Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau

Big Sur
A Guide to California's Big Sur

Bishop
Bishop, California: The Official Bishop CA Web Page

Buena Park
Buena Park Convention & Visitors Office

Calsbad
LEGOland California official website

Carmel
Carmel-by-the-Sea & Monterey Peninsula Info

Catalina Island
Welcome to Catalina Island
Catalina Island Information Guide

Imperial Beach
City of Imperial Beach, CA - IB, The Place To Be

Laguna Niguel
Official Web site of The City of Laguna Niguel, California

Lake Tahoe

The Lake Tahoe Vacation Guide Where To Stay and Where To Play in Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe South Shore Home Page
Tahoe's Best

(Greater) Los Angeles
Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau
City of Los Angeles
Yahoo - Los Angeles
@LA (at LA) - the guide to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles
Los Angeles Tourist Pictures and Links
About Los Angeles for Visitors

Universal City, home of Universal Studios, Hollywood
Disneyland Resort - Disneyland park
Disneyland Resort - Disney's California Adventure
Knott's Berry Farm - Official Webpage
J. Paul Getty Museum Home Page
Los Angeles Holocaust Monument

Los Angeles City Traffic Conditions
Airports: Los Angeles World Airports
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Mammoth Lakes
A Guide to Mammoth Lakes, California

Merced
Merced Conference & Visitors Bureau

Milpitas
Go Milpitas! - Home Page
Places to stay and things to do while staying or living in Silicon Valley. A great site for the business traveler.

Monterey
Monterey Peninsula Visitors & Convention Bureau Guide to Monterey Bay
Monterey - Home of Cannery Row, Monterey Aquarium and lots more!
Monterey/San Bentio County, InfoPoint- Santa Cruz
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Home Page

Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta to Redding CA, Community, Business, Visitors Guide
Siskiyou County Visitors Bureau, Northern California

Napa Valley
Winecountry Virtual Visit
Westsong - The Complete Guide to the Napa Valley

Newport Beach
Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau

Oakland
Oakland International Airport

Palm Desert
Palm Desert, California

Palm Springs
The Complete Guide to Palm Springs, California
In Palm Springs
Hotels, restaurants, golf, casinos, shopping, and attractions for a weekend or vacation in the Coachella Valley. Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority
Welcome to PalmSpringsUSA.com where you'll find everything you need for planning the perfect vacation, or a successful group experience. Choose any one of the eight desert cities of Riverside County
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Palm Springs Air Museum of Flying World War II Aircraft

Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory: Public Site

Pasadena
The Pasadena Visitors and Convention Bureau Welcomes You!
Pasadena CityCenter

Ridgecrest
City of Ridgecrest

Riverside
Riverside Convention Bureau

Sacramento
Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau
Old Sacramento
Old Sacramento was the Western Terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad and jumping off point for the gold miners.
The California Military Museum
The California Military Museum is located at 1119 Second Street in the Old Sacramento State Historical Park. It is within a few minutes walk from the State Capital.

San Diego
San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau
San Diego Visitor Information Center
City of San Diego Homepage
San Diego, GoThere BEFORE you go there
All San Diego Travel Guide
San Diego Attractions ( Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Legoland & More )
View detail descriptions with pictures for major San Diego attractions. Purchase discounted tickets online.
World Famous San Diego Zoo

San Francisco - General
San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau
Yahoo - San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco CA Calendar of Events
Essential Guide to San Francisco
Welcome to www.SFBayArea.com
SF station
Fun!

San Francisco - Attractions
NPS - Golden Gate NRA - Alcatraz Island
PIER 39: San Francisco's #1 Attraction
San Francisco Cable Cars
Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco
The Cannery, San Francisco: Stores, Restaurants and Entertainment
The Exploratorium the museum of science, art and human perception
San Francisco ZOO HomePage / Welcome
Welcome to Ripley's Believe It Or Not!Museum, San Francisco
Wax Museum Information

San Francisco - Transportation
Bay Area Transit Information
Provides instant online access to transit information for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area
The Blue & Gold Fleet
The Bay Area's largest provider of ferry and water excursion services. Blue & Gold Fleet is the exclusive provider of tours to Alcatraz under concession to the National Park Service Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
C&C SF - San Francisco International Airport

San Francisco - Lets rock
Recent Earthquakes for SF_Bay

San Jose
City of San Jose's Home Page
Welcome to San Jose
Winchester Mystery House
Airport: San Jose International Airport (SJC)

San Simeon
Hearst Castle

Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara Travel Directory

Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California InfoPoint
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Roaring Camp & Big Trees Railroad

Santa Monica
Welcome to Santa Monica, California

Silicon Valley
The Silicon Valley Gateway

South Lake Tahoe
Visitor and Travel Information: South Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce

Three Rivers
TRLC

Visalia
Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau
Downtown Visalia
At the heart of Visalia's shopping and dining. Safe, friendly, downtown, full service hotels and convention center,evening entertainment, live theatre, and much more.

Walnut Creek
City of Walnut Creek Home Page

West Hollywood
West Hollywood Convention and Visitors Bureau

Yosemite Area
Welcome to Yosemite Area Traveller Information

 

Hotels, motels and lodging in California

State wide
California Bed & Breakfast Travel Directory
All of the beach resorts, beach hotels of Southern California
All of the Beach resorts on the central and northern California coast
Border to Border Bed & Breakfast Directory - Inns of Oregon, Washington & California

Laguna Beach
Sunset Cove Villas

Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe Lodging: Super 8 Motel

Mariposa
Little Valley Inn - Yosemite, Mariposa, California
Welcome to: Boulder Creek B&B

Napa Valley
Silverado Resort
The only resort in the world-renowned food and wine destination of Napa Valley offering championship golf, tennis, full service spa, award-winning dining, luxury accommodations and state-of-the-art conference center.

San Fransisco
San Francisco Hotel Reservations
More national listings: HM USA Travel Guide - Hotels / Motels /Lodging

 

Preview - California pictures

Death Valley NP
Joshua Tree NP
Joshua Tree NP - Cholla Cactus Garden
Lassen Volcanic NP

 

Web Cameras in California

Mount Shasta: Amazing ShastaCam - Mount Shasta Home Page
Palm Springs: Palm Springs Aerial Tramway - Live Tramcams
San Diego: San Diego BayCam
San Fransisco: KPIX Online: Fairmont Hotel Camera
San Francisco: KTVU - Livecams (San Francisco)

California

The State: ‘The Golden State’ of California has it all: snow-capped mountains, vast deserts, lush forests and long stretches of golden beach. The most populous State in the USA, California can be divided into 12 tourist regions: the Central Coast, Los Angeles County, Orange County, the North Coast, San Diego County, the San Francisco Bay Area, Shasta Cascade, Gold Country, the Central Valley, the High Sierra, the Deserts and the Inland Empire.

Known as ‘the Middle Kingdom’, the Central Coast extends from the Bay Area to Los Angeles County, along the Pacific coast and to the vineyards of the valleys around Santa Barbara. The Monterey Peninsula and Big Sur are tranquil areas of great natural beauty with some of the most scenic drives in the country. No trip to California is complete without a visit to the second-biggest city in the USA: Los Angeles, the ‘City of Angels’. It lives up to its reputation as ‘the entertainment capital of the world’, offering the best in theatre, symphony and ballet as well as the chance to spot stars in Hollywood. Alongside museums, sporting events and some of the country’s finest restaurants, Los Angeles County has miles of sunny coastline and an abundance of State Parks and natural recreation areas.
Orange County is home to one of the world’s most famous attractions, Disneyland Resort. As well as the theme parks, resorts and shopping, the county offers 67km (42 miles) of beaches and the charming rural communities of the Santa Ana Mountains. The North Coast is a land of rugged shoreline, redwood forests and vineyards. Stretching from San Francisco to the Oregon border, the region includes Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties, which boast world-class wineries, and is an attractive mix of rough wilderness and cultivated farmland. The balmy climate and beautiful beaches of San Diego County make it a popular destination. The city’s Spanish heritage is reflected in numerous buildings and museums. Attractions include the famous San Diego Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo and Sea World.

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the world’s most popular destinations. San Francisco is a cosmopolitan city, whose cable cars and Golden Gate Bridge are instantly recognisable. The Bay Area offers world-class museums, restaurants, wineries, shopping and historic sites. Outdoor enthusiasts will love the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the coastal resort area of Santa Cruz.

In the northeastern corner of the State lies one of the country’s most beautiful and unspoiled regions – the Shasta Cascade. The region’s waterfalls, whitewater rivers, forests, icy lakes and towering mountains – including the California Cascade range – provide stunning vistas. Gold Country is where the California Gold Rush, which forever changed the State – and the country – began in 1849. On the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Gold Country is full of historic mining towns and museums, while California’s capital city, Sacramento, still shows clear signs of its pioneer beginnings.
Running between the Sierra Nevada and the coastal foothills is the Central Valley, California’s agricultural heartland. This enormous valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, is laced with 1000s of miles of waterways and dotted with green pastures, orchards and vineyards. Bakersfield and Fresno are interesting regional centres.

The beautiful wilderness of the High Sierra, immortalised in the photography of Ansel Adams, is an outdoor enthusiast’s delight. Home to the famous Yosemite National Park and the resorts of Lake Tahoe and the Mammoth Lakes, the region offers a wide range of recreational activities as well as some spectacular landscapes.

The Deserts region, in the southeast, features expansive landscapes, brilliant skies, traces of pioneer history and glittering resort cities. Natural phenomena include the isolated Death Valley National Monument and the vast Joshua Tree National Monument, while in spring, the desert explodes with displays of wild flowers. Most visitors to the region explore one of the rustic ghost towns or drive along historic Route 66.

The Inland Empire, centred around the cities of Riverside and San Bernardino, is the fastest-growing metropolitan region in the USA. Only 1 hour from Los Angeles, its varied landscape – from snow-capped mountains to sand dunes and farmlands – makes it an ideal film location, and the region is known as ‘Hollywood’s largest backlot’.

Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is one of the major tourist attractions of San Francisco. The island is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The maximun security federal prison on the island once housed "famous" criminals like Al Capone and Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz. Tickets (round-trip by ferry and admission) for Alcatraz are available at the ticket booth at pier 41 (Fisherman's warf). The ferry to the island departs from pier 41. The first boat leave at 9:30 AM and the last boat leaves at 4:15 PM (summer months) or 2:15 PM (rest of the year). Specially in the summer months tickets are sold out up to a week in advance. It is strongly recommended to make reservations if you want to visit Alcatraz in the summer.

More information about Alcatraz Island:

NPS - Golden Gate NRA - Alcatraz
The Blue & Gold Fleet: Alcatraz Tour Description and Schedule

Weather in California • California News • California in Go-Travel.us Directory

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