The most populous state in the United States of America is also one of the most frequented by tourists. Situated on the beautiful Pacific Coast of the US, with family-friendly locations, parks, treats and cities around every corner, California has to be one of the greatest destinations for all the family in the world – all you have to do to make sure your trip here is a marvel of fun, excitement, and luxury is to plan ahead. That’s what this article aims to help you do – plan for your perfect family trip to the sunny and fertile valleys of California.

Look for Nature

California may be one of the most-visited places in the world, and it may also be a densely populated state, with cities like LA, San Francisco, and San Diego all lining its coast, but in truth the vast majority of the state is nature – and it’s often completely pristine, wonderfully beautiful and incredibly easy for you to access.

Whether your family is driving in a rental car or taking booked taxi journey between the state’s many destinations, make sure that you’re building into your trip a certain amount of stop-offs along this most pristine and wonderful stretch of coastline. There are so few tourists here that you’ll struggle to see a single piece of litter in what is a paradise for peacefulness between some of the most bustling cities on earth.

Films and Festivities

You can hardly visit California without heading to Hollywood – the soul of the US and the place in which many of your favorite movies will have been shot. No holiday to this dreamy state can be complete without spending some time in the star-studded realms of Los Angeles, the city of Angels, where the most wonderful cultural hits have been meticulously constructed for the viewing public for decades now.

Meanwhile, there are plenty more festivities where that came from littered across the state of California. You just have to look at festival listings and programs or schedules to make out just how many opportunities for fun, festivities, and cultural absorption there are in this wonderfully laid-back and welcoming state. Head to California in the summer months to take advantage of the sheer volume of options you’ll have at your disposal for great family days out.

Dazzling Cities and Towns

There are some of the most famous cities in America – if not the world – in the state of California. We’ve already mentioned the most famous of all – Hollywood and LA – but how about San Francisco, where the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge rises from the mist to shock and awe every visitor to this city. It’s a thriving hub of arts and culture, too – and there’s some incredible food to be sampled in this city of immigrants, creatives, washed-up punks, beats and hippies, and Silicon Valley techies making the latest tech we’ll be using across the world soon enough.

Meanwhile, there are also some simply fantastic smaller towns that are well worth visiting during your long stay in California. Carlsbad, for instance, to get a more provincial feel from your urban adventures in the state. You’ll find some excellent food and wine in Carlsbad, as well as incredible shopping opportunities and the option to bring your kids to one of the state’s most blissful beaches. Check out the Carlsbad visitor center for local attractions and Carlsbad tourism information or click on VisitCarlsbad.com.

Don’t Forget Inland

It’s rare for tourists to head inland from the admittedly glorious and delicious coastal delights that are able to absolutely enthrall families on their visits to California. But sticking to the beach is to only see one side to this state of many characters and characteristics, and it’s no way to emerge from your trip. To get a full picture of California, you need to head into the hills and the valleys that have given this state so much luscious land on which to grow fruit and vegetables that have sustained the whole country.

Featured in much of the US’s literary canon as a place of fertility and promise, you’d be wrong to leave the fertile valleys and the green inland tracts of California from your itinerary. Take a rental car, grace the inland roads, and find some of the country’s most welcoming people in farms with tasting rooms and restaurants attached to please you with some of the freshest food on the continent.

For the Kids

Then there are places in the state of California that are really just there to give your children some of the most exciting days of their lives. Indeed, there’s fun for all the family to be found at some of these sites – where the extraordinary is made ordinary by the wealth and scale of adventure in the United States.

One such example of this fun landscape is Lego Land, where your children will be wowed by gigantic Lego models and plenty of family-friendly rides. This should figure as a kind of put-stop on your longer Californian holiday, where your vacation can oscillate between cities, nature, theme parks, and the wonderful peace of the inland valleys.

Food and Drink

It seems crazy to add the state’s food and drink on to this list as an afterthought but, truth be told, you’ll do badly to find anywhere that isn’t serving up particularly delicious food in California. With a healthy Latino influence of some of the dreamy and delicious Mexican food, there’s also plenty more from around the continent for you to sample when traveling through California with your children.

For the adults, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be trying the state’s delicious grapes in the form of wine. For kiddies, there are a number of to-die-for seaside snacks to be enjoyed, as well as some of the most sumptuous treats on the streets of LA, San Diego, and San Francisco – all for you to gobble up as a family in peace and happiness.

If you and your family are heading to California on holiday, this article should provide some useful tips to help you make the very most out of your family vacation.