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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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7 travel upgrades for an unforgettable California vacation
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Quick summary
California offers diverse vacation experiences, from beaches and wine country to redwood forests and vibrant cities.
Enhancing your trip can include specialized food tours, private lessons for activities like surfing or kayaking and personalized winery visits.
Staying at hotels with knowledgeable concierge services can unlock exclusive recommendations and tailored experiences.
Unique dining options, spa treatments and memorable road trips in distinctive vehicles can further elevate your California getaway.
What to consider
Some offers and perks mentioned in the article may no longer be available.
Private tours, lessons and small group adventures typically require advance booking and may involve additional costs.
Access to certain hotel and resort benefits may depend on eligibility through select travel programs.
What you'll miss from the article
Detailed insider tips for customizing your California trip with exclusive experiences, local dining and tailored adventure options.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
From the glamor of Hollywood and Palm Springs to the culture and history of San Francisco, from Yosemite’s spectacular vistas to the majesty of Lake Tahoe, California lures vacationers seeking every type of getaway.
Choose one of the state’s best beaches for a sun-splashed hang, head to Napa for a foodie extravaganza and a flight of the region's best wines or seek sanctuary in California’s pristine redwood forests. Regardless of what your dream trip to California looks like, there are ways to enhance the experience with perks and personalization that will send you home with memories far more vivid than the average holiday. Just think of it as having elite status for your California vacation.
Here, the best insider tips and tricks for upgrading your California vacation.
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Take a specialized food tour
The term "food scene" gets more and more daunting with every city you visit. How do you tap into pop-up experiences, discover locals' secret hole-in-the-wall bistros or learn about up-and-coming chefs without the introduction of someone in the know?
The answer is to take a food tour, and thankfully there's one for every taste imaginable, including some so specialized they visit only taco trucks, breakfast places or brewpubs.
Six Taste of Los Angeles will introduce you to that multicultural city's wealth of dining experiences, including the tonkatsu and okonomiyaki of Japantown or the distilleries and wine bars of the arts district. You can can create your own personalized food tour for four people or more.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Edible Excursions offers a North Berkeley brunch tour and a tour of the Ferry Building and its farmer's market that provides a perfect introduction to the top local artisanal producers.
Choose a hotel with a concierge in the know
The Kimpton Sir Francis Drake. (Photo courtesy of IHG)
Like the best friend from college who has your favorite cocktail ready before you even walk through the door, a good concierge can provide the insider knowledge that takes your vacation to the next level — and higher.
At Sonoma’s boutique Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza, the complimentary concierge service can arrange anything from a guided vineyard hike or bike ride to a reservation at a coveted restaurant.
The Kimpton Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco introduces their concierge dream team by name on the website with instructions for booking wine country tours, visits to Alcatraz and more.
And the concierge team at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills offers lists of recommendations curated by type of visitor, with specialized recommendations for families, shoppers and travelers seeking the ultimate in California nightlife.
Winery tasting rooms can get crowded, trying to keep up with a fleet of kayaks can be stressful and learning to surf in a big group can cut down on your instruction time. Make all these experiences and many others more special by paying a little more for a private tour, visit or lesson.
La Vida Laguna surf school in Orange County’s Laguna Beach limits lessons to three students per instructor, ensuring plenty of personal attention; Club Ed in Santa Cruz; Ventura Surf School north of Los Angeles; and Surfari in the San Diego-area are among the many surf schools that offer private as well as group lessons.
When it comes to river rafting, smaller is definitely better, and outfitters like OARS can be counted on to put together a custom small group or family trip to your specifications, with a choice of more than 75 adventure itineraries.
Exclusive small group adventures are another way to create peak moments. You can kayak the sea caves of the La Jolla Ecological Reserve with Everyday California; do a full moon paddle on Tomales Bay in Point Reyes National Seashore with Blue Waters Kayaking, or pursue a passion of your own such as mountain biking or parasailing.
Leave room for spa time
The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa. (Photo courtesy of Marriott)
After a day of sun and sand, hiking and climbing, or savoring the latest wines, there’s no better way to deepen the relaxation than to indulge in a spa experience.
At the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa, hot tubs, steam rooms and an outdoor pool enhance a long menu of luxurious treatments including body wraps, facials and massages.
Before you book a stay, consider perusing the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) program if you have The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express or a Centurion-branded card in your wallet. Many upscale California resorts with top-notch spas are featured here (think: Auberge du Soleil and the Montage Laguna Beach) and your stay may even include an up to $100 spa services credit during your stay, along with other elite-like perks.
Resorts and hotels around California are really thinking out-of-the-box this summer, setting up their award-winning chefs with new ways to present their creative cuisines.
At Meritage Resort and Spa and Vista Collina Resort in Napa, executive chef Vincent Lesage will be serving his Dr. Pepper-brined barbecue ribs, Thai-inspired sticky wings and Tandoori chicken with coconut-lime yogurt from a food truck, with outdoor dining on the spacious lawn adjacent to Vista Collina Resort.
At L’Auberge Del Mar, located at the ocean’s edge just north of San Diego, the resort’s Coastline Restaurant is serving sustainably sourced seafood on a breezy terrace accompanied by the music of crashing surf.
At the town of Sonoma’s MacArthur Place, a new open-air marketplace, The Porch, features delicacies from local purveyors in addition to an alfresco menu of signature dishes such as gazpacho and lobster rolls from Layla, the resort’s farm kitchen restaurant.
At Tolosa Vineyards in the Edna Valley outside of San Luis Obispo, a selection of locavore gourmet food trucks will be serving meals in a spacious outside dining area, served with accompanying wines.
Sign up for a personalized winery experience
Photo courtesy of Iron Horse Vineyards / Facebook.
The smaller, family-run wineries of Sonoma, Napa, Paso Robles and other California wine regions are the perfect place to meet with winemakers, wander through the vineyards and come away with a deeper knowledge of what goes into making some of the world's most prized wines.
Whether it's a sit-down discussion in the west Sonoma mountaintop tasting shed of Iron Horse Vineyards, purveyors of internationally recognized sparkling wines, or an exclusive tour of the hand-dug cellar of Pope Valley Winery outside Napa, an appointment-only visit to one of California's small wineries is a must for any serious wine devotee.
Related: Your points and miles guide to San Francisco
Hit the road in a fun car
There’s no better way to channel California’s outlaw spirit as you drive down the Pacific Coast Highway than in a convertible with the wind in your hair.
Or, if some off-grid adventure is in your plans, a jeep or other rugged four-wheel-drive vehicle can take you down that unpaved road that just might have the perfect hot spring, ghost town or camping spot at the end.
Just trust us on this: You can take your Golden State road trip to the next level with the right set of wheels.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
