Grand California Ride - Los Angeles

Reception of the participants at the airport and transfer to the hotel by Aventura Motorcycle Tours staff, welcome drink, dinner, and tour presentation.

For this first day of our trip, we head out of town along the famous Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1) via Malibu to the city of Santa Barbara, famous for its Spanish Renaissance architecture. Next, we wind up over the San Marcos Pass to the wine country of Santa Ynez and Los Olivos to Solvang, founded in the 19th century by Danish settlers and built as a piece of Denmark transplanted.

Our final stop for the day is Lompoc, the “City of Art and Flowers”, known as the flower seed capital of the world. On our way there, we can stop for a quick visit to Mission La Purísima Concepción—one of California's 21 missions built two centuries ago.

Enjoy fantastic ocean vistas and the superlative twisting coast highway as we ride the world-famous Big Sur coastline today. We start the day by snaking north to the small resort town of San Luis Obispo and then begin our coastal ride at Morro Bay, heading north via San Simeon State Park (and perhaps a visit to Hearst Castle, the fantasy castle-home of media tycoon William R. Hearst).

We'll stop at Piedras Blancas Beach to view the elephant seals hauled on the sands, and we then charge to the coiling Pacific Coast Highway as it twines through Big Sur, with its Redwood trees towering over the crashing ocean below. This is one of the world's most sensational drives, with its cliff-top switchbacks and stunning vistas, highlighted by our ride across Bixby Bridge. We arrive in the fairytale village of Carmel-by-the-Sea, with its many art galleries and fine-dining restaurants for our night stop.

Today begins with a short ride north to Monterey, a seaside city with a beautiful bay setting. Founded by the Spanish in 1770, it served as California's capital under Spanish and Mexican rule, and later became an important fishing port. We'll stop to explore the world-class Monterey Bay Aquarium and walk through Fisherman's Wharf.

We then head inland on CA68 to Salinas, stopping en route at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for a pace-car led round of the track, and ride along the San Juan Grade Road over the coastal mountains for lunch in historic San Juan Bautista.  In the afternoon, ride through the San Juan Valley via Watsonville to Santa Cruz—a surf-crazy university town—then follow the Pacific Coast Highway past Año Nuevo State Park (more elephant seals!) to Half Moon Bay, ending the day in San Francisco.

Full day at leisure to enjoy the ‘City by the Bay’ at your own pace.

Today we savor the Northern California coastline, combing sublime vistas, soaring old-growth redwoods, and windswept beaches as we follow the cliff-hanger Shoreline Highway (SR1). We begin by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, then via the picturesque bayside town of Sausalito, to coil up the mountains to Muir Woods and drop down to Muir Beach. At Olema, we turn west through Point Reyes National Seashore to visit the lighthouse atop the wind-battered Point Reyes Headland. Returning to Olema, we twist inland via Petaluma to Sonoma, a charming historic town with an 18th-century Spanish mission and military barracks in the heart of wine country.

 Then on to Napa and the world-famous Napa Valley, birthplace to some of the best North American wines. We'll ride north through the valley to Calistoga and a late-afternoon visit—once the bikes are safely parked! —at Sterling Vineyards.

We will ride through the Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, then follow on north to Lake Clear before turning west to the coast. We'll then follow the dramatically beautiful shoreline north to via the lumbering capital of Fort Bragg and along the course of the Eel River to Leggett, where we begin our ride along the 'Redwood Highway.'

Passing through Richardson Grove State Park, we end this beautiful day in Garberville, a lovely little town—notorious as the "marijuana capital of California"—in the heart of the Redwood country.

You'll be awed today as we ride along SR 101 beneath the soaring redwoods of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. We turn east onto SR 36 and follow the course of the Van Duzen River over the Coast Mountain Range via Forest Glen to Red Bluff, at the northern extreme of California's Central Valley. Ahead, the snow-capped conical peak of Mt. Lassen awaits as SR 36 climbs, snaking into Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Today we ride SR 89 south through the Sierra Nevada Mountains via Graeagle and Truckee to Lake Tahoe, the jewel in the crown of the High Sierra and California's most beautiful body of water. Its crystal-clear water ranges from emerald to sapphire. We'll follow SR 28 along the western shore via Sugar Pine Point State Park and Emerald Bay (stunning vistas from here!) to South Lake Tahoe.

We will start at SR 89 for Markleeville and then enjoy one of the best roads in California: Hwy 4, also called the Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway. Incredible views and enjoyable twisties all the way to Vallecito. We then turn south on fabled SR 49 at Angels Camp.

Beyond Angels Camp, we reach Columbia State Historical Park—a perfectly preserved Gold Rush town complete with a stagecoach, gold-panning exhibit, and blacksmith's forge. At Mocassin, we follow SR 120 at its coils steeply up to Yosemite National Park. There will be plenty of time to ride through the famous park’s most iconic landmarks, and we will then head to Mariposa, a quaint little town considered the best gateway to Yosemite.

A much-deserved rest day for those of us who would like to relax in Mariposa and recharge the batteries for the last three days of riding on our tour. For those who would prefer to explore Yosemite further, we have a perfect riding planned, with a loop route that will bring us to the South entrance to Yosemite, a total of 120 miles of fantastic roads and spectacular views.

We begin the day by riding to Lake Bass and then North Fork, heading south through the beautiful 222 and Powerhouse roads and enjoying the curves up to Kerckhoff Lake and Auberry. The Lodge Road will take us further south to Sanger, where we turn east for another round of amazing twisties through the Sequoia and Kings National Park.

Next is Three Rivers and the Lake Kaweah before we reach our final destination of the day, Visalia, situated in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley.

We leave Visalia to start the day with a ride through the charming Yokohl Valley Drive, 30 miles of exhilarating curves and switchbacks, and then reach Springville. From there to Ponderosa, where we turn south, there are over 150 curves on the excellent Hwy 190!

Next comes a stop at the Trail of 100 Giants for a walk among the impressive sequoia trees, followed by a ride along the Kern River on the way to Isabella Lake. Before we reach Tehachapi for the night, we’ll enjoy the 35-mile Bodfish Road, yet another fantastic stretch of pure motorcycle delight.

Our final riding day of the tour will have our group heading south through Lancaster to reach Green Valley and then the Bouquet Reservoir, where we will take the sinuous Bouquet Canyon Road to Santa Clarita.

After lunch, we will have more one more fun ride on great winding roads through the Angeles National Forest, before reaching San Bernardino on our way to Riverside, the end point of this incredible journey.

Breakfast at the hotel, and time to say goodbye to our new friends. Aventura Motorcycle Tours will transfer you to the airport.