The ultimate California road trip - how to plan your dream California vacation

Open up your favourite mapping site and zoom into California, pinpointing those the sights that are absolute musts for your road trip to California – we’ve recommended highlights below to help. Driving south to north (or vice versa) will be the most efficient way of travelling, though steer clear of the dull interstate when there’s an alternative! Above all, don’t fall into the trap of having every hour of every day planned, but leave space for spontaneity, that local tip, and of course, photo stops.

Roughly an hour north along the coast road, before the build-up towards Los Angeles begins, you’ll find Laguna Beach, a semi-secretive getaway for artists in Orange County. With the eponymous beach right at the heart of the city that bears its name, Laguna Beach boasts a coastline unique in California, with deep rocky canyons and sandy coves just ripe for a day’s sightseeing as just one of the many things to do in Laguna Beach.

For many, Los Angeles is California. This behemoth of a city has neighbourhoods – Beverley Hills and Hollywood among them – that need no real introduction, though there’s always something new to uncover. Of all the places in California you might visit, there’s a fickleness to LA that generates a constant sense of intrigue and wonder whichever of the best gay-friendly hotels in Los Angeles you might be staying in, and whichever of the 10 best gay things to do in Los Angeles you stump for when you have your California road trip planner to hand. No two days or two streets seem to be the same, and that’s exactly how the city always should be, so be sure to bookmark Mr Hudson’s LA City Guide before you set off!

Perhaps the gayest city in the US (since 40% of its residents self-identify as LGBT+), Palm Springs lies about an hour and a half inland from LA in a landscape of desert shrubs and mid-twentieth century style. As our Palm Springs City Guide will suggest, the city has been a favourite celebrity haunt for years – Frank Sinatra was just one fan – with tranquil Palm Springs the sort of place where its perfectly acceptable to spend the morning taking in works by Warhol and Picasso, the afternoon among the Uptown Design District’s vintage storefronts, and evenings in cocktail bars with views across the region.

A worthy detour from your California coastal drives is to Joshua Tree National Park, less than an hour’s drive from Palm Springs. Though the drive east along Interstate 10 might look the most obvious route, trust us when we say to head to the park’s northern entrance, through the impressive Yucca Valley landscape. The park itself has almost infinitesimal panoramas of spiky cactus-like Joshua Trees, bare boulders, and snowy peaks beyond.

Then jump back behind the wheel to Sequoia National Forest, just east of Fresno, home to glades of giant redwood trees up to 3,000 years old. The boss of them all is General Sherman, which has a height of 84 metres, diameter of almost eight metres, and an estimated weight of 2000 tonnes. Continue further north and you’ll enter Yosemite, a paradise for hikers and outdoorsmen, who can enjoy the hikes to Half Dome and the summit of El Capitan.

The downside of visiting Yosemite is missing the stretch of coast from San Luis Obispo north to San Francisco, known as the Pacific Coast Highway or Highlight 1, which will take your through Big Sur and Monterey amid sublime unspoilt coastal vistas.

San Francisco, the city that elected Harvey Milk and gave birth to the rainbow flag, is an anything-goes sort of a city, so liberated it’s difficult to be overly ostentatious (though that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try). Our San Francisco City Guide has all you need to know about Castro and beyond, while our recommendations for the Barbary Lane to the Barbary Coast are another important read for anyone planning the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco in particular. With the rainbow flag flying from every other building, you’ll also need to know which are the best gay-friendly hotels in San Francisco for a comfortable night’s sleep after a daytime enjoying the 10 best gay things to do in San Francisco too!