How to decide on the Perfect Honeymoon? It took us about a year to finally decide where to go on honeymoon after our wedding in July this year. To say the list of potential locations was long would have definitely been an understatement, war zones aside (!) I don’t think there were many places that weren’t included on our list…After many hours trawling the internet we eventually decided on a California/Nevada roadtrip, probably because it ticked so many boxes.Big Sur and the Pacific Coast Highway top the ‘places you must see before you die’ lists and seemed to us like the ideal romantic location (we are both far too fidgety to sit on a beach for two weeks..) We also wanted to include Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas partly because we are both film obsessed and many of our favourite films are based here and partly because it seemed just too long a way to go without visiting them.

The Honeymooners

We planned the trip meticulously, including a candlelit dinner in Clint Eastwood’s ranch restaurant in Carmel-on-sea, wild bear spotting in Yosemite National Park and a tour of Alcatraz on our itinerary (incidentally Alcatraz is one of San Francisco’s most poplar tourist attractions – it seems like most people love a day trip to a prison!).

We landed on the Las Vegas strip, jet-lagged and bleary eyed and spent the next three days adjusting to the 43degree desert heat (which wasn’t unlike a really hot hairdryer being blown in your face, full blast), spending vast amounts of money and marvelling at what is essentially an adult Disneyland. The experience is intense but exhilarating and our hotel the MGM Grand was truly impressive and not only for it’s size. Even if gambling’s not your thing this place has to be experienced at least once in your lifetime.

Leaving Las Vegas

From there we drove across the Nevada desert to Los Angeles staying in the sleek and luxurious Sofitel in Beverley Hills(True Blood fans might recognise the distinctive hotel lobby!). We both fell in love with LA and found the city to be far more relaxed and friendly than we’d imagined and of course the weather was beautiful.

After three days we travelled up the Pacific Coast Highway stopping over at some of the sweetest and most welcoming places we’ve ever stayed (Avila La Fonda Hotel in Avila Beach and the Tickled Pink Inn at Carmel-on-Sea. Avila La Fonda even had a very cute little tuck shop pantry complete with honesty box!

Our guide book called Yosemite the “Taj Mahal” of National Parks but still nothing prepared us for how amazingly beautiful the park was when we eventually arrived. The main lookout point was a scenic but fairly gruelling hour-long drive from our accommodation but we were both instantly moved by our first Yosemite Park lookout encounter. Even though we were both a little surprised by the crowds and the over-development in the valley and even though we didn’t manage to catch even a small glimpse of a wild bear, the park was still definitely worth the 320 km detour.

Final Destination

San Francisco is a bohemian and cultured city but it’s also very windy! Our diverse range of activities during our stay included cheering along young Tony Hawk wannabes in a skateboard competition in Golden Gate Park, queuing for a free chickpea curry at a vegetarian food festival and my personal favourite watching the crazy wrestling seals at Pier 39. Napa Valley and it’s idyllic landscapes and the incredible food and wine tasting was a perfect day trip, and for us, California was the perfect honeymoon.

California and Las Vegas highlights

• Doubling our money (and then swiftly losing it!) on the roulette table at the Bellagio Las Vegas.
• Staying in some very unique and cool hotels Los Angeles
• Trophy wife/beautiful people watching from a gorgeous cafe/bakery/restaurant on Rodeo Drive early on a Sunday morning.
• The Big Sur Coastline (no need to say anymore).
• Sipping cocktails in 90 degree heat on the veranda of the Wawona Inn in Yosemite National Park.
• Watching the Old Faithful Geyser and then eating the world’s most tastiest salad bought from a local grocery store in Calistoga.
• Cycling to see the Golden Gate Bridge and eventually arriving – against all the odds (kind of wishing someone had warned us about the wind and the jaw-droppingly steep hill on the coastal path).

Our Roadtrip Itinerary

• Flew Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick to Las Vegas.
• Stayed three nights at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
• Drove across the Nevada desert stopping at Barstow and Calico Ghost town and eventually arriving in Los Angeles.
• Stayed three nights in the Sofitel, Beverly Hills in Los Angeles.
• Took Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) to Avila Beach and stayed one night at the Avila La Fonda Hotel.
• Drove further up the coast staying one night at the Tradewinds Inn in Carmel-on-Sea.
• Drove from Carmel to Yosemite National Park staying 2 nights at Wawona Inn.
• Stayed five nights in Le Meridien Hotel in San Francisco and from there took a day trip to Napa Valley and Calistoga.
• Flew Virgin Atlantic from San Francisco airport to Heathrow.

(Seventeen nights in total)

You might also enjoy these...