California holidays from Signature from Thomas Cook

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Discover California

Anaheim and OC

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Team the crashing waves with the towering mountains and valleys of the National Parks.

Visit California Stretching over 900 miles along the west coast of the United States, California is a huge state of enormous contrasts.

From the golden beaches of the Central Coast in the west to the imposing peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east - from the forests of towering Redwoods in the northwest to the expansive Mojave Desert in the southeast, the geography here is as diverse as the options available to the around 700,000 UK tourists visiting the state each year.

Off the beaten track
As you'd expect from a state that is larger than many countries, there's a great deal to discover in California beyond the better known popular tourist destinations. Visit San Diego and take a whale watching cruise or drive the Big Sur Highway and marvel at the incredible views of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Lucia mountain range.

Much of the area surrounding Lake Tahoe is devoted to its burgeoning tourism industry which is popular with domestic and overseas visitors. In summer why not hire a boat and head out onto the lake itself to sneak a look at some of the palatial mansions which are not visible from the shore? In winter skiing, snow tubing and snow mobile riding are amongst popular activities for tourists and locals alike.

The tourist trail
Visit Los Angeles, the centre of the American entertainment industry, and take in the famous movie industry landmarks including the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theatre, Chateau Marmont and the Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held).

Include some time in San Francisco and visit Alcatraz, the infamous prison in which some of America's most notorious criminals were housed until its closure in 1963 or take a ride on the city's historic cable car system (actually more like trams) which has been in continuous operation since 1873.

Elsewhere the twists and turns of Lombard Street make for a fantastic holiday photo and the vibrant Chinatown is the oldest in North America and home to the largest Chinese community outside Asia.

Back to nature
From its zigzagging coastline to the wonders of Yosemite National Park, California is a region of dramatic and beautiful landscapes forged by millennia of epic land movements along the San Andreas Fault. In Mount Whitney and Death Valley California boasts both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) and the states vast Sequoia groves are home to the world's largest trees.

Named a World Heritage Site in 1984, over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year, many taking open air tours of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. You can enjoy a range of activities here, from hiking, rafting, biking and climbing to fishing, bird spotting horseback riding and even gold panning.