Although this may not seem like a local trip to many Europeans, no trip to California would be complete without a visit to Yosemite National Park, the flagship of America's National Park Service. Yosemite National Park is located roughly 200 miles east of San Francisco. Yosemite covers 1189 square miles of some of the world's most spectacular scenery. Enjoy waterfalls, glaciated cliffs, bears, hiking, Giant Sequoias, swimming, snow, amazing trails, rock climber spotting, camp fires, sunny weather, diving into ice cold lakes, meeting new people, and much more. There are several good travel companies who offer excellent excursions.