When local or international visitors travel across the USA, they often head for popular big tourist attractions like those New York City or Miami or Orlando. But sooner or later they are heading west to California, or arriving in California from the Far East and Australia. California is only the 3rd largest US state behind Texas and Alaska, but by far the most populous with the biggest economy. Over 40million people call California home so it is more populous than many countries. In fact, if it was a country its diverse business entities would rank it as the 4th or 5th biggest economy in terms of GDP.
Like other states and countries, California has a number of cities which are great tourists destinations in and of themselves. Some are world famous like San Francisco or Los Angeles, but there is also San Diego and Sacramento and of course, Silicon Valley. Hollywood is known as the movie capital of the world and is part of the Los Angeles basin. San Francisco is the high tech and venture capital of the USA, especially when you include the whole Bay Area and Silicon Valley all the way down to San Jose and beyond. Apple, Google, Nvidia and Facebook are four of the biggest tech companies in the world and they are all in this area.
Yet California has two other major industries: Agriculture and Tourism. The central valley of California is one of the biggest single farming valleys anywhere and provides over half the fresh fruit and vegetables to the whole country. Most crops are grown under irrigation with water coming from the magnificent Sierra mountains that make up the eastern border of the state. These mountains and their scenery in turn are one of the great reasons to visit California and get out of the cities and enjoy the pristine fresh air and beauty. Skiing and boating too.
Whether you prefer the cities, small towns, coast or mountains, there truly is a lot to visit and explore as a tourist or as an add-on to a business trip. The crown jewel of national parks is of course Yosemite National Park in the central Sierra mountains, making it a great nature, hiking and photo spot between Los Angeles and San Francisco or even Las Vegas and San Francisco. Access is usually from Hiway 49 which celebrates the 1849 gold rush that shaped northern California as prospectors from all around the world sailed into San Francisco and trekked up into the Sierra Foothills. This is one subject not covered in my favorite YouTube video about California, but otherwise please see this Unseen California video for a non-touristy great overview of the golden state.
California is a young state made up of many diverse peoples, cultures and natural beauty which is why I love it so and have been here for over 40 years. I have worked on four continents and travelled the world but now I stay home and you visit me 🙂 I look forward to perhaps hosting your family in my Frontier Hill cottage you when you visit Yosemite National Park and surrounding areas. Book your stay with us on VRBO or Airbnb.
See also Yosemite.com for specific tourist information and Recreation.gov for park reservations.
Martin
(C) Copyright 2026