5 Day Yosemite and Sequoia National Park

Start your morning watching the sun peek over the vast vista of the Sierra Mountain Range while enjoying a steaming cup of coffee and a breakfast made to order. Your personal guide will escort you in your private SUV for your first day of exploring the “Jewel of the National Parks”, Yosemite! First on the list is the iconic and expansive view of Yosemite Valley from the view point that been seen, photographed, painted and drawn by internationally renowned artists to casual tourists, your guide will take pictures of you posing in front of this world renown back drop. Then down into the valley for up close and personal views of Yosemite Falls (the highest waterfall in North America), Curry Village, Ansel Adams Gallery, Swinging Bridge, Yosemite Meadow and more. For lunch, let’s see what the Chef de Cuisine at Erna’s Elderberry House has created and packed up for you in your deluxe picnic basket? It will be a most memorable picnic feast including wine hand chosen from their extensive wine cellar to compliment your meal. After your picnic your personal guide will whisk you up to Glacier Point where you will enjoy the breath taking views of Half Dome, Hanging Rock and Vernal Falls. Watch the sunset, moon rise, and the galaxy of stars come out to blanket the sky for as far as the eye can see. The evening sky scape will fill you with awe and be a perfect end of your first day.

Start the day with another unforgettable breakfast at your villa. Then your guide will take you back to the park for a half day exploring more of Yosemite Valley which holds both forest and large open meadows, providing breathtaking views of the surrounding crests and waterfalls. Become part of the experience by taking it all in via horseback riding, cycling, or hiking. Next stop will be the world famous Ahwahnee for lunch in a dining hall that brings mother-nature indoors with floor to ceiling windows. Watch the deer and other wildlife graze on the expansive lawns, flora and fauna, while you enjoy your meal. After lunch, sweep across to Tuolomne Meadows, where you will experience breathtaking scenery and pristine lakes of the high country. The waters of Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne River soak up the heat and the sun, inviting you to swim and/or fish. This time you will exit Yosemite through the Merced River Valley, following the flow of the river back down into the foothills. There will be a point during this jaunt that you will arrive in the small historic town of Mariposa. Its authentic western, gold rush era buildings downtown, house a few excellent restaurants, winetasting rooms, craft breweries, old west saloons, and tapa bars. There you can spend the evening dining and unwinding, knowing your coach awaits you to take you back the Chateau for the night.

After checking out from the Chateau Du Sureau, we will take a leisurely pace saying good bye to the Sierras by visiting one of the award winning wineries of the region. Taste a variety of wines, meet with a master wine maker, tour the winery, and enjoy a relaxing lunch in high country vineyards. Afterwards, your tour guide will drive you to Fresno CA., your new base camp. Fresno is the hub of the Central Valley where night life abounds. Take in a ballet, an art show, enjoy live theatre, visit one of many museums, check out the Forestiere Underground Gardens, the Chaffee Zoo, or dine and shop the evening away in the popular River Park Center.

A Corvette convertible packed with a picnic basket will be waiting for you in the morning, along with a planned self-drive itinerary for the day. Take off with your hair blowing in the wind and make your way a short drive up the mountains to Sequoia National Park. This landscape testifies to nature’s size, beauty, and diversity – huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, and the world’s largest trees. Be amazed by the towering Giant Sequoias! Arrive at the Giant Forest Museum the hub for the Sequoia National Park, where you will be met by your personal tour guide. They will take you through the entire park containing among its natural resources the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) above sea level. You will start with the fallen Tunnel Log and finishing with the General Sherman Tree, the World’s largest living organism ascending over 300 feet (91m) into the sky and a circumference of over 100 feet (30m). Just as incredible as the General Sherman, is the fact that is in a forest that contains 5 out of the 10 largest trees in the world. Thus the nickname for Sequoia Nation Park; – “The Land of the Giants”!