We start this beautiful tour through California in San Francisco at EagleRider where we rent a motorcycle, renting a car is of course also possible. I have put together this route from two rides that I myself rode during holidays, in 2006 on a Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic and in 2011 in a Ford Mustang Convertible.

We leave early because we have a long route ahead of us with many possible stops at sights. We drive over many beautiful winding roads through California and come across enough places along the way where you can stop for a bite to eat.

The first part takes us through San Francisco itself, where we can visit the San Francisco Zoo, formerly the Fleishhacker Zoo, which is home to more than 250 animal species.
We drive through Golden Gate Park, with several places where we can stop for a short walk, a drink or some sightseeing.

Leaving the park, we turn right to drive through the hippie district of Haight-and-Ashbury, known as the birthplace of the hippie counterculture. It was the most popular hangout for hippies and the original Flower People in the 1960s and 1970s. There are many places to eat, souvenir shops, and all sorts of memorabilia for sale.
We can still encounter modern-day hippies. We drive past the homes of Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin and “The Grateful Dead”, all musicians who have had a great influence on music.

We drive back to the coast where we visit the “Camera Obscura & Holograph Gallery”. A Cliff House, with the “camera obscura”, an optical device that is essentially the grandfather of the modern camera. It is fascinating to look at. On this cliff are also a number of places where we can enjoy the beautiful panoramic view of the Seal Rocks and the bay.

Less than 2 minutes away we can visit “The Sutro Baths”, which was a large public saltwater swimming pool in private ownership in the Lands End neighborhood. Adolph Sutro, the self-made millionaire who designed Sutro Heights and later the second Cliff House, developed the amazing Sutro Baths in 1894. With his special interest in natural history and marine studies, he built an aquarium with an ocean pool between the rocks north of the Cliff House. Sutro then expanded his oceanfront complex by building a huge public bathhouse that covered three acres and contained impressive engineering and artistic details.

It was built in 1894 and was located north of Ocean Beach, the Cliff House, Seal Rocks and west of Sutro Heights Park. The structure burned down to its concrete foundation in June 1966. The ruins are located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Sutro Historic District, now only the foundations remain but in its day it was a beautiful public swimming pool.

We drive through the Presidio of San Francisco, a former US Army military fort and now a national park, with endless hiking trails, fun events and unforgettable views of the Golden Gate Bridge, there are several interesting places where you can stop to take pictures.

We will briefly visit the “Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center”. It tells the story of San Francisco’s most beloved icon. Explore the historical exhibits, talk to helpful staff, pick up a map of the Presidio, and purchase a souvenir to remember your adventure. The Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center is open seven days a week from 9am to 6pm. There are several viewpoints nearby where you can take great photos of this icon.

And then it's time to drive across the iconic and world famous Golden Gate Bridge. From the bridge you have a beautiful view of the bay when the weather is clear, but it is already an unparalleled experience to drive across this beautiful suspension bridge, enjoy the ride!

On the other side we can take some nice pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and then drive part of the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway No. 1). This is a beautiful drive along the coast and through the mountains of California. The PCHW is in total 2,655 km from San Diego in California to Seattle in North America. I have described this route in other reviews as part of the Ultimate USA Roadtrip and at the links in this review you can find more information about the PCHW.

Along the way you will pass cozy seaside towns such as Stinson Beach, where you can enjoy a nice lunch or just relax on the beautiful beach. Enjoy the beautiful ride on the PCHW, and stop along the way to enjoy the view. After about 80 kilometers you will continue via beautiful roads through the vineyards of Sonoma County to the town of Sonoma, this is a cozy little town with nice shops and restaurants. You can also spend the night here if you want to drive this route in 2 days.

From Sonoma we drive via Petaluma and the Red Hill Road towards San Rafael, where we take another beautiful ride through China Camp State Park along the coast of San Pablo Bay.
Then we drive to Sausalito via Tiburon and Paradise Drive.

Sausalito has a number of very good restaurants, many with a terrace on the water with beautiful views of Richardson Bay, Angel Island and, in clear weather, “The Rock” and the San Francisco skyline.

Via the Golden Gate Bridge we drive back to San Francisco, we drive to Lombard street, this first goes steeply up and at the top you go down via the world famous winding road. It is only a short distance and at low speed but you have to have done it. And stop at the bottom to take a picture.
We drive through Presidio again, where the Walt Disney Museum and the Presidio Visitor Center are still worth a visit, depending on the time.

Before we drive to the end point, we pass “the Palace of Fine Arts”; a monumental neoclassical building that was built for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915 to exhibit works of art. It was demolished in 1964 and rebuilt in 1965. It is the only remnant of the 1915 World's Fair that still stands on its original site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 2005. It has colonnades, reliefs and statues and is a major tourist attraction.

The end point of this beautiful journey is at Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf, here are many shops, bars, restaurants, the pier with sea lions and of course hotels in the immediate vicinity to stay overnight. More information about this at the links in this review.