California holidays
Get straight into holiday mode – California is made for light-hearted living. You can’t fail to have a great time in a place where spotting celebrities is the norm, where the most difficult decision might be picking your favourite juice bar and where there’s a big wave with your name on it breaking just off the beach.
Our cheapest holidays to California
California dreaming
Explorers have plenty of ground to cover on their California trip: nine national parks (including Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Kings Canyon), and terrain so varied that you can spend the morning skiing on Bear Mountain, and your afternoon surfing in Malibu.
If you want a family holiday there are theme parks aplenty – including Six Flags, Universal Studios Hollywood, and glittery Disney Land in Anaheim: book a holiday package with us to make life easy.
California is made for multi-centre holidays. There are simply too many great places to visit to confine yourself to just one city or seaside. Luckily, you can sort multiple flights, hotels and cars – all in one booking. Book your flights to California today.
Carefully selected California hotels
Our recommended holidays in California
We’ve found the best places for your California holiday. If you’re looking to explore the steep streets of San Francisco, and do so in style, then stay at the magnificent, colonnaded Ritz-Carlton San Francisco on Nob Hill. The hotel’s stunning service includes a house car that will drop you at the nearby sights. On the sun-kissed coast, along San Diego Bay, make the most of the waterffront at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, where you can relish outdoor yoga classes and paddle boarding lessons. If you’re visiting Los Angeles, stay somewhere that epitomises the golden age – The Hollywood Roosevelt oozes glamour. Enjoy the contrast between the modern city and your vintage room in this 1920’s time capsule. Book your perfect California holiday with British Airways.
Multi-centre holidays in California
When you fly to California why not take in as many cities as you can?
California is a sprawling state; and Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose are all great places to include in your holiday itinerary.
If you fancy going further afield – well, what about Hawaii? It’s just a five-hour flight away from Cali, after all. Plan the perfect multi-centre US holiday.
Step one
Find your flights
Choose where you're flying from first, then add your flights to the destinations you want to visit. You can add up to six flights on British Airways multi-centre trips, which can be short stopovers or longer breaks away. Add your flight, then choose the dates you want to move on to your next destination. Select your flight class and ticket type, then your flights are ready to go.
Step two
Pick your hotels
Choose your hotel stay to match your flight destinations. Select your check-in dates to either coincide with your flight arrival and your check-out dates and match your next flight departure. Or choose a hotel for part of your stay. Pick how many rooms you need, then add more hotels in the same way for your other destinations. We will offer three packaged results – recommended, lowest price and luxury. You can select your preferred option and then customise it by selecting a different hotel.
Step three
Car hire to suit you
Feeling ready for a road trip? Choose more freedom on your adventure and hire a car for your chance to explore. Select the rental destination for you, whether you want to have a car for each place you visit, or just one destination you go to, the flexibility is yours. Choose to return the car rental to the same location or select a different depot to drop off your car.
Step four
The best of travel extras
Once you’ve created your trip, take the chance to look at our travel extras. Choose from airport transfers to make your way straight to your hotel, or look at our airport hotels if you have an early flight to catch. Take a look at our experiences, from pre-booking popular attraction tickets, sightseeing tours and activities.
California holiday FAQs
- Home to the stars and buzzing with creative energy, Los Angeles offers up the utmost in luxury stays and laid-back beach breaks.
- With its iconic sights and well-known relaxed vibe, San Francisco makes the ideal holiday for those looking for a city break or exploring the delights of Napa and Yosemite.
- From its practically perfect climate, San Diego is the place for those wanting to hit the beach (there are more than 60) or try their hand (and legs) at surfing.
- There’s much more to San Jose than creative tech hub Silicon Valley. It’s awash with alternative museums and cultural hotspots, plus it’s ideal as a base for exploring northern California.
Wherever you rest your head, whether it’s in one of California’s cities or by the sea, be sure to check out our California holiday packages – you could bag yourself a cheap break. Look out for Bahia Resort in San Diego, which sits on Mission Bay and overlooks the ocean. This good-value hotel is excellent for family holidays and summer breaks. On the other end of the scale is Fairmont San Francisco, a luxury hotel in the heart of the city.
California serves the world on a plate. You can find some of the best Mexican food north of the border in south Cali – so prepare yourself for plates of soft tacos packed with piquant salsas. LA’s penchant for all things healthy and responsibly-sourced is leaking out into the rest of the state, and on some roads you can’t move for juice bars. You can find practically any cuisine you choose in the cities: visit Chinatown and Koreatown in LA for skilled Asian cookery. And no matter what time you wake up, don’t miss the skillets, pancake stacks and sugar rush of a classic American brunch.
Find inspiration in our travel articles
Four epic LA road trips
Los Angelans love their cars – escape the La La Land traffic on an LA road trip to the glorious Pacific Coast Highway, or on a pilgrimage to Joshua Tree National Park. Discover how.
Three epic California road trips
Local writer Mark Ellwood knows that the best way to experience California is by car – check out his favourite routes across the state and experience national parks and natural beauty along the way.
Why choose British Airways Holidays?
The British Airways experience is more than a flight.
We’re one of the UK’s largest holiday companies offering carefully chosen hotels and resorts in the most amazing places, and car hire with no hidden extras. Our access to the extensive British Airways global network and oneworld® alliance puts us in a unique position to create holiday packages with convenient flights across the globe. From start to finish consider your holiday taken care of.
Low deposits
Secure your holiday with a low deposit and spread the cost with flexible payments.
Baggage allowance
All of our holiday packages include a generous checked baggage allowance.
24-hour helpline
We have a dedicated 24-hour holiday helpline if you need to contact us while you're away.
Pay with Avios
Reduce the cost of your next trip and pay for your holiday with Avios.
Customer reviews
Our customers’ reviews are independently moderated by Feefo. We're extremely proud of our verified ratings, satisfaction scores and the commitment we see, when our customers consistently choose to book with us again.
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Multi-centre holidays
Terms and conditions
- Flight only prices are updated every 24 hours and are accurate when published. Flights at these prices are limited and may sell out quickly.
- Package holiday prices (flight + hotel or flight + car) prices are updated every 24 to 48 hours and are accurate when published and may vary upon reaching subsequent pages. Availability may be extremely limited particularly during peak periods.
- Return fares displayed are the lowest adult return prices in the cabin specified including taxes, fees and carrier charges, based on a 7-day return journey.
- Each–way fares displayed are the lowest adult each-way prices in the cabin specified based on the lowest adult return prices for a 7 day travel period, including all taxes, fees and carrier charges available in this period.
- One-way fares displayed are the lowest adult prices in the cabin specified including taxes, fees and carrier charges available in this period.
- Package holiday prices (flight + hotel and flight + car) shown are in GBP per person based on 2 adults sharing one room or one car and prices include taxes, fees and carrier charges unless otherwise specified. Flight + car prices based on drivers aged 30-70 years.
- Additional charges will be applied for payments made using a corporate credit card.
- Advertised fares are available on ba.com. Additional charges may apply if purchased through British Airways outlets or travel agents.
- Combine and save on Holidays: Guaranteed savings are only available when booking a Flight + Hotel or Flight + Car booking including one land product, it does not apply to a ‘Customise your trip’ holiday including more than one hotel and / or car.
- Package holidays are protected under British Airways Holidays Ltd by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is 5985.
- Standard British Airways terms and conditions apply