Is there anywhere more chill in California than this?

SLO CAL FLAVOURS

Central California was light years ahead of the US’s “farm to fork” movement, and fresh produce informs the local offering throughout, from healthful, hearty cafe breakfasts to bountiful farm shops and high-end dining. Again, San Luis Obispo excels, from cocktails at Nightcap, the Granada Hotel’s atmospheric bar, to dinners at Bear & The Wren and Hotel SLO’s restaurant, Piadina. Finding ourselves in town on a Thursday evening, we follow the crowds to the weekly Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market. Equally delightful are informal breakfast spots such as Hidden Kitchen, in Cayucos, dining outdoors to capitalise on those piercingly bright skies.

SLO CAL’s wine offering is another strength, and I drink deep from this horn of plenty. Call me an old lush but I can think of few more pleasant ways to while away an afternoon than by occupying a seat at a long table sampling local varietals alongside tasty home-grown produce, as we do at characterful properties such as Tolosa Winery.

While Paso Robles area legends include Daou, Niner Wine Estates and Justin Vineyards & Winery, my highlight comes courtesy of CASS Winery, savouring its seductive setting over a lunch accompanied by choice tipples. This before touring its eight guest rooms – exquisite reworkings of old shipping containers, each with a music-related theme.

“We’re definitely outside-the-box thinkers,” asserts marketeer Chanda Brown, revealing plans to add a swim-up wine bar by summer. “CASS is really just about bringing people together, and that’s what wine does.”

OUTDOORS ACTION

SLO CAL’s enviable climate draws visitors outdoors to explore its varied terrain, from rolling hills and nature reserves to stunning coastal stretches. A bracing morning walk along the Montana de Oro Bluff Trail has dramatic clifftop vistas, the trailside scrub strikingly accented by vibrant wild flowers.

An e-biking tour with Central Coast Kayaks reveals the serene charms of Bob Jones Trail – we stop for supplies at one of the great local farm stores before reaching charming Avila Beach. Whales can be seen year-round off

beaches like this one, with humpbacks on show from mid-March through December.

Horse riding is another popular pursuit around the Oceano Dunes, and I get my fix touring Covell’s Ranch in Cambria, where visitors can ride the resident Clydesdales.

Vista Point’s elephant seal colonies serve up more wildlife interactions, while the sea lion sightings on my pootle around Morro Bay with Estero Adventures are eclipsed when we spot a juvenile whale.

COLOURFUL QUIRKS

Ultimately, my trip proves as illuminating as the neon sign that greets me on arrival in Pismo Beach, the Sensorio light installation and a Mural Trail among SLO CAL’s other artistic expressions.

I also relish the local “quirks”, not least my guided tour of Hearst Castle. Commissioned by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, its improbable, mishmash stylings defy description.

Lovers of the style can also find the architect Julia Morgan’s flourishes at Robin’s, in Cambria, where I enjoy an indulgent dinner.

Nothing comes close to the Barbie-licious pink kitsch stylings of the Madonna Inn, however, where a bumper breakfast at Copper Cafe sees me follow in the footsteps of Dolly Parton, and if it’s good enough for the Queen of Jolene, who am I to argue?

Book it: Gold Medal offers a nine-night SLO CAL holiday with three nights at Argonaut Hotel, San Francisco; three nights at Vespera Resort, Pismo Beach; and three at The Garland, Los Angeles, from £2,069pp. This is offered room-only and includes Alamo car hire and British Airways flights departing Heathrow for San Francisco on 25 February 2025, returning from Los Angeles on 6 March; goldmedal.co.uk