The Turquoise Holiday Company launches new California programme

With its first foray into North America, long haul holiday specialist The Turquoise Holiday Company has launched a new collection of luxury holidays to California. Selected by Turquoise as one of the 'hot' new destinations for 2017, California, as the “state that has it all“, has provided the tour operator's team of Product Managers with the inspiration for some of their most contemporary self-drive holidays, family adventures and honeymoons to date – and even what could arguably be described as the greatest twin centre holiday in the world.

In keeping with their ethos of bringing old fashioned glamour and romance back into modern day travel, Turquoise has founded their California programme around the state's Twentieth Century reputation for creating 'La Dolce Vita, New World style'. 

Never a company to languish in the past, Turquoise's expert USA & South Pacific product team, headed up by Suzy Higgs, has taken time out to make their own road trip through The Golden State and selected what they regard as the most cutting edge, fun, quirky and contemporary accommodation to bring their California holiday itineraries firmly up to date for 2017 travellers.

As with all their destinations, Turquoise has hand-picked an eclectic choice of boutique and unusual properties and experiences.  Visitors can look forward to the ultimate road trip through deserts, beaches, mountains, wine country and cities, all enhanced by a mix of accommodation and excursions that are a step up and away from the majority of US specialists.

Suzy Higgs, California & South Pacific Product Manager for Turquoise Holidays has put together the programme following an extensive recce of the state with Marketing Director Lizzie Heeley.   Higgs says:  “As specialists in the South Pacific and New Zealand, we've honed our expertise in the west coast gateways of San Francisco and Los Angeles as stopovers en route to the Southern Hemisphere, so it's only natural that we should develop a dedicated California programme.  In conjunction with the team at Visit California and a selection of brilliant partners throughout California we have created holidays that incorporate the state's unique laid back culture and natural beauty with a focus on the swathe of luxury properties and experiences on offer across the Golden State. 

She continues: “ Our honeymooners and couples will love it as an all-year-round self-drive adventure, and our family clientele will be wowed on their last blow-out before kids leave their teens… it's an unbeatable road trip holiday for everyone. “

A two week road trip through California starts from £2590 per person.   A family of four can plan a two week holiday from £6500. Prices include international flights.

California twinned with Tahiti – the dream two centre holiday or honeymoon

Turquoise has added a new dimension to the notion of a California holiday; while the palm-fringed islands of Tahiti, one of Turquoise Holidays' top selling destinations, may be both literally and figuratively half a world away from the iconic road trips and beach resorts of California, the easy travel partnership of the two destinations has inspired a new departure from their classic beach/city or beach/safari to become the latest and arguably most desirable twin centre holiday in the world.   

For the ultimate honeymoon, Turquoise recommends an eight night road trip from San Francisco to Santa Monic, Los Angeles with top picks including Belmond El Encanto in Santa Barbara, Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma and Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, followed by five nights in Tahiti.  12 nights from £4650 per person.  

Turquoise Holidays' top five Must-Do California experiences:

From surfing with the stars in Santa Cruz to rollerblading in Venice Beach and island hopping through the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara, Turquoise Holidays has come up with an irresistible menu of new takes on classic icons as well as plenty of innovative ideas to take the world's most written-about road trip to a new level.

Here are Turquoise Holidays' top five must-do experiences in California according to their California specialists Suzy Higgs and Lizzie Heeley:

• Mammoth Lakes: Suzy describes it as “A true frontier adventure – don't miss the chance to ski the Sierra Nevada then cycle round the lakes in Mammoth“  
• Palm Springs: Suzy says “The decadent desert hideaway of the Rat Pack in the 1950s and 1960s has recently re-emerged as a hip hangout for 21st century holiday makers. With desert, three mountain ranges, The Joshua Tree National Park, and the unmissable tramway – the world's largest rotating tram car – to my mind Palm Springs it has it all. Who wouldn't want to join a Palm Springs party with the Hollywood elite – and at Turquoise we can make it happen”.
• Big Sur: Lizzie says: "Holidays to Big Sur take you along iconic Highway 1, the all-American road that twists, turns and hugs the cliff edge. Flanked by dense redwood forests and the vast Pacific Ocean, a Big Sur road trip must be one of the most spectacular drives in the world. Who could ever forget walking through the Redwoods in Big Sur's coastal forests?"
• Napa and Sonoma Wine Country: Lizzie says: “Meet the makes of Sonoma County's vineyards … no journey through California would be complete without a delicious dash of Pinot something here or there, and the Napa & Sonoma Wine Country is the ultimate wine stop shop. Sonoma is the undiscovered gem of the west coast yet it produces some of America's finest wines, as well as offering an undiscovered Californian coastline and expansive redwood forests to explore. Napa, perhaps the most famous wine producing region of California, has a phenomenal array of vineyards to visit, makers to meet and cool, fine dining restaurants and chic boutique hotels in which to rest woozy heads."
• Yosemite National Park: Over 3.7 million visitors head here every year. Suzy says: “We're happy to confirm that they're not wrong: with spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, and enviable biological diversity, American's third-oldest national park belongs high on your holiday wish list. I will insist that all my clients take a private guided hike through Yosemite's epic mountains”.

For more information on the new California programme from Turquoise Holidays, visit www.turquoiseholidays.co.uk/california or call T: 01494 678400. For personal travel advice, why not make an appointment to meet with a personal consultant at one of the two Turquoise Holiday Company shops – you can visit the recently expanded Turquoise Holidays shop in South West London at 147 Northcote Road, or at their original shop in Old Beaconsfield.

Ends

For further information and images please contact:

Susie de Carteret

Juicy Communications

T: 01534 728728

M: 07797742541

Susie@juicycommunications.co.uk

30 January 2017