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I reckon three days in Las Vegas would suffice for most visitors accustomed to a less frenetic existence and they'll be eager to regain normality in a city of more leisured pace. So San Diego will do nicely, in fact you'll fall in love with the place.
To start with, it has an idyllic micro-climate that may be unique. They say the temperature falls to the mid-50s F in winter but it averages in the mid-70s in summer and seldom varies by more then ten degrees, with virtually zero humidity and almost endless sunshine.
With a population of three million, it's a city with oodles of facilities and attractions. It's a tourist destination par excellence. Locals consider they have arguably the world's highest quality of life: it must be a beautiful place in which to live.
San Diego Bay is a vast harbour that's ideal for sailing, fishing and cruising; the city also has one of the finest zoos in the world, spread over 100 acres, with 4,000 animals and 800 species, many in open enclosures and reached via the Skyfari, an elevated train.
It's part of Balboa Park, the cultural centre piece of an appealing metropolis. In its 1,800 acres are 14 museums of various styles and a clutch of art galleries, theatres and studios and restaurants, all housed in elegant buildings of baroque origin that date to the 1920s. A day there wouldn't be sufficient.
Then there's an attraction known as Spanish Village, a magnet for diners and shoppers; and Tijuana, Mexico, is about 20 miles away -- take a train and walk over the border for sight seeing and shopping.
Golfers are well catered for, too. There are upwards of 90 courses in the metropolitan area, many of them part of resort or hotel complexes of the first order. Some are alongside the ocean, others are set in the mountains; many are top class public courses which offer great value, with green fees in the range of $40, including a cart.
You'll pay more to play the resort courses, naturally: the famed Torrey Pines is $100, for instance, but green fees at other premium courses can be in the region of $70, mid-week. There's a supplementary charge for weekends, but to off-set that is a discount if you play in the afternoon.
I was on a flying visit that was far too short, so my time on-course was restricted. But I squeezed in a round at the famed Rancho Bernardo Inn about 30 minutes north of the city in the San Pasqual Mountains. It's as pretty as it sounds.
It's a resort with every facility. The Inn has a five diamond rating and is recognised as one of America's finest. It was built in the 1920s and its ambience and decor is redolent of that era. It is gracious but not stuffy and just the place I'd like to take my lady love. Very romantic, with a dining room where you'd kill for a table.
It's in a low profile building with a mountain backdrop and overlooking a valley in which lies the golf course, ranked among the leading resort courses in the nation.
With some high tees, elevated greens and a lake on the run-in you can imagine the views and the challenge. It plays long but it's very fair for all classes of player. The hot shots love it and even hackers like me could enjoy it when playing badly. It's good value, too, for a course of such prestige and quality. If you pre-book with our recommended tour operator it will cost only £36 per round mid-week and this includes green fee, golf cart, club cleaning and a daily golf clinic. Golf doesn't get much better than this.
Southern California is on a latitude with the Costa del Sol, but the major difference in climate is the absence of humidity that's common in Spain. Here, too, the low season is high summer but golf then is not unpleasant and there are twilight rates for play in late afternoon, in fact with the exception of trans-Atlantic air fares all costs are appreciably lower in the period June-August.
That applies generally to the Tri-Cities Tour. A bonus is that hotels and courses will be less populated over this period, with no lowering of standards.
With such variety of scenery and location it's one of the more exciting holidays I've discovered. The minimum package on offer is three nights in each city but by adding a night here and there the pace will be slower, the trip more enjoyable.
It's one to relish for those with a spirit of adventure. Groups or couples alike would have a ball. And that scenery! Quite simply, you won't believe your eyes...
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