Sail The Waterways Of California California Land/Cruise Tours Allow The Traveler To Enjoy A Number Of Experiences On A Single Trip

The Golden State of California is justly celebrated for its tourist attractions.

Less well known is that you can visit many of them - including the San Francisco Bay Area, Sausalito, the Napa Valley, Gold Rush Country and Sacramento - by cruise ship. Among the sailings on California’s inland waterways, which any travel agent can book:

Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West makes seven-night cruises out of Sausalito on its 82-passenger Spirit of Alaska cruise ship. The ship sails the rivers and waterways connected to San Francisco Bay and the delta formed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The ship stops at Stockton for tours of the Gold Rush Country, historic Old Sacramento and Sutter’s Fort, the Napa Valley and its wineries with on-board wine tastings, and San Francisco. The cruises depart every Saturday through Dec. 30 and again next spring.

Fares start at $1,395 per person, double occupancy (air fare, taxes and port charges not included).

Clipper Cruises’ 138-passenger Yorktown Clipper offers a “Best of Northern California” nine-night package in October, including two nights in San Francisco, two nights in Monterey and five nights on the ship. The Yorktown Clipper sails from Redwood City, on the bay south of San Francisco, on Oct. 6, 11, 16, 21 and 26 and stops at Sausalito, Stockton, Sacramento and the Napa Valley before returning to Redwood City.

Cruise-only fares start at $2,030 and include the four nights in hotels and most meals during the land portion of the package, but not air fare.

Special Expeditions, which prides itself on the educational focus of its cruises, makes an “Autumn in California” land/cruise tour on Nov. 1, 5, 9 and 13. The package includes a one-night stay in San Francisco, two nights at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park and two nights in Monterey for visits to Carmel and Big Sur. Passengers then board Special Expeditions’ 70-passenger Sea Lion for a four-night cruise from San Francisco to Sausalito, Sacramento and the Sonoma Valley. Naturalists will be on the cruise to discuss the ports of call and the passing landscape as well as to lead tours.

Fares start at $2,390 per person, double occupancy, and include all shore tours, all meals on the ship and most meals on land, hotel stays and all land transportation. Passengers can take just the four-night cruises; cruise-only fares start at $890 per person, double occupancy.