Over the summer holidays, I got to go on an amazing trip with my family to California on the west coast of the USA.

After an 11-hour flight we landed in Los Angeles, but jumped straight in the car until we reached Palm Springs. It was very hot there as the city is close to the desert.

 Our first stop was the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which is the world’s largest rotating aerial tramway. While it takes you from Coachella Valley to the top of San Jacinto peak the floor rotates!

The next day, we decided to go to hit the shops at the huge Premium Outlets mall. It was only a short drive away, which was handy because we didn’t have to carry all our shopping bags home!

We spent the following days at Disneyland and Universal Studios. At Disneyland there were lots of fun rides to go on and there was even a separate theme park, the California Adventure Park. You can see all your favourite Disney characters around the parks too.

At Universal, my two favourite rides were The Simpsons virtual roller coaster and the new King Kong ride, which is the world’s biggest 360 3D ride. We also went on a bus tour which shows where all the Universal movies are made, until suddenly, the bus drives into a ride!

The next day we headed into downtown LA. We had a city tour pass, which is great for getting around town. We headed off to do the Star Line Celebrity Tour. I really enjoyed this because I got to see where all the famous people live in Beverly Hills. We saw the homes of stars like Jennifer Aniston, Victoria and David Beckham and more. We also visited the famous Rodeo Drive, but we could only afford to window shop!

Afterwards, we went to the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars ceremony takes place. We were given a brief tour about the Oscars and then we got to look around the theatre.

Before leaving LA for San Diego, we visited Madame Tussauds. My family and I had our picture taken with Barack Obama at the entrance and I could not believe how life-like the models were – it was as if they were actually there!

After a few days relaxation in San Diego, we ventured to SeaWorld. We got to go on a private tour around the park and feed sea turtles, hold starfish, play with dolphins and even stroke baby sharks! We also saw the new Blue Horizons show and the famous Shamu killer whale show. SeaWorld is a great place to learn about, and see, animals. They even rescue stranded sea animals, nurse them and release them back into the wild when they are well enough.

In San Diego we also got the chance to go to the zoo. San Diego Zoo is one of the world’s biggest zoos so we got to see lots of different animals and learn about their habitats and eating habits.

Finally, we went to Las Vegas and we went on a Papillion helicopter ride around the Grand Canyon, one of the natural wonders of the world. The view was breathtaking and it was the perfect way to end our holiday.

It was definitely one of the best summer holidays I’ve ever had. I’d recommend California as the ideal break – there is so much to see, enjoy and learn!

To find out more about California log on to www.visitcalifornia.co.uk. For Palm Springs, visit www.visitpalmsprings.com and check out the shops at www.premiumoutlet.com/deserthills. For information about Los Angeles, head to www.discoverlosangeles.com. Find Universal Studios at www.universalstudioshollywood.com and SeaWorld, San Diego at www.seaworldparks.com.