Every time I visit Yosemite, I’m completely blown away by everything there. This is such a beautiful park with picturesque scenery. We went to Yosemite in February right after our trip to Lake Tahoe, you can read about it in this blog post. On our trip decided to spent two nights in a stunning glamping, Autocamp Yosemite. This luxury, new camping is located just 30 minutes away from Yosemite National Park and it’s so charming! We were amazed by all the facility with modern-designed airstreams in this wild and peaceful scenery. The other reason why we came there, was our elopement session in Yosemite with two amazing photographers. I really loved our park visit and glamping in Autocamp! Read this post to see our adventure and what are the best things to do in Yosemite. Hope you will get inspired when planning your next adventure!

ALL THE PICTURES IN THIS BLOG POST ARE EDITED WITH MY WILD WANDERS LIGHTROOM COLLECTION

When is the best time to visit Yosemite?

Yosemite National Park is great to visit all year round, it looks totally different in each season. In the high-season and during holidays is the most crowded though. I like to visit Yosemite in shoulder season or in winter, usually it’s empty and peaceful. During our visit in February I felt like we had the Yosemite Valley just for ourselves. The only drawback to visiting during this time of year is that many trails and roads are closed due to snow. The decision is up to you, but it’s highly recommended that if you want to drive around and explore all park, the best time to do it is from May to October (all the roads will be open and accessible). Apparently, I heard that only 5% of visitors explore all the park out of the Yosemite Valley, the rest remain in there. So it shouldn’t be so crowded in other areas, even in the summer.

Glamping in AutoCamp Yosemite

Autocamp is a beautiful, boutique hotel parceled into luxurious airstreams, cabins and tents. There are many locations in California, but that one in Yosemite opened quite recently, like a year ago. Autocamp Yosemite is located in Midipines just 30 minutes away from Yosemite National Park and 10 minutes from Mariposa, small town with plenty of restaurants, bars and shops. There are shuttle services to the park, so you don’t even need a car there. You can fully relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery! In the middle of the property, next to the small lake, there is a modern clubhouse with a front desk, store, bar and outdoor swimming pool. Inside, a complementary breakfast is served every morning. Whole the facility is perfectly designed and so stylish. I love this place!

Address : 6323 CA-140, Midpines, CA 95345

Our airstream in Autocamp

When it comes to booking your favorite hotel room, you can choose between many options, depending on type of accommodation and localization in the facility. We stayed in the Classic Suite airstream. I really loved this modern, American style, like from the movies. Our room was well-designed, with a great bathroom, kitchen with a small living room and a cozy bedroom with flat-screen tv and heater/air condition. All was perfectly designed, with attention to the details. Lux robes, bath towels and shower gels/shampoos were provided. There was everything in there, a kettle, cooking set, tea, coffee and many more. Outside our airstream there was a dining area with a campfire. We loved chilling there in the nighttime and listening to frogs from the nearby pond. The staff was really kind and helpful. Such a fun experience was our stay! We booked our stay through official Autocamp website, here. Follow up on their Instagram, so you won’t miss any promotions and special offers.

What are the best things to do in Yosemite?

Hike to the top of Yosemite Falls

Yosemite National Park is home to the tallest waterfall in North America. There are actually three parts of this huge waterfall, with the total height of 739 m (2,425 feet). The most of the visitors hike the Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, but if you like hiking you can go up to the top of Yosemite Upper Fall. The hike takes around 5-6 hours both ways. Even if you don’t make it to the top, the views are still beautiful from halfway up (the pictures below were taken in the half way). There is also a nice viewpoint on your way up, Colombia Rock. You can admire from there the stunning Half Dome.

Go hiking on the Yosemite Valley trails

Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley, long for about 12 km (7,5 miles). You can see it pretty well from Tunnel View. It’s surrounded by huge granith rocks and pine forests. The valley can be really crowded in the high season, but it is really charming and beautiful. I love strolling around! In winter, it’s the most accessible part of Yosemite National Park, you can find there many walkable trails. The valley is drained by Merced River. We took these pictures during the golden hour, the light was amazing! Some of the pictures are from my previous visit in January, then it was moody and foggy.

Admire El Capital and Half Dome

These two guys are enormous, granite rocks located in Yosemite National Park. You can see them from Yosemite Valley and different view points. Some people climb up to the top of Half Dome or even El Capitan. El Capitan is a granite monolith, with 2308 m high (7,573 feet) and Half Dome is a bit bigger - it has 2695 m of height (8,844 feet).

Hike the Bridalveil Fall Trail

The Bridalveil Fall is usually the first waterfall you will see when entering to Yosemite Valley. The trail to the waterfall is easy to hike and it’s open all year round. In early spring and summer there is usually a lot of water and the spray is so strong, so you can get wet!

Watch the sunset from Tunnel View

This is my favorite view point to watch the sunset in Yosemite. From this place, you can see El Capitan on the left and Half Dome in the backdrop. We took there some pictures here during our Yosemite Elopement photoshoot, the views were amazing and the pics turned out great! I think that the sun in the summer sets from a different angle and the lightning is better there.

Eat dinner in Savoury’s Restaurant in Mariposa

When it comes to food, I’m such a food love and I can’t imagine a great trip without delicious dinner in the end of the day full of adventures. We went to Savoury’s Restaurant in Mariposa, it was such a great surprise. The place was so stylish and the food was delicious, we totally loved this place. We started with a cesar salad. Then we had the salmon and the duck with potatoes and veggies. For a dessert, we shared the chocolate cake. You chould definitely visit this restaurant!

Jeśli chodzi o jedzenie, jestem smakoszem i uwielbiam zjeść pyszne jedzenie po całym dniu przygód i zwiedzania. Podczas naszej podróży do Yosemite, wybraliśmy się do restauracji Savoury’s w Mariposie, była to bardzo miła niespodzianka. Miejsce wyglądało nowocześnie i stylowo (jak na amerykańskie standardy), jedzenie przepyszne i się nim najedliśmy. Generalnie świetne miejsce z dobrym jedzonkiem. Zaczęliśmy od sałatki cezar, później ja wzięłam łososia, a Damian pierś z kaczki, obie porcje z ziemniaczkami i warzywami. Na deser podzieliliśmy się czekoladowym ciastem. Koniecznie powinniście odwiedzić to miejsce!

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