California is the third biggest state in terms of land size, and is larger than many countries. Nevertheless, getting around California can be completely simple. In addition to interstates and US highways, California has one of the most expansive state highway systems in the United States. As with all travels in the United States, a car is the best way to get around and see all destinations or flying would be a more reasonable option. Many major and low fare airlines link cities within the state of California.

Vast terrain of California is associated by an extensive system of freeways, expressways, and highways. California is well-known for its car culture, giving cities of California a reputation for stern traffic congestion. Construction and maintenance of state roads and state-wide transportation planning are primarily the responsibility of the Transportation's California Department.

One of the more visible landmarks of state, the Golden Gate Bridge was realised in 1937. With its orange paint job and panoramic vista of the bay, this highway bridge is a famous tourist attraction and also accommodates pedestrians and bicyclists. It is simultaneously named like US Highway 101 which is part of the El Camino Real (Spanish for Royal Road or King's Highway), and California State Highway 1 which is also called like the Pacific Coast Highway. Another of the seven bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, completed in 1936. This bridge transports around 280,000 vehicles per day on two-decks, with its' two sections meeting at Yerba Buena Island.

The International Airports of San Francisco and Los Angeles are the most important for trans-Pacific and transcontinental traffic. There are approximately a dozen important commercial airports and many more general aviation airports through the state.

California has numerous important seaports too. The big seaport developed by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach in Southern California is the biggest in the country and responsible for handling about a fourth of all container cargo traffic in the United States. The Port of Oakland, fourth biggest in the nation, handles trade from the Pacific Rim and delivers most of the ocean containers passing through Northern California to the entire USA.

Intercity rail travel is operated by Amtrak. Los Angeles and San Francisco both have subway networks, in addition to light rail. Metrolink commuter rail runs much of Southern California, and BART and Caltrain commuter rail connect Bay Area suburbs to San Francisco. San Jose and Sacramento have light rail, and San Diego has Trolley light rail and Coaster commuter rail services. Almost all counties run bus lines, and many cities run their own bus lines too. Intercity bus travel is supplied by Greyhound and Amtrak bus services.

The quickly growing population of the state is straining all of its transportation networks. A regularly recurring issue in California politics is if the state should continue to aggressively expand its freeway network or concentrate on helping mass transit networks in urban areas.

The authority of high speed of the track of California was made in 1996 by the state to apply an wide 700 mile (1127 km) rail system.