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Just a little bit north of San Diego, La Jolla is perfect for relaxing strolls, ocean kayaking and drinks at sunset overlooking the ocean. Plan your trip in a jiffy with this guide. Get ready to escape there - now - by using this guide. If you're an Angeleno, you may already know that one of the best things about living in the City of Angels is how close it is to so many fun places to go. Whether you're visiting Los Angeles or looking to get away from this iconic city for a weekend, head to these places, all within about a 4 hours' drive.
They are listed in order from closest to furthest away. They don't have a place to stay except for a limited number of campsites , so you might say it isn't technically a place where you can go for a weekend. That doesn't make them any the less fascinating and they're only a boat ride away from Ventura. See how to make the most of your visit this guide. Find out what Ojai has to offer here. What does this mean for you? It means some of the best California weather nearly all year long. Santa Ynez Valley, home to Solvang and Los Olivos , offers plenty of fun for families and couples alike.
The Danish heritage of Solvang runs strong throughout the town making it a scenic getaway perfect for social media photos. Get more out of your trip by exploring Danish cuisine using the guide. Or head to Los Olivos for dozens of tasting rooms, art galleries, and boutiques. Plan your weekend getaway to Santa Ynez Valley with this guide.
You can also bring the beach buggies and your camper and spend the whole weekend camping out on the beach. Find out all the things to do for a day or weekend in Pismo Beach. See all the great things to do in Paso Robles. Morro Bay is a fun place for a family weekend.
You can walk around town, go to a nearby beach or learn how to kayak in the bay. It's also one of the most affordable places to go on the California coast. Check out all the fun Morro Bay has to offer. Discover what Cayucos has to offer in this guide. You can get your fill of beaches and bed and breakfast inns in this small town, a perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle.
Hearst Castle is the former home of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and now a state park. If you choose a couple of tours to take, it makes a nice short escape. Go east to the desert for your next getaway or east and then north into the mountains. You'll find the perfect retreat away from the lights and sounds of the big city. That is, in the winter when temperatures fall below the boiling point. You'll find lots of trendy places to stay while you hike in the desert, take a stroll downtown or just do visitors' favorite Palm Springs activity: Here's how to run off to Palm Springs for a day or a weekend.
Head here in November to see Leonid meteor showers. Forget Yosemite. It's too far from LA and so popular that it's hard to enjoy the views because someone else is always getting in your way. It's a little bit further from LA than the other places in this guide but well worth the trip. Share Pin Email. Half Moon Bay: Plenty of beaches for all kinds of activities, ocean kayaking, hiking, horseback riding along the coast. Wine country back roads around Healdsburg are especially popular for bicycling. Lake Shasta Houseboat Getaway: You can take your house with you anywhere on the lake and use it to go fishing, swim and just hang out.
Lake Tahoe: Snow sports in winter, water sports, mountain biking and hiking the rest of the year including the Tahoe Rim Trail. Mono County: Great, uncrowded backcountry for hiking, good lakes for boating, fishing, winter snow skiing at Mammoth.
Morro Bay: Great for kayaking in the protected bay, especially for beginners. Point Reyes and West Marin County: A big park with lots of varied terrain for hiking, good beaches, birding. Russian River: Great water play along the river Sacramento Delta Houseboat Weekend: The delta near Stockton is one of the best places for a weekend on the water.
Sequoia High Sierra Camp: Luxury camping and hiking - and easy to get to. Shasta Country: Mountain climbing is popular but not for the casual climber. Boating and fishing on Lake Shasta and lots of places to hike.
Romantic Weekends. One of California's few surviving oceanfront amusement parks and surfing in season. Still, the park did grow out of a family berry farm, which expanded over time and added more and more attractions to draw in the crowds. Ideas for Weekend Getaways to Enjoy Food and Wine Besides the places listed below, many California cities have annual or semi-annual special dining weeks and others host food and wine festivals. Desert Isle of Palm Springs. Besides its famous lighthouse, the national seashore also has some excellent beaches, one with a rare tidefall a waterfall that flows onto the beach. Santa Ynez Valley:
Snow skiing in winter. Continue to 2 of 12 below. It may be better known for its mountains-plunging-into-the-sea views, but Big Sur also has one of the state's most scenic and unusual beaches.
Cute, small and peaceful with a pretty pier. Lots of pretty beaches - and some great tide pooling spots Los Angeles: City meets sand at the Los Angeles beaches, with a busy beach scene and plenty of places to play or people-watch. Laguna Beach: Main Beach is right in the middle of town. La Jolla: A pretty town with a long, sloping beach and also some excellent tide pools. Beautiful beaches and a great places for a scenic drive, but with a few surprises, too. Newport Beach: You'll find the best bodysurfing here and a nice pier to watch the fun from.
Pismo Beach: It's so stereotypically California that you won't believe it. Besides its famous lighthouse, the national seashore also has some excellent beaches, one with a rare tidefall a waterfall that flows onto the beach. Redondo Beach: A city beach with lots of waterfront attractions and a fun pier filled with shops and places to eat.
Lots of sun and sand, an oceanfront path that's 25 miles long and nearby restaurants and shopping make Santa Monica one of LA's most popular beach destinations. San Diego: San Diego boasts California's warmest water and you'll find all kinds of beaches to choose from. Santa Barbara: The beach is right in town, ringed by an easy path and framed with palm trees.
Santa Cruz: One of California's few surviving oceanfront amusement parks and surfing in season. Continue to 3 of 12 below. Cute Towns for California Getaways Calistoga: Napa's least-visited town has an Old West feel Carmel: A grown-up artist's colony with unique architecture and hidden gardens Catalina Island: A quirky place that looks like a Mediterranean village.
A nice little beach town that's "just right. It settles into its valley like eggs into a bird's nest, giving credence to some people's contention that its name means "nest" in the Chumash Indian language. This is the quintessential beach town that we all wish we'd grown up in. You'll find some of the cutest little towns in all of California along the backroads here Santa Ynez Valley: It's got great scenery and not just one but two cute little towns, Los Olivos and Solvang. Sonoma Backroads - Sebastopol and Occidental: Almost too cute for words. Sometimes we just want to hug them.
Continue to 4 of 12 below. Family Adventures. It's Napa Valley's most laid-back town and the kids will love visiting Safari West. The kids can play on the beach, see an honest-to-goodness wild buffalo or a flying fish. Everyone's a kid at Disneyland. Gold Country in the Sierra Foothills: The kids love panning for gold at the old mines and puttering around the cute little towns.
Beaches, tide pools, family-friendly hotels and a visit to the farm. Movie stars, studio tours and a day at Universal Studios. As long as everyone in the family is comfortable on the water, a weekend in a floating house on the lake is a lot of fun. A great escape for the outdoorsy family who likes skiing, water sports, and hiking, with lots of vacation rentals where you can spread out and be comfortable. Los Angeles Beach Cities: The beach scene is fun for everyone.
Napa Valley: Besides the obvious wine and food-related activities, you can have fun getting muddy with or without the kids. Stick to the Balboa Peninsula and harbor islands for an old-fashioned time in a quiet beach town. Lots of sand to play in, on the beaches or in the dunes. Sacramento Delta Houseboat Weekend: Active families who enjoy water sports can have a ton of fun in their own floating house on the river. Our southernmost city has the most family-oriented attractions, good beaches and lots of great parks.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is great for families - and costs less than the big theme parks. The beach and the pier with an amusement park on it are great for kids of all ages. A good choice for active families who enjoy the mountains. Another good mountain getaway spot. Continue to 5 of 12 below. Food and Wine. Ideas for Weekend Getaways to Enjoy Food and Wine Besides the places listed below, many California cities have annual or semi-annual special dining weeks and others host food and wine festivals.
In Berkeley's "Gourmet Ghetto," you'll find not only legendary Chez Panisse, but also a host of gourmet shops and other great places to eat. Top-rated restaurants and award-winning chefs cluster around Healdsburg, and there's plenty of great wine, too. Lake County: Their annual summer wine festival is laid-back and inexpensive - and lots of fun, too.
Los Gatos: This homey little town at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains is a good base for exploring Santa Cruz Mountain wineries.
Paso Robles: Over wineries surround this small town. Pebble Beach: Their annual food and wine festival is a must-do event if you like either one.
Wineries are unpretentious, lots of farm stands and some wonderful restaurants San Francisco: The City by the Bay has more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than New York City, but we've also located some of its most charming neighborhood dining spots for a taste of local life. Sonoma Valley: It's all about wine and food in and around the town of Sonoma and the area boasts some great cheesemakers, too. Town of Napa: Up-and-coming downtown Napa has a bevy of exciting eateries and lots of great tasting rooms pouring wines from places too small to have their own.
Their annual Chefs and Vintners Holidays are excellent ways to learn from and hobnob with some great chefs and winemakers. Continue to 6 of 12 below. Get Away From it All. It's popular, but limited accommodations and much publicly-owned open space keeps the density down.
They only have two towns - both small - and most of the island is preserved in its natural state.