Must-see attractions in Orange County

  • Top Choice
    Knott’s Berry Farm

    What started as a simple berry farm is now a sprawling 160-acre operation with rides, live shows and lovable Peanuts characters roaming the grounds. Knott…

  • Top Choice
    Mission San Juan Capistrano

    Famous for its swallows that fly back to town every year on March 19 (though sometimes they’re just a bit early), San Juan Capistrano is home to the …

  • Top Choice
    Bowers Museum

    From its stately, Spanish Colonial–style shell, the Bowers Museum explodes onto the scene every year or so with remarkable exhibits that remind LA-centric…

  • Top Choice
    Discovery Cube

    Follow the giant 10-story cube – balanced on one of its points – to the county's best educational kiddie attraction. About 100 hands-on displays await,…

  • Top Choice
    Soarin' Around the World

    After checking in at the Grizzly Peak Airfield, fasten your seat belt and take off (as if hang gliding) before a giant, 80ft projection screen that really…

  • Top Choice
    Hyperspace Mountain

    Formerly known as Space Mountain, Tomorrowland’s signature attraction (and one of the USA’s best roller coasters), has been given a Star Wars–themed…

  • Top Choice
    California Screamin'

    Paradise Pier's state-of-the-art roller coaster resembles an old wooden coaster, but it’s got a smooth-as-silk steel track: it feels like you’re being…

  • Top Choice
    Radiator Springs Racers

    This race-car ride bumps and jumps around a track painstakingly decked out like the Great American West. FastPass accepted.

  • Top Choice
    Orange County Museum of Art

    This engaging museum highlights California art and cutting-edge contemporary artists, with exhibitions rotating through two large spaces. Recent…

  • Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve

    You'd be forgiven for overlooking Bolsa Chica, at least on first glance. Against a backdrop of nodding oil derricks, this flat expanse of wetlands doesn't…

  • Huntington City Beach

    One of SoCal’s best beaches, the sand surrounding the pier at the foot of Main St gets packed on summer weekends with surfers, volleyball players,…

  • Bolsa Chica State Beach

    A 3-mile-long strip of sand favored by surfers, volleyball players and fishers, Bolsa Chica State Beach stretches alongside Pacific Coast Hwy between…

  • Huntington Beach Pier

    The 1853ft Huntington Pier is one of the West Coast's longest. It has been here – in one form or another – since 1904, though the mighty Pacific has…

  • Disney California Adventure

    Disneyland resort's larger but less crowded park, Disney California Adventure celebrates the natural and cultural glories of the Golden State but lacks…

  • Balboa Peninsula

    Four miles long but less than a half-mile wide, the Balboa Peninsula has a white-sand beach on its ocean side and countless stylish homes, including the…

  • Crystal Cove State Park

    A few miles of open beach and 2400 acres of undeveloped woodland at this state park let you forget you're in a crowded metropolitan area, at least once…

  • Cars Land

    This land gets kudos for its incredibly detailed design based on the popular Disney Pixar Cars movies. Top billing goes to the wacky Radiator Springs…

  • it's a small world

    An iconic Disneyland attraction (for better or for worse), this indoor boat ride takes you past hundreds of audio-animatronic children from different…

  • Sleeping Beauty Castle

    At the far end of Main Street USA, Sleeping Beauty Castle is an obligatory photo op and most recognizable landmark. Its towering blue turrets, loosely…

  • Anaheim Packing District

    The Anaheim Packing District launched in 2013 around a long shuttered 1925 Packard dealership and the 1919 orange packing house a couple miles from…