Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Everything from free lunchtime yoga to music concerts and long days of lounging and people-watching takes place at this preened Downtown park, cascading…
Must-see attractions in Southern California
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Cut flowers at cut-rate prices are the lure here, where a few dollars gets you armloads of Hawaiian ginger or sweet roses, a potted plant or elegant…
Arthur B Ripley Desert Woodland State Park
The Deserts
The Mojave Desert is one of the few places on earth where you see the Joshua tree, which is actually a type of yucca. This park protects the few stands…
San Diego
A few miles east of central Encinitas, this institute lets spectators be present at the creation of art. A changing lineup of artists in residence take…
Santa Barbara County
Head down from the low cliffs to enjoy swimming (confident bathers only), surfing and fishing from this pebbly beach, overlooked by native sycamore and…
Death Valley National Park
Just north of Furnace Creek, a 0.5-mile interpretive trail follows in the footsteps of late-19th-century Chinese laborers and through the adobe ruins of…
San Diego
As you head northward toward Hillcrest consider a detour across the 375ft Spruce St Footbridge. Note that the 1912 suspension bridge, built over a deep…
Santa Ynez Valley
Need a break from boozing? This petite art museum exhibits rotating nature-themed paintings and photography that aim to inspire you to go hiking in the…
Long Beach & San Pedro
This Cold War–era Soviet submarine is moored alongside the Queen Mary. As you scramble around, imagine how 78 crew shared 27 bunks and two bathrooms,…
Long Beach & San Pedro
If you enjoy clambering around old ships, visit this museum vessel that sailed the seven seas from 1945 to 1971. Self-guided tours take in the engine room…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Founded as La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles (Our Lady the Queen of the Angels Church) in 1781, and now affectionately known as la…
Coastal Orange County
Operated by the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, this board-and-batten construction cottage in the Los Rios Historic District shows off 1880s-era…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
MOCA Grand is dwarfed by the soaring California Plaza office towers. The outdoor water-court amphitheater is host to Grand Performances, which is one of…
Death Valley National Park
A rusted Chevy parked next to antique gas pumps and other flotsam and jetsam from yesteryear are the highlights of this quirky place, so don't fret if…
San Diego
Built in 1887, this grand property was the last home of inventor Henry Timken, one of the first people to add roller bearings to railroad cars. It is a…
Joshua Tree National Park
An old lime-green photo booth is the home of Bunny, Buddy and hundreds of their crocheted friends collected by Shari Elf. The artist, singer, fashion…
Santa Barbara
From touch tanks full of tide-pool critters and crawl-through aquariums to whale sing-alongs, this place is interactive, educational and bound to keep the…
Disneyland Resort
Here Disney animators demonstrate the process of animation in the Animation Academy, and hands-on attractions in the Sorcerer's Workshop let kids (and…
Death Valley National Park
This viewpoint peers deep into Rainbow Canyon, created by lava flows and scattered with multihued volcanic cinders. It's worth a quick stop on your way in…
San Diego
To stretch your legs after visiting the ridgetop Palomar Observatory, nearby Palomar Mountain State Park has forested hikes along panoramic-view trails…
Malibu & Pacific Palisades
The 31-room home where cowboy-turned-entertainer and humanitarian Will Rogers lived from 1928 until his untimely death in 1935 opens for tours. It's in…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Follow the red lanterns to the small 1890 Garnier Building, once the unofficial Chinatown ‘city hall'. Changing exhibits highlight various historical,…
Greater Palm Springs
Discover how the well-to-do lived in the pioneer days at this 1893 house built of railroad ties. Aside from antique furniture, items displayed in the…
Elverhøj Museum of History & Art
Santa Ynez Valley
South of downtown, tucked away on a residential side street, this delightful little museum has modest but thoughtful exhibits on Solvang’s Danish heritage…
Huntington Beach
To date, some 65 surfing legends have left their hand- and footprints in the concrete of this sidewalk, styled after Grauman's Chinese Theatre in…
The Deserts
Barstow's Main St is well known for its history-themed murals that spruce up often empty and boarded-up buildings. Pick up a map at the Chamber of…
Los Angeles to Barstow
This supposedly haunted hotel built in 1925 sports elaborate Mayan Revival–style detail and once housed a speakeasy where Hollywood celebs knocked 'em…
San Diego
The opulent former home of California Governor Robert Whitney Waterman was built in 1889. It has an ornate porch and a tower. It's a private residence, so…
The Deserts
Pan for gold and be regaled with tales of the hardscrabble life of the town’s early pioneers during an hour-long underground tour through the former Eagle…
Los Angeles to Barstow
Near Twin Peaks, this tower was was built in 1934 and named for a local strawberry farm. To get there, take Hwy 18 to Rim Forest, turn north on Bear…
Santa Barbara County
Tells the story of Santa Paula’s ‘black bonanza’ with modest historical exhibits that include an authentic 1890s drilling rig. It's free though a donation…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Rodeo Dr is home to Frank Lloyd Wright's 1953 commercial-residential creation Anderton Court. The complex features an angular ramp leading up and around a…
Los Feliz & Griffith Park
Just east of Travel Town is this group of local folks with a passion for scale-model locomotives. On Sunday afternoons they offer rides on their one…
Death Valley National Park
In the north, Hwy 190 ends at a landscape shaped by a cluster of craters, of which Ubehebe is the largest. Its younger brother, Little Hebe, is a short…
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Disneyland Resort
On this tame, four-minute ride, you board a six-person beehive to see the life of Pooh Bear and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. If ever a ride was…
Santa Barbara County
Fishing, swimming (lifeguards on duty) and enjoying the views out to the Channel Islands are the best things to do at this narrow beach, 20 miles west of…
Disneyland Resort
One of Disneyland's original rides from 1955, the Mississippi River–style paddle-wheeler Mark Twain Riverboat offers a relaxing cruise on the Rivers of…
Santa Ynez Valley
Locals gather for afternoon drinks and food at Toccata. The cosy and friendly downtown Solvang winery specializes in Italian varietals and robust Tuscan…
Monsters, Inc: Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Disneyland Resort
Slow-speed chase through Monstropolis to get the little girl Boo back to her home, helped by Mike and Sulley from the Disney Pixar film Monsters, Inc.
San Diego
At the end of 15th St, this park abuts the beach and overlooks the ocean. This little stretch of well-groomed lawn is a community hub and perfect for a…
