Disneyland Resort
Inspired by mining during the gold rush era, this train-style roller coaster takes you through Big Thunder ghost town, under waterfalls, escaping a…
Must-see attractions in Southern California
Disneyland Resort
On this classic, original Disneyland ride from 1955, exotic audio-animatronic animals from the Amazon, Ganges, Nile and Irrawaddy Rivers jump out and…
Long Beach & San Pedro
This blocks-long stretch of 4th St is a fab destination for retro fashion, fun cafes and restaurants and an awesome art-house theater.
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
Perhaps Venice's signature mural, it depicts an updated version of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, painted by Rip Cronk in 1989.
San Diego
A fantasy environment built largely of those little colored plastic blocks from Denmark. Many rides and attractions are targeted to elementary schoolers:…
San Diego
One of the world's most iconic hotels, ‘The Del’ is an all-timber whitewashed architectural fantasy complete with conical towers, cupolas, turrets,…
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Dinos to diamonds, bears to beetles, hissing roaches to African elephants – this museum will take you around the world and back, through millions of years…
Mission & Pacific Beaches Boardwalk
San Diego
Central San Diego's best beach scene is concentrated in a narrow strip of land between the ocean and Mission Bay. There's great people-watching along the…
San Diego
Atop a steep hill at the tip of the peninsula, this is San Diego’s finest locale for history, views and nature walks. It’s also the best place in town to…
Death Valley National Park
An opera house in the middle of nowhere? Yes, thanks to the vision of New York dancer Marta Beckett who fell in love with the 1920s colonnaded adobe…
Los Feliz & Griffith Park
Oil heiress Aline Barnsdall commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design this hilltop arts complex and residence in 1919. With its central courtyard, porches…
University of California, Los Angeles
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Founded in 1919, the alma mater of Jim Morrison, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Jackie Robinson ranks among the nation’s top universities. The campus is vast:…
San Diego
Just east of Mission and Pacific Beaches is this 7-sq-mile playground, with 27 miles of shoreline and 90 acres of parks on islands, coves and peninsulas…
San Diego
Balboa Park is a 1200-acre space with 17 museums and cultural institutions, including key attractions San Diego History Center, San Diego Air & Space…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Known for inducing bouts of real-estate envy, this Tudor Revival mansion dates back to 1927. Hoover Dam architect Gordon Bernie Kaufmann designed the…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Built on the site of LA’s original Chinatown, Union Station opened in 1939 as America’s last grand rail station. It’s a glamorous exercise in Mission…
Santa Barbara
Small (so it's perfect for young kids) Santa Barbara Zoo has 146 species covering all creatures great and small, including several not found in many other…
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá
San Diego
Padre Junípero Serra founded the first of California's 21 missions in 1769 on Presidio Hill near present-day Old Town but, five years later, it was moved…
Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum
Orange County
The Nixon Library offers a fascinating walk though America’s modern history and that of this controversial native son of Orange County (1913–94), who…
San Diego
In an upcycled Santa Fe Depot baggage building, this well-respected museum presents changing exhibits drawn from a collection spanning the arc of artistic…
San Diego
Balboa Park includes a number of gardens, reflecting different horticultural styles and environments, including Alcazar Garden, a formal, Spanish-style…
Hollywood
Big Bird, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and Aretha Franklin are among the more than 2600 stars of big and small screens and the music industry being sought out…
South Bay Beaches
Arching from the bottom of Torrance Blvd all the way to King Harbor, this classic 1960s multilevel beast is the Redondo hub, with plenty of pierside…
Santa Barbara
The southern end of State St gives way to Stearns Wharf, a rough wooden pier lined with souvenir shops, snack stands and seafood shacks. Built in 1872, it…
San Diego
Just north of the pier, near the end of Newport Ave, is the beach scene’s epicenter, with volleyball courts and sunset barbecues. Further north on Dog…
Newport Beach
On the harbor side of Balboa Peninsula, the Fun Zone has delighted locals and visitors since 1936. There’s a small Ferris wheel (where Ryan and Marissa…
San Diego
Pride of place in SDMA's permanent collection goes to its Spanish old masters (El Greco, Goya) and a respectable selection of works by other international…
Santa Barbara
On the harborfront, this jam-packed two-story exhibition celebrates Santa Barbara's briny history with nautical artifacts, memorabilia and hands-on…
San Diego
Housed in the iconic 1915 California Building, this anthropological museum is packed with exhibits hopscotching from ancient Egypt to local Kumeyaay…
Santa Barbara
Take a soul-satisfying jaunt around this 40-acre botanic garden, devoted to California’s native flora. Miles of partly wheelchair-accessible trails…
South Bay Beaches
If Manhattan Beach had its own magazine, it would surely be called Gorgeous Living. Classy beachside cottages, bougainvillea-lined walk streets, bustling…
San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego
The 'Nat' houses 7.5 million specimens, including rocks, minerals, fossils and taxidermied animals, as well as an impressive dinosaur skeleton and an eye…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Debuting in 1893, the Bradbury is one of the city's undisputed architectural jewels. Behind its robust Romanesque facade lies a whimsical galleried atrium…
San Diego
A top pick in Balboa Park, this hands-on science museum features interactive displays, including a room geared to the milk-tooth set. Look out for…
San Diego
This old-style family amusement park has been a Mission Beach fixture since 1925. The star attraction is the Giant Dipper, a classic wooden roller coaster…
Newport Beach
In the middle of the harbor sits the island that time forgot. Its streets are still largely lined with tightly clustered cottages built in the 1920s and …
San Diego
Take a walk on the 'wild' side at this 1800-acre open-range zoo, sibling of the San Diego Zoo, in the suburban San Pasqual Valley. Giraffes graze, lions…
Joshua Tree National Park
Looking like an 1870s frontier town, Pioneertown was actually built in 1946 as a Hollywood Western movie set. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were among the…
Disneyland Resort
If you like carnival rides, you’ll love Paradise Pier, designed to look like a combination of all the beachside amusement piers in California. The state…
Disneyland Resort
How did 1950s imagineers envision the future? As a galaxy-minded community filled with monorails, rockets and Googie-style architecture, apparently. In…
