Orange County
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…
Must-see attractions in Southern California
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
Prepare for a sensory overload on Venice's Boardwalk, a one-of-a-kind experience. Buff bodybuilders brush elbows with street performers and sellers of…
San Diego
Next to the new Waterfront Park, this collection of 11 historic sailing ships, steam boats and submarines is easy to spot: just look for the 100ft-high…
Greater Palm Springs
Palm Springs has long been famous a celebrity playground, but few destinations in the valley better exemplify that pedigree than Sunnylands, the retreat…
Death Valley National Park
Not many national park features can say they were celebrated in a 1969 film of the same name, but Zabriskie Point claims that honor thanks to director…
Death Valley National Park
Dante's View is an overlook that sits perched at 5475ft atop the Black Mountains, affording stunning panoramic views of the entire southern Death Valley…
San Diego
It's easy to spend an hour in this heartfelt museum of surf artifacts, from a timeline of surfing history to surf-themed art and a radical collection of…
Joshua Tree National Park
High atop the Little San Bernardino Mountains, Keys View offers panoramic views of the whole Coachella Valley spread out like a picnic blanket. On clear…
Greater Palm Springs
Art fans should not miss this museum and its changing exhibitions drawn from a stellar collection of international modern and contemporary painting,…
Santa Barbara
California's ‘Queen of the Missions’ reigns above the city on a hilltop perch more than a mile north of downtown. Its imposing Ionic facade, an…
Malibu & Pacific Palisades
Stunningly perched on an ocean-view hillside, this museum in a replica 1st-century Roman villa is an exquisite, 64-acre showcase for Greek, Roman and…
Orange County
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…
Los Angeles
The three 'Gothic' spires of the fabulous Watts Towers rank among the world’s greatest monuments of folk art. In 1921 Italian immigrant Simon Rodia set…
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
San Diego
On the site of San Diego's first European settlement, Old Town consists of a cluster of restored or rebuilt historic 19th-century buildings filled with…
Greater Palm Springs
This rotating cable car climbs nearly 6000ft vertically and covers five different vegetation zones, from the Sonoran desert floor to pine-scented Mt San…
Orange County
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,…
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Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
Abbot Kinney, who founded Venice in the early 1900s, would probably be delighted to find that one of Venice’s best-loved streets bears his name. Sort of a…
San Diego
This interactive children’s museum offers interactive art meant for kids. Installations are designed by artists, so tykes can learn principles of movement…
Santa Barbara
This next-gen science museum is an interactive treasure trove of exhibits and experiences related to sound, technology, speed, light and color that are…
San Diego
A couple blocks east of Petco Park, the city's recent landmark is a beauty. Crowned by a steel-and-mesh dome, the futuristic, nine-story library features…
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
Santa Barbara
Built in Spanish-Moorish Revival style in 1929, the courthouse features hand-painted ceilings, wrought-iron chandeliers and tiles from Tunisia and Spain…
Greater Palm Springs
This amazing animal park showcases desert plants and animals alongside exhibits on regional geology and Native American culture. Highlights include a walk…
Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum
Joshua Tree National Park
The 'Junk Dada' sculptures and installations of African American artist Noah Purifoy (1917–2004) are collected by the world's finest museums, but some of…
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Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
Even many Angelenos have no idea that just a couple of blocks from the Boardwalk madness is an idyllic neighborhood that preserves 3 miles of Abbot Kinney…
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Joshua Tree National Park
This striking rock labyrinth extends roughly from Indian Cove in the north to Park Blvd in the south and is predictably a popular rock climbers' haunt…
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Malibu & Pacific Palisades
Arguably Malibu’s most stunning beach, where you park on the bluffs and stroll down a trail to sandstone rock towers that rise from emerald coves. Topless…
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Death Valley National Park
The most accessible dunes in Death Valley are an undulating sea of sand rising up to 100ft high next to the highway near Stovepipe Wells Village. They're…
Los Angeles
Top billing at the Science Center goes to the Space Shuttle Endeavour, one of only four space shuttles nationwide, but there's plenty else to see at this…
San Diego
This justifiably famous zoo is one of SoCal’s biggest attractions, showing more than 3000 animals representing more than 650 species in a beautifully…
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
Opened in San Diego in 1964, SeaWorld became one of California’s most popular theme parks. Visitors shuttle between aquatic-themed rides, animal…
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,…
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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…
Will Rogers State Historic Park
Malibu & Pacific Palisades
This park sprawls across ranch land once owned by Will Rogers (1875–1935), an Oklahoma-born cowboy turned humorist, radio-show host and movie star (in the…
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…
San Diego
In 1769 Padre Junípero Serra and Gaspar de Portolá established the first Spanish settlement in California overlooking the valley of the San Diego River…
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…
