When the hubby first moved to California years ago before we were even married, I never imagined that I would one day live in the United States. But now over 20 years later, we’ve been here now nearly half my life and California is still one of the places we visit often and it’s a really easy trip from Seattle. Because I’ve written a lot about California travel over the years, and we usually visit a few times a year, I thought I’d link all the posts here so they’re easier to find and I’ll update them when we visit again too.
Northern California Travel
Marin County- we stayed in Marin County one visit and there was a ferry near our hotel that went to San Francisco too. This was a great home base to visit Heath Ceramics where we booked a factory tour.
San Francisco-we’ve been to the city many times with the kids. Our first time was for a mini Alt Summit so the hubby and kids had many adventures alone while I was at the conference. We also read a lot of books before our first visit.
Central California Coast Travel
Oxnard: just 60 miles from LAX this is a hidden gem. We stay at the Hilton Zachari Dunes on Mandalay Beach and it’s a really beautiful hotel with lots of amenities on property and nearby. It is also a great home base if you are headed to the Channel Islands.
Santa Barbara: this place has beautiful beaches and so many cafes and coffee shops and its own airport too (with direct flights from Seattle). We were hosted by Visit Santa Barbara at the Best Western Plus and it had a great apartment suite for families.
Southern California Travel
Dana Point- We stayed here because we had a book 2 nights get 1 night free room deal with our Amex card. The Waldorf Astoria at Monarch Beach has its own private beach with a tram that takes you there. It also has bike rentals that we enjoyed and it is about 15 minutes from San Juan Capistrano which is a really beautiful place to visit too.
Disneyland and Legoland– we finally visited Disneyland for the first time in years. We went a few times when the kids were small but they were scared of the rides and often loved Legoland more. We just visited Disneyland recently (and days after we visited they raised some prices too!) but I now have tips if you’re headed to Disneyland last minute especially with teenagers and we found out it is worth it to check about Universal Studios as well because they had a buy one day get one free promotion when we were visiting as well. We almost booked a VIP tour of Disneyland too, but decided against it and I think we saved ourselves a lot of money.
Downtown Los Angeles- I went to Mom2.0 in 2022 and had a solo trip in Downtown Los Angeles. I’ve wanted to see the Last Bookstore for so long so this was a really awesome part of staying downtown. I stayed at a hotel with the craziest elevator system I’ve ever experienced so I’ve included some tips if you ever stay there too.
Hollywood- My dreamiest blogging experience ever was a trip to Hollywood thanks to Sonic the Movie. We stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt and it was in such a cool location and the pool is an iconic piece of art. There also was an In N Out right next door. This will forever be our best part of 2020.
Orange County alone and with kids: I worked with Orange County tourism and Visit California and went on a FAM trip where the participants each got to drive to and experience different parts of Orange Country, Irvine and Newport Beach. This is where I finally saw Noguchi Garden ( an almost ‘secret’ garden) for the first time. I also got to go to Tanaka Farms which had a Hello Kitty collaboration at the time. Orange County is known for Disneyland but there are so many other places to visit in that area too.
Joshua Tree – we rented last minute through Airbnb and still got a fabulous place to stay. We were trying to visit Palm Springs but it was really crowded. And then we ended up loving Joshua Tree we didn’t make it there on this visit. We found good food, beautiful scenery and a really relaxing and peaceful time. We visited in April and it was a really pleasant time to go.
Imperial Beach- this was a fun visit years ago and we found it randomly through an Expedia search. There was a beautiful nature preserve and brewery near our hotel too.
Palm Springs: when this place gets a little less trendy I want to visit again. I love their art museum, and all the restaurants and shops. There is good hiking and lots of fun things to see in the area too.
Santa Monica California: we had a flight delay and ended up booking at Shutters on the Beach with late checkout using our Amex card and this felt like two days in one.
San Diego: this is still one of our favorite spots to be in California even though we haven’t been to the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park in so long. I love this children’s museum for kids in San Diego and it was the last place we visited before the world shut down in 2020 (and my kids are now too old to go which is a very sad thing). October has traditionally been a “kids get in free month” for many museums and attractions in San Diego so make sure you check for this if you’re headed to the area.
Have you been to California? And do you have any favorite places there or California travel tips too?
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)