California attractions

At 48 square blocks, Little Italy San Diego is one of the largest Little Italy districts in the United States. Once home to Italian fishing families, it’s now a lively and walkable neighborhood that’s filled with restaurants, cafés, wine bars, and craft brewpubs. This trendy district also has upscale boutiques, art galleries, boutique hotels, and live music venues, so there’s far more to experience than just its delicious food and drink.

Established in 1769, Old Town San Diego is the site of California's first European settlement, earning it the nickname "the birthplace of California." Highlights include Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, with its preserved adobe buildings and living-history demonstrations, such as blacksmithing, showcasing the city’s evolution from Kumeyaay village to Mexican pueblo to American settlement. The area is also home to restaurants, shops, and live entertainment.

One of San Francisco’s prettiest neighborhoods, the Marina District enjoys a prime perch on San Francisco Bay with pastel-colored, low-rise architecture, stylish shops, and upscale restaurants. Surrounded on three sides by either green space or water, the area draws active locals who enjoy walking, running, and biking with bay views.

Universal Studios Hollywood™ is home to one of the world's oldest continuously operating movie studios—and the first in Hollywood to offer tours to the public. It’s also a theme park, presenting a mix of thrill rides and live-action shows based on popular films and TV series, plus a tour of the studio lots. Designed for all ages, the theme park allows you to immerse yourself in the cinematic universes of Harry Potter,Despicable Me, and more.

Tunnel View is the most visited scenic overlook in Yosemite and the site of Ansel Adams’ famous shot. When driving into Yosemite National Park from the south, Tunnel View offers your first glimpse into Yosemite Valley. At the end of a tunnel, a magical valley is revealed, with towering granite peaks and domes, and waterfalls spilling over cliffs.

In the middle of sprawling Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo contains a whole world within its miniaturized biomes. From the gorillas roaming the rainforest to the polar bears splashing in their icy pond, the open-air enclosures create an immersive experience, allowing you to see the animals in an environment that's close to their natural habitat.

Closely associated with LGBTQ culture, San Francisco’s vibrant, brash Castro district is a lively neighborhood of shops, bars, rainbow flags, and hilly streets lined with impressively restored Victorian homes. Harvey Milk—California’s first openly gay elected official—was a famous Castro resident, honored here with Harvey Milk Plaza.

Traveling the length of California's 17-Mile Drive, said to be one of the world's most scenic routes, is an essential Central Coast experience. Looping around the Monterey Peninsula, the private toll road offers stellar views of Monterey Bay and passes popular attractions such as the Lone Cypress, Bird Rock, the Del Monte Forest, and the famous Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The home to San Francisco’s hipster scene and the hub of the city’s Latin community, the Mission District is one of the city’s most interesting neighborhoods. It’s known for its outstanding and diverse food scene, buzzing nightlife hot spots, and a scenic park that’s a popular weekend hangout for locals.

A wide swath of beach in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area backed by restored wetlands is just part of Crissy Field’s story. An integral part of San Francisco’s waterfront, Crissy Field hosts a yacht harbor, a tidal marsh, and Crissy Promenade—a popular bike and pedestrian path that climbs from the beach to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

Sitting just below the Golden Gate Bridge on the very northern tip of San Francisco, Fort Point National Historic Site was built in the mid-1800s to guard the entrance to San Francisco Bay during the Gold Rush. Today, the small site can be explored on foot and provides a fantastic vantage point of the bridge and bay.

Home to San Francisco’s main governmental offices, Civic Center is a central gathering spot for visitors to major museums and performing arts venues. The tree-lined UN Plaza leads to the impressive gold-leaf dome of City Hall while surrounding Beaux Arts-style buildings invite you to stroll around the square or buy tickets to a show.

El Capitan is the largest exposed-granite monolith in the world and among the most popular rock-climbing destinations in the US. Rising 3,593 feet (1095 meters) above Yosemite Valley, El Capitan was once considered impossible to climb. However, since Warren Harding first conquered the "nose" in 1958, El Capitan has become the standard for big-wall climbing.

A popular stop for locals and visitors alike, Seaport Village sits directly on San Diego Bay and it’s known for being a great spot for shopping, dining, and entertainment. This buzzing harborside complex has a village-style layout and features waterfront dining options, boutiques, specialty shops, and outdoor performers. Whether you’re riding the carousel, browsing shops, or enjoying a meal by the water, it’s an easy place to slow down and soak up the harbor atmosphere.

On a busy downtown street corner, the Walt Disney® Concert Hall's twisted-metal landmark building bursts from the Los Angeles cityscape. Designed by Frank Gehry and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, the building's interior features walls and a ceiling finished with Douglas fir and unparalleled sound, making it a must-see attraction for lovers of music and architecture.

Thanks to its year-round summer weather, miles of sandy beaches, and enviable waves, Huntington Beach’s moniker is Surf City USA. Luckily for non-surfers, you don’t need to be good on a board to appreciate this quintessential Southern California beach town. Take a sunset walk along the iconic Huntington Beach Pier, and you’ll see why even short-term visitors can’t help but acclimate to the city’s laid-back lifestyle.

Perched high above Los Angeles, the Getty Center pairs world-class art with stunning views of the city and the ocean. Its collection spans from the 1400s to today, with pre-20th-century European paintings, manuscripts, and sculptures, and 19th and 20th-century works by masters such as Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Cézanne. Outside, the Central Garden features sculptures, cacti, winding paths, and water features.

What began as the headquarters of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory in the 1890s is now a multilevel retail square across the street from San Francisco’s Aquatic Park. Instantly recognizable by its clock tower and large Ghirardelli sign—both popular photo ops—the red-brick complex is a destination for waterfront dining, shopping, and sampling chocolate.

Rising more than 900 feet (274 meters) above San Francisco, Twin Peaks provides a panoramic view of the city and beyond. On clear days, you can see for miles from these two hills, taking in the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Alcatraz, downtown San Francisco, and Berkeley, Oakland, and Sausalito across San Francisco Bay.

With bright turquoise waters owing to Lake Tahoe’s clarity, there’s no question where Emerald Bay got its name—but it’s a gem in other ways, too. It is also home to the lake’s only islet, Fanette Island, while the eponymous state park, centered on the bay, draws visitors in the summer to boat, swim, and hike down a forested trail to the sheltered cove.

Tuolumne Grove is one of three giant sequoia groves in Yosemite National Park, the other two being Merced and Mariposa. It’s home to two dozen towering sequoia trees reachable via a short hike along Old Big Flat Road. The grove is also home to the Dead Giant Tunnel Tree, which has a car-sized tunnel cut through the middle. (Cars, however, can no longer drive through.)

Despite being one of the driest, hottest, and lowest places in the United States, Death Valley National Park—on the border of California and Nevada—is not as ominous as it sounds. Comprising otherworldly landscapes, from volcanic hills and snowcapped mountains to dunes and badlands, the area is also home to plenty of wildlife, including bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, and jackrabbits. The park also protects the largest wilderness area in the contiguous US, which measures over 3,190,400 acres (1,291,100 hectares).

The Capitol Records Building has been one of the most recognizable features of the Hollywood skyline since its construction in 1956. Distinguished by its cylindrical shape, the 13-story skyscraper hosts the Capitol Studios, where the likes of Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, and Nat King Cole have all recorded music.

Located on the northern edge of the city right on the waters of San Francisco Bay, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is the perfect place to immerse yourself in the maritime history of the West Coast. Attractions include the Maritime Museum, two piers, a visitor center, and a fleet of historic ships.

A drive on at least one portion of this iconic road should be a part of any first-time visit to Los Angeles. Built largely in 1924 as the scenic highway it remains today, Mulholland (as it’s locally known) offers unparalleled views of the L.A. Basin, San Fernando Valley, the Hollywood Sign and more.

The largest art museum in the western United States, the size of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is matched by the breadth of its collection. Home to more than 120,000 objects dating from antiquity to the present, representing every part of the world, the museum’s collection encompasses nearly the entire history of art.

One of Los Angeles’ most storied music venues, Whisky a Go Go has welcomed rock ‘n’ roll fans since 1964. Located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, the nightclub is often called “the first real American discotheque.” Over the decades, it has hosted legends ranging from Jimi Hendrix and The Doors to Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin.

Oxbow Public Market—with dozens of restaurants, food stalls, and shops—brings the bounty of Napa’s famed wine, food, and organic produce under a single roof. Open all day, it’s a one-stop shop for great food, to quickly experience the best of Napa Valley, or relax for a moment at this local gathering place before exploring the region.

In downtown San Diego's East Village, Petco Park is best known for being the home of the Padres. This modern stadium—which was built in 2004—features open-air concourses and beautiful views of the city skyline. Visitors come here for baseball games and behind-the-scenes tours, as well as to attend concerts and events throughout the year.

Just over the hills from coastal Santa Barbara lie the Santa Ynez Valley and the Danish-style town of Solvang. Founded in 1911 by a group of Danish teachers, small Solvang (Danish for "sunny field") is now a bustling cultural destination, ripe with wine-tasting rooms, bakeries turning out aebleskivers, and all sorts of quirky shops. Downtown's windmills and half-timbered buildings give it a fairy-tale look—fitting since the Hans Christian Andersen Museum is a top attraction.