SoCalSights

By Astrid · 6 places

Show Them Why You Live Here

Where out-of-towners understand why you live here

Every December the guests arrive expecting palm trees and get handed an itinerary. These are the places I actually take people, the ones that work in winter light and need no explanation. By the second stop they have usually stopped checking their phones.

  1. Lit-up Mission Inn courtyard at night, with stacked Spanish-style balconies, arched colonnades, and red-trimmed windows wrapped in holiday lights and greenery. Guests dine below palm trees and glowing heaters, while a decorated tree and flowering vines brighten the festive courtyard.
    1

    Riverside

    Mission Inn Hotel & Spa

    From late November the Festival of Lights wraps the flying buttresses and domed towers in millions of bulbs. Go at dusk, when there is still blue in the sky behind the spires.

  2. The Botanical Building sits centered beyond a long reflecting pool, its arched glass-fronted facade and curved domed roof framed by palms and other tall trees. Bright blue sky and crisp sunlight emphasize the symmetry of the Spanish Colonial Revival design and the warm tones of the structure.
    2

    San Diego

    Balboa Park Spanish Colonial Architecture

    The El Prado promenade and the California Tower give visitors the ornate, unhurried San Diego they imagined. Cross the Cabrillo Bridge on foot in morning light for the symmetry.

  3. The white Old Point Loma Lighthouse and adjacent keeper’s house sit behind a picket fence on a flower-covered hillside, with the green-capped lantern room rising against a clear blue sky. Bright sunlight highlights the historic buildings and the U.S. flag on the right.
    3

    San Diego

    Old Point Loma Lighthouse

    An 1855 lighthouse 422 feet above the sea, with the bay, downtown, and Coronado laid out below. Winter afternoons are clear here, and the grounds close at five, so make it the day's centerpiece.

  4. Several swimmers in bikinis leap in sequence from a pale sandstone cliff into the dark blue cove, with one splash already breaking the surface below. Golden morning light highlights the cliff edge while low coastal bluffs and houses stretch across the horizon.
    4

    La Jolla

    La Jolla Cove

    Sea lions at close range against improbable turquoise water. It is the one stop that works for every age in the visiting party, and winter thins the summer crush.

  5. High above Crystal Cove, a sweeping curve of pale sand hugs the rocky coastline, with turquoise water fading into deeper blue and small offshore rocks breaking the surface. A coastal highway and cliffside homes trace the shoreline under bright, clear daylight.
    5

    Laguna Beach

    Crystal Cove State Park - Rocky Bight

    The historic cottage district feels like a film set from the 1940s because it nearly is one. Walk the tidepools with the guests, then let them wander the cottages at their own pace.

  6. Snow-dusted mountain ridges rise beyond a dense alpine forest, with dark evergreens filling the foreground and a pale winter sky overhead. A rocky outcrop and tall pines frame the right side of the wide view.
    6

    Palm Springs

    Palm Springs Aerial Tramway - Mountain Station

    Ten minutes from desert floor to alpine forest at 8,516 feet, often with snow at the top and 75 degrees at the bottom. Book tickets ahead; holiday weekends sell out.

← All lists

Next shortlist

Solitude Near Twenty Million People