Santa Rosa is the biggest city in Sonoma County, and it works as two trips in one: a walkable small city with a Peanuts museum, a historic railroad district, and one of the most famous brewpubs in America — and a base camp for redwoods, Russian River Valley wine country, Read more…
Just 45 minutes south of San Francisco, the San Mateo coast trades city noise for fog, farm stands, and wide-open beaches. This Half Moon Bay travel guide covers everything you need to plan a visit: the best beaches, tidepools, harbor dining, where to stay, a 1-day itinerary, and the practical Read more…
This Berkeley travel guide covers one of the East Bay’s most rewarding cities: set between the Berkeley Hills and the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley packs a world-class university, hilltop parks, a working marina, and a legendary food scene into a compact, walkable city. Whether you’re planning a Berkeley day trip Read more…
This Oakland travel guide is for anyone who’s wondered what’s across the Bay Bridge. Oakland rewards curious travelers with a lake in the middle of the city, a world-class museum of all things California, a working waterfront, redwoods in the hills, and some of the best food in the Bay Read more…
San Jose is the heart of Silicon Valley — and one of the most underrated weekend trips in Northern California. This San Jose travel guide covers the best things to do, from the labyrinthine Winchester Mystery House to the hands-on Tech Interactive, plus where to stay, how to get around, Read more…
Just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco sits a waterfront town that feels like a different country: Sausalito. Mediterranean-style hillsides, houseboats that look like art, a promenade with skyline views — and a working hydraulic model of the entire San Francisco Bay. This Sausalito travel guide is written Read more…
Welcome to this Santa Monica travel guide. Santa Monica is the beach town most people picture when they think of California: miles of wide sandy beach, a historic amusement pier over the Pacific, and a walkable downtown about 8 miles from LAX. If you are planning your first visit, this Read more…
Mono Lake is the strangest, most beautiful stop on California’s Highway 395 corridor. This Mono Lake guide covers everything you need: the tufa towers at South Tufa, the birds and brine shrimp behind the lake’s wildlife spectacle, where to swim and launch a kayak, and the perfect add-on — the Read more…
Ventura sits where Southern California’s surf-town era refuses to fade: a working harbor, a wooden pier from 1872, a mission from 1782, and the main jumping-off point for Channel Islands National Park, about an hour north of Los Angeles on the 101. This Ventura travel guide is for first-time visitors Read more…
The Salton Sea is California’s strangest lake — a shimmering inland sea about 34 miles long, sitting 230 feet below sea level in the desert of Imperial and Riverside counties, ringed by abandoned resort towns, a technicolor art mountain, and one of North America’s most important bird habitats. This Salton Read more…