Week near LA...but not LA

[PeridotCricket]

Hiya

Got the chance of a week in Southern California in February. Been to LA (enjoyed it but no need to go back!) and Las Vegas/Grand Canyon. Been up to Northern California.

Looking for recommendations near LA.

Like National Parks, hiking, good food - don't mind a bit of driving but not loads. Thinking Joshua Tree maybe?

Also don't mind a bit of city - but not LA...

San Diego is fab, Laguna Beach is also fantastic and more peaceful (feels a bit more European). No hiking but surfing and great restaurants.

June Lake, just up past Mammoth and outside Yosemite so quite a trek from LA is stunning. But it will be ski season rather than hiking up there in February.

Joshua Tree is desert, so yes to hiking but I don't think there's a particular centre where you would get good food/accommodation.

I'll look those up. Why is San Diego so fab? It is less trafficky than LA? It was the traffic and how spread out it was that put me off LA.

Skiing - now there's a thought!

I love that in San Diego you can stay on the waterfront, and then walk to the shops and restaurants, or go to the ships. Last time I was there I got an Uber to go open water swimming which was fabulous, though I'm not sure on water temp in Feb. The zoo is really good too

Joshua tree is a desert, which means at night during Feb it is freezing. As in you often get frost on the ground.

San Diego is what most people picture when they think Southern California... palm trees, sunshine, etc. The La jolla / del mar area is nice. Northern county is more laid back and you can find reasonably priced lovely air b n flats literally across the street from a beach in places like Encinitas and Carlsbad

SD much less trafficky (I hate LA, it's like a giant car park and it takes hours to get anywhere and Venice Beach is like Camden by the beach - great to visit for a few hours but not spend a holiday!). SD much cooler, lovely holiday resort type place, you can walk to lots of places and driving is easy. Lots of fantastic restaurants, especially if you like fish and Mexican influenced food. Lovely to skate/walk/scoot along the promenade.

I'd recommend a visit to the aircraft carrier museum there, the USS Medway, especially if you are a Top Gun fan! The volunteers make it great, they are all ex military pilots and so interesting and funny.

Palm springs is a lovely and I think is accessible to hiking areas but you would need to check.

Would Santa Barbara be near enough?
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Santa Barbara looks fab too. Thank you. I really want somewhere that's interesting and easy to get round!

We didn’t think much of San Diego. We went in November and February won’t be much different. Yes it has beaches but it’s unrenarkable in many other ways. La Jolla is lovely but I definitely prefer north of LA. I think Santa Monica and Santa Barbara are much better.

I love Yosemite and north California and really don’t know around LA, I’m wondering if that’s because it’s not as interesting? I like a beach dor a morning. But that’s it really...

There are great beach areas around LA, but probably not great in Feb. Santa Monica beach, Zuma and those around Malibu are worth a visit. LA has the amazing Getty Centre and the Getty Villa is at Malibu. The Huntington Library and Gardens are at Pasadena. The former Max Factor factory is worth a visit in LA and lunch at The Mondrian for the view is fab. We also enjoyed Paramount Studios and found great restaurants in Santa Monica. The drive along Mulholland Drive is also a great experience.

Santa Barbara is smaller and also has a great beach. The mission there is worth a visit. It’s just a nice place to stay.

San Diego county probably has the most diversity all within about 1 hour drive from the main downtown area. If you go east you can have snow capped mountains (places like Idlewild or Julien are lovely mountain towns) or if you go west you can get nice beaches (I suggest Del Mar for high end or Encinitas for the hippie vibe).
The weather on the coast will be pleasant in February. If you go slightly north of SD but south of LA to a place called Temecula there are wineries where you can do wine tasting. There is plenty of hiking along the coast at places like Sunset cliffs and Torrey Pines. Also near Temecula there is hiking at the Santa Rosa Plateau.
If you choose to stay north of LA I would stick to the coastal regions. If you go inland on the other side of the coastal mountains it's mostly agriculture. As others have suggested there is Santa Barbara, Malibu but there is also Big Sur all the way up to Monterey. These areas will not be as temperate in February as San Diego and because Big Sur is a redwood region, technically it's a rainforest so you could be due a lot of rain. Also had fog.
I wouldn't choose to go to Northern California in February unless you're prepared to have very similar weather as the UK. I live in the North West (Liverpool) and the weather in Northern California is not that much different in the winter than it is here.

Also my favourite places in San Diego are Balboa Park, Old Town, North Park and Hilcrest.

Definitely give San Diego some consideration! Loads to do and can stay city or beach depending what you prefer

Santa Barbara is fab

Santa Barbara and/ or Ojai.

You sound like you actually want San Francisco or Santa Cruz, which is more Northern California. What exactly do you want to do? Personally, it’s hard to beat the beauty of Yosemite, but there’s a giant sequoia National park to explore. Or 100 miles from LA, toward San Bernardino, there is a lovely ski resort / lake called Big Bear that might be of interest?

California has so many different micro-climates it's hard to say what kind of weather you're going to get from region to region but February is rainy season for pretty much the entire state, we get no rain for 9 months of the year then it ALL comes down in December, January and February! Dry conditions all year and the recent wildfires mean all that moisture at once can lead to mud and rockslides with trees down making coastal and mountain area travel by road problematic.

San Francisco Bay Area can be miserably cold, foggy and damp in February (actually SF itself can be at any time of year) but we do get spells of several bright sunny days together between storms which, while still cold, are glorious conditions for tramping along the coastal cliffs and beaches and through the big trees.

Sierras, Tahoe, Yosemite are gorgeous but when the snow comes down it falls in feet not inches, you'll need to carry chains for your tires and mountain passes can get closed with very little notice. Also ski season so if you can get through so can everyone else and accommodation can be difficult to come by.

San Diego is lovely as is San Bernadino county, loads to do, and more chance of bright, sunny weather.