Scotia Museum & Visitor Center
North Coast & Redwoods
A history of the town awaits at the Scotia Museum and Visitor Center, at the town's southern end. The museums' fisheries exhibit is remarkably informative…
Must-see attractions in Northern California
Lake Tahoe
Continuously in use until the 1960s, this 1875 redbrick building is filled with relics from the wild days of yore. George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly was…
Sacramento
It’s with some irony that the Indian Museum sits in the shadow of Sutter’s Fort. The excellent exhibits and tribal handicrafts on display – including the…
Oakland
Put down that video-game console, cast aside your latest iPhone app and return to the bygone days of pinball play. Lose yourself in bells and flashing…
Monterey Museum of Art – La Mirada
Monterey
Southeast of downtown Monterey, MMA La Mirada is a silent-film star’s villa, a building whose humble adobe origins are exquisitely concealed. It is now…
North Coast & Redwoods
Across Hwy 101, this hit-or-miss museum shows rotating Californian artists and hosts performances inside the 1904 Carnegie library, the state’s first…
San Jose
This science and creativity museum has hands-on displays incorporating art, technology and the environment, with plenty of toys and cool play-and-learn…
Monterey
The trio of tiny original one-room cabins where cannery workers shacked up provides a sobering reminder of the hard lives led by Filipino, Japanese,…
North Coast & Redwoods
This small museum is a good place to learn about the indigenous communities of California's northern coast with a sizable collection of Yurok baskets and…
San Francisco
Sonnets dot the flower beds in this romantic gated garden, home since 1928 to more than 200 flowering plants mentioned in Shakespeare's writings. With all…
Cathedral Basilica of St Joseph
San Jose
At the top of the Plaza de Cesar Chavez, the pueblo’s first church was originally constructed of adobe brick in 1803. It was replaced three times due to…
Monterey
Peek inside brick Colton Hall, where California’s first constitutional convention took place in 1849. Once the capitol of Alta (Upper) California, today…
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park
Sacramento
Originally built by John Sutter, this park was once the only trace of white settlement for hundreds of miles. Reserve a couple hours to stroll within its…
Oakland
This beautifully refurbished 1914 beaux-arts building is a downtown landmark. This was the first high-rise government building in the country, and when it…
Lake Tahoe
A few blocks east of the bridge over the Truckee River, this well-preserved 1908 settlers’ cabin made from hand-hewn logs is one of the town’s oldest…
North Coast & Redwoods
Grassy dunes and windswept beaches extend along the mile-wide, 10-mile long Samoa Peninsula, Humboldt Bay’s western boundary. At the peninsula’s south end…
Benbow Lake State Recreation Area
North Coast & Redwoods
On the Eel River, 2 miles south of Garberville, the 26-acre Benbow Lake exists when a seasonal dam forms the lake during summer, but current budget cuts…
Monterey
On the grounds of the original Spanish fort, this specialized museum (of interest only to history buffs) looks at Monterey’s history from a military…
North Coast & Redwoods
It's not the greatest of the drive thru tree options in these parts (more of a large slit in the tree), but if you want a snap to impress the folks back…
Mt Shasta Region
One of the state's oldest ski areas, this little place only opens during years when there's a lot of snow. When it does open, it's insanely affordable…
Napa Valley
Estate tastings offer fantastic food pairings on a vineyard-view stone patio. We especially love the olive-oil and wine-vinegar tastings, included with…
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Santa Cruz
The collections at this pint-sized museum include stuffed-animal mounts, Native Californian cultural artifacts and a touch-friendly tide pool that shows…
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
A quiet alternative to adjacent Lyon St's social and fitness scene, Baker St's 200 steep, narrow steps between Broadway and Vallejo St are dense with…
Sacramento
Known by locals as 'The Kay,' this formerly blighted neighborhood has undergone a major redevelopment effort that has transformed it into a weekend hot…
Mt Shasta Region
While in the area, tickle your senses at Mt Shasta Lavender Farms, about 19 miles northeast of Weed off Hwy 97. You can harvest your own sweet French…
Napa Valley
Yountville’s modernist 40,000-sq-ft museum chronicles cultural history and showcases local paintings. Good picnicking outside. From town, it's across Hwy…
North Coast & Redwoods
Across from Arcata Plaza, the creaking halls of this 1857 mercantile building have received a handsome upgrade and now lead to restaurants, some tasteful…
San Jose
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is the centerpiece of this peaceful park, west of downtown San Jose. Meditate as you stroll the walking labyrinth and…
Lake Tahoe
Crossing into Nevada, the neon starts to flash and old-school gambling palaces appear. You can try your luck at the gambling tables or catch a live-music…
Monterey Museum of Art – Pacific Street
Monterey
Downtown, the MMA Pacific Street is particularly strong in California contemporary art and modern landscape painters and photographers, including Ansel…
Lake Tahoe
North Tahoe Regional Park, at the northern end of National Ave, has hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country ski trails, a disc-golf course and nice…
Mammoth Lakes
For a walk down memory lane, stop by this little museum inside the historic Hayden log cabin, with photographs and artifacts from its heyday as a hunting…
Yosemite & the Sierra Nevada
A small historical museum complex with a one-room, 1882 schoolhouse, a log-cabin jail and a tiny museum displaying Native American baskets and pioneer-era…
Sausalito
Near the ferry terminal, the plaza has a fountain flanked by 14ft-tall elephant statues from the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San…
Monterey
Featured in John Steinbeck’s novel Tortilla Flat, this small granite prison was built in 1856. Over a century of use, not one prisoner ever escaped.
Lake Tahoe
A fun retro exploration of the 1960 Olympics, featuring a film and much memorabilia. Located at High Camp.
Santa Cruz
Amble around this peaceful arboretum and picturesquely decaying 19th-century structures from Cowell Ranch, upon which the UCSC campus was built.
Monterey
Originally built as a lodging house and tavern in 1847, and used as a theater from 1850, this building is currently closed for renovation.
Santa Cruz
The La Selva Beach exit off Hwy 1, near Watsonville, brings you here, where you can have miles of sand and surf almost all to yourself.
Monterey
Along Cannery Row, stop at Steinbeck Plaza to soak up bay views and snap a photo of yourself with a bronze bust of the famous writer.
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