As someone who was born and raised in California, I know a lot of hidden gems that visitors don’t know about. While California is a very large state, you can go to the beach and mountains all in the same day. Spring break is all about having fun, relaxing, and taking a break from school. There are so many great places for all types of people who might prefer more outside stuff or would like to go to cute coffee shops and malls.
The first place is Crescent Bay; it is in Southern California right next to Laguna Beach. It’s a perfect place if you want to go to the beach to experience the beautiful California coast and beachside but don’t want to deal with all the crowds.
The next one is called Victory Gardens; it’s an outdoor mall with basically every store you could ever need and tons of amazing places to eat. It is great to spend a Sunday afternoon there window shopping and grabbing a bite, one of either a local place or a chain restaurant. Either way it’s perfect for everyone with all the types of stores that they have there
Of course, I have to say Los Angeles; it is such a huge city, so there are millions of things that are available to do. From luxury shopping, to waking up early and seeing the millions of flowers in the flower district, my personal favorite thing is to go down to the flower district and take some pictures then head to the last book store in Downtown LA. There is a coffee shop called Dinosaur Coffee and it is the cutest little place for pictures and, of course, a really good coffee.
If you want to spend a day just eating amazing food with hundreds of cute instagram worthy pictures, then head down to Anaheim Packing District. It is an old packing warehouse that was basically into a huge cafeteria with many types of food, drinks, and desserts. There is always live music going on and sometimes they have concerts there. It is a huge area with multiple buildings that has little shops around it with great outdoor seating.
If you’re more of an outdoors person, then the hike to Escondido Falls is the perfect place to go. It has beautiful scenery and, once you hike the three miles there, you can take a swim in the little lake. It is worth the hike up for the beautiful views you can get up there.
Going to Santa Monica is also a perfect place for a long bike ride or going to Muscle Beach to workout with all the other gym rats. It has a pier with lots of attractions and tourist spots, as well as a beach right underneath you. Try to stay for the amazing sunset where you see the sun disappear into the water
Joshua Tree is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for exploring the outdoors with friends, seeing the wild animals, and taking a hike on the huge mountains/rocks that are there. Another park perfect for hiking and taking pictures is Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
Of course there are tons of amusement parks, my personal favorite is Knott’s Berry Farm. It is nowhere near as expensive as Disneyland, but it has just as many rides and is never as packed. It is great for college students because they have plenty of rides there. If you just want to eat and walk around, they have tons of boysenberry flavored foods that, I’m sure, you’ve never had before. Disneyland is, of course, a classic that everyone has a love for. It is way bigger than Knott’s, but it is also very expensive. It’s great for meeting your childhood princesses, other Disney characters, or just walking around and taking pictures.
With all that being said there are millions of other places to go within just those cities I have mentioned. Try everything at least once and don’t get too caught up in just going to LA thinking the whole place looks just like all the pictures you see online. Go out and explore California while you still can and before it gets even more expensive to see new things.