6 Underrated Ways to Experience California Without The Crowds

Traveling in California can feel like navigating another country rather than a single state. Geographically large and the country’s most populous, the Golden State represents the fifth largest economy in the world. Its popularity is evident. According to Visit California forecast data, tourism in 2024 is projected to reach approximately 269.2 million visits, inching closer to 2019’s record of 285.6 million.

But with a state this big, the sheer variety is a gift. Why pack into cable cars to crest Nob Hill, stress over snagging a reservation at a Napa tasting room, or elbow your way into the lift line at Palisades Tahoe? The following options welcome visitors to lesser-known corners of a state nearly 39 million people call home.

Take an alternative road trip: Pacific Coast Highway in Orange County

Certain stretches of Pacific Coast Highway are legendary: Malibu and Big Sur. Further south in Orange County, PCH still hugs the boundary of where land meets ocean, but it strings together multiple beach towns with more density. Start with a bike ride in Newport Beach with equipment from 20th Street Beach and Bikes through Lido Isle and Balboa Peninsula before getting behind the wheel. About three miles south of Newport is the Crystal Cove State Marine Conservation Area, where nature dazzles at the Rocky Bight tide pools and the Crystal Cove Conservancy’s rental cottages are a long-standing tradition for families.

Laguna Beach supplies a laid-back environment with an arts scene that houses galleries, a distinguished museum, and unique indie retailers, such as Laguna Supply and Picnic stationery store. “When Dana Marron and I opened Good Together House‘s doors three years ago, we wanted our store to reflect the feeling of our welcoming community,” says co-owner Kristin Winter. The duo chooses household goods and accessories with stories to tell for their store and organizes book signings and gatherings with guests such as Orange County Museum of Art CEO Heidi Zuckerman and Life at the Dumpling author Trisha Cole.

They suggest Anastasia Cafe and Rye Goods to get a bite during the day, while for dinner Winter adds Miki Sushi + Sake and Wine Gallery as “sure bets.” For an updated take on Laguna’s bohemian past, recently renovated Casa Loma hotel merits a stay in one of its 70 chic rooms. Venice-based architecture firm Electric Bowery revamped the 1960s property with its twist on SoCal surf culture plus global coastal influences.

Further south is Dana Point, an excellent embarkation point for whale-watching, and San Juan Capistrano, a city full of historic sights and a burgeoning restaurant scene. The 60,000-square-foot new River Street Marketplace offers top-tier retail and restaurants, such as La Vaquera from Santa Barbara powerhouse Acme Hospitality. Meanwhile in downtown SJC, Heritage Barbecue has secured its place as a must-do for smoked meat fans.

Explore Japanese American heritage in L.A.’s South Bay

While the historic heart of the Japanese community in Los Angeles is associated with Little Tokyo in DTLA, municipalities like Torrance and Gardena in the South Bay boast the largest Japanese and Japanese American population in the mainland United States. “People forget Japanese Americans live not necessarily in Little Tokyo, but everywhere,” says architectural and product designer Makoto Mizutani of Scout Regalia design company during a casual lunch at Ichimi-Ann in Rolling Hills Plaza. The shopping center stands at the southern edge of the city of Torrance, inland from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Mizutani, who grew up in Torrance and Orange County with parents who immigrated from Japan, describes the setting as “quintessential mini-mall vibes” typical of Southern California’s suburban development in the post–World War II era. This comfort food menu features udon and soba noodles, sashimi, and tempura combos.

Rolling Hills Plaza is a snapshot of converging traditions and changes. Around the corner from this sprawling strip mall is Torrance Yokocho, with small eating stalls slotted into lantern-illuminated, atmospheric alleyways. Within view of a SusieCakes bakery outlet stands Hitachiya, a culinary import shop dating back to 1956 in Japan; it sells knives, donabe ceramic pots, matcha whisks, square tamagoyaki pans, and other Japanese kitchenware staples.

Car enthusiasts meanwhile rejoiced last year when Honda opened its 20,000-square-foot American Honda Collection Hall museum to the public. The Miyako Hybrid Hotel introduced a much-needed upscale hotel option for business and leisure travelers in 2009, and it remains a South Bay staycation option for Angelenos.

The Nijiya Market location on 182nd Street in Torrance “is pure nostalgia for me,” Mizutani notes. “It has hands down the best bentos. And in the dining area on the weekends, you see older people meeting for coffee, you hear Japanese, you see families after soccer,” she adds.

Exploring the South Bay isn’t a pedestrian-friendly endeavor. Hitting crowd (and chef David Chang) favorite Otafuku in Gardena followed by a shopping trip to Tokyo Central and then ice cream at Kansha is about as streamlined a foodie itinerary along Western Avenue one can arrange, but it covers over a mile.

Visit the state’s best alternative wine region: Santa Ynez Valley

When I saw Sideways on the big screen in October of 2004, I couldn’t believe it. I somehow had lived in Southern California for almost my entire life without knowing a well-respected wine-producing region sits within a roughly three-hour drive. Visiting this area, an hour or so north of Santa Barbara, means tapping into a community of passionate makers and experts without the crowds of Northern California’s collectible names.

One place that deservedly rode the wave of the Sideways effect was chef/restaurateur and winemaker Frank Ostini’s Hitching Post 2 restaurant in Buellton and its associated Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post. The HP2 suggests a rustic living room, where a window provides a view of prime Midwestern beef cuts being cooked over open oakwood-fueled flames along with grilled artichokes.

For a Sideways 20th anniversary celebration, Ostini and Hartley collaborated with restaurants and chefs on a series of dinners this fall, and Hitching Post released a commemorative Sideways 2021 vintage Highliner pinot noir. But it’s not all about nostalgia. “Since Sideways, we have increased plantings of pinot and an ever-expanding variety of grapes and winemaking styles that take advantage of our diverse microclimates and soil types here,” Ostini says.

With spots like the seafood-centric Bar Le Côte in the mix, downtown Los Olivos continues Santa Ynez Valley’s broader evolution. The Stolpman family pours estate syrahs and grenache vintages in its tasting room and garden. The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern Auberge Resorts Collection, meanwhile, has ratcheted up the luxury level in Los Olivos. Its recently debuted slow wellness programing at the Lavender Barn spa contains six treatment rooms and shared facilities that include the vitality pool, eucalyptus steam room, and cold dip.

Near Solvang, Nomada Hotel Group visionary founder Kimberly Walker nailed it again by transforming a forlorn 1950s property into the Hotel Ynez, where hammocks handwoven by artisans in Bolivia beckon beneath the mature live oak tree canopy. My family is forever attached to the magical 10,500-acre Alisal Ranch, where guests immerse themselves in California ranch culture. The most pressing decisions are what entrée and which Santa Barbara County–made wine to choose at dinner in the Ranch Room restaurant, and whether Grandma wants to do yoga or take a horseback ride—or maybe both.

Dig into community-based art and design experiences in San Francisco

Doom spirals be damned. Talking with multidisciplinary architect, designer, and curator Anand Sheth is an immediate reminder that being in San Francisco diverges from certain dominant media narratives. Neighborhoods with mixed zoning south of downtown have emerged as innovative arts hubs that embrace the city’s tech-oriented reputation and its wilder side. “The Mission and Dogpatch are representative of a lot of San Francisco culture,” says the longtime Mission District resident and California College of the Arts alum.

Mission District North

At Strike-Slip Gallery, in what Sheth calls Mission District North, artist Jimmy McCaffrey brings “together various niches in our local arts community and voices into the public in a prominent place that’s been missing activation for so long,” Sheth says. About a mile to the northeast at the multipurpose Four One Nine venue run by Sonya Yu, “you’ll find something that’s tied to art and community here,” he shares, whether it’s a pop-up market or group show curated by other local respected arts professionals like Market Street gallerist Jonathan Carver Moore.

Don’t miss Bar Part Time, which Sheth designed to contain “a vinyl discotheque dive bar experience [that is] a mix of a listening room and the party you might have [at home].” Rintaro izakaya at Folsom and 14th Street is another of his recommendations, in part because of its overlap between design and food. (The founders are carpenters with expertise in Japanese joinery construction.) As a result, diners can expect “a lot of integrity about the whole experience. They’re really artful about their presentation.” Dalva cocktail lounge on 16th Street and its speakeasy-like the Hideout tucked behind makes for “a fun evening to late night” choice.

Design District, Dogpatch, and Potrero Hill

Sheth is also excited about venues and institutions in and around Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, and the emerging Design District, which is contiguous with the Mission. Longtime San Franciscan Aimee Friberg curates engaging shows at her CULT Aimee Friberg Gallery. The CCA’s Wattis Institute is part of the campus expansion designed by architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang, making it “a great space for folks to witness student art and see what youngest, most emerging minds are coming up with.”

In residential and industrial Dogpatch, Hugo Lai’s jewel box–size Hugomento focuses on ceramic arts, sculpture, glass, and other elements of “the handmade object world.” Minnesota Street Project contains multiple independent galleries within a former warehouse complex, including re.riddle contemporary gallery. Chef Heena Patel’s Gujarati cooking is another draw to MSP at Besharam restaurant. Sheth’s other picks to refuel while exploring this western strip of the city are OG natural wine joint Ruby Wine and the adjacent complementary Alimentari Aurora, and Plow on 18th Street for daytime meals.

Low-key winter destinations: June Mountain and Idyllwild

June Mountain in the Inyo National Forest is off the beaten path enough that it’s a self-selecting type of destination. “Elevation-wise it’s close to Mammoth. We don’t get as much snow but when we do, it’s amazing,” says native Jeff Miller, who owns the Four Seasons cabin rentals, five individual A-frames servicing June Mountain and June Lake. “It’s got some of the best backcountry skiing, and the terrain is great. We don’t have the crowds.” Serious skiers can focus on what matters, along with a dose of après-ski culture but without excess fanciness. And families really love the unlimited Kids Season Pass, free for children under 12.

Miller takes pride in what’s “a low-key town” with a popular brewery and other food and beverage businesses to serve the 600 or so residents and visitors, who can stay in other small hotels and lodges. Miller claims it’s also “one of the most scenic little loops you can drive through,” earning June Lake village its nickname, “Little Switzerland of the Sierra.”

Idyllwild isn’t centered around a recreational lake or ski resorts, hence its appeal to artists and bohemians. This town, in the San Jacinto Mountains at an elevation of over 5,000 feet, may be better suited to those who want to retreat into nature and tackle reading a lengthy novel by the fireplace rather than gear up for winter sports. (You can still hike to your heart’s content.) The unincorporated area of under 4,000 inhabitants does things on its own terms. To wit: Golden retriever Max III is its third successive symbolic canine mayor. Plus, being than an hour from Palm Springs is even more bonkers in the best, Californian kind of way. The Palms to Pines Scenic Byway along Highways 74 and 243 starts in Palm Desert and passes through different ecosystems, including this special hamlet.

Idyllwild offers a few surprises, like an architecturally striking cabin designed in the mid-1950s by one of modernism’s most notable practitioners, a nationally distinguished arts boarding school, a bean-to-bar artisanal chocolate shop, a fantastic Italian restaurant, and a friendly micro-brewery with a killer burger. Driving back down the mountain can be unwise after a long day, so recommended hospitality options are the historic Owl Pine cabin, centrally located on Strawberry Creek; the Violin House, originally built for an Idyllwild Arts music professor; the groovy Wavy Pines Cabin; and the Lazy A-Frame in nearby Pine Cove.

California’s hottest under-the-radar destination: Jacumba Hot Springs

San Diego–based interior designer and event producer Melissa Strukel was struck by the potential of a decaying midcentury roadside motel and its Sonoran Desert surroundings that she found 70 miles southeast of the city in 2020. She convinced colleague Corbin Winters and real estate entrepreneur Jeff Osborne that this lure was much stronger than a beckoning of decay. Eventually Strukel, Winters, and Osborne began revitalizing the Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel and other assets they acquired spread over 150 acres in remote Jacumba Hot Springs—about 80 percent of the sparsely populated town—under the banner of their hospitality company, We Are Human Kind.

“We’re two miles off of Interstate 80, and I didn’t know this existed,” Winters recalls. “We’re up at about 3,000 feet in elevation, so we’re just an hour away from the beach, but we’re a really different climate and landscape. It doesn’t take you very far travel wise to feel very far away,” she says of the destination that’s near the U.S.–Mexico border.

Following years of construction and community-minded work, three on-site mineral soaking pools and the now-restored alkaline-rich Lake Jacumba give travelers reason to tap into this energetic vortex. Go for the day with a pass to the Ritual Pool and four bookable cabanas, or chill overnight in one of Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel’s 18 guest rooms, two 600-square-foot suites, casitas, and other rental homes in town. Strukel and Winters infused these spaces with an earthy, eclectic, desert-inflected style with references from Morocco to Mexico. Live music on weekends brings new life to Jacumba’s former communal bathhouse.

The restaurant slings chilaquiles and the Highway 80 breakfast combo in the mornings, and Exotic Desert Hideaway Bar is an ideal moody, maximalist cocktail lounge to savor a Oaxan Old Fashioned and linger after the sun sets. Day-pass visitors are welcome to have an alfresco lunch and stay through dinner. (Families note: It’s a 21-and-over situation.) Other local attractions are the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum, Gaskill Brothers Stone Store Museum, and Camp Lockett Event & Equestrian Facility (its museum documents regional Buffalo Soldiers history), and the Impossible Railroad Trading Post vintage boutique.

Another perk of venturing from points west? “It’s such an easy drive,” Strukel says. “There’s never traffic coming out here.”