15 minutes · Easy walking

One of the longest wooden piers on the coast. The far end has been closed since a fire a couple of years ago, but you can walk most of it. The harbor a mile north has fish markets and boats.

20 minutes · Some walking

A mile-long walk through the gardens after dark, lit up with light installations and music. It opens mid-November and sells out on weekends, so grab tickets as soon as you know your dates.

40 minutes · Easy walking

Forty-plus wineries along one road, most with patios and restaurants, so you can settle into one place for the afternoon. Hot air balloons go up at sunrise if the weather holds.

40 minutes · Easy walking

Sea lions and seals on the rocks year round, with a flat bluff-top walk and the village shops a few blocks up. Kayak trips out to the sea caves run most mornings.

45 minutes · Lots of walking

Sixteen museums, gardens, and Spanish colonial buildings in one park, plus the zoo.

(Highly recommend)

25 minutes · Lots of walking

Open-range habitat spread across eighteen hundred acres. The tram covers a good part of it, but you'll still be walking. Plan on most of a day.

1 hour 15 · Easy walking

A gold rush town at 4,200 feet, famous for apple pie. It runs about fifteen degrees colder than the coast, so bring a coat. The old mine tour is a good hour underground.

2 to 3 hours · Some walking

Palm Springs is mid-century houses, good food, and the Aerial Tramway, which lifts you 8,500 feet in ten minutes into pine forest with snow on the ground. Joshua Tree National Park is another hour east and makes a perfect next morning. About $30 a car, and you can see a lot from pullouts along the main road without much walking, with easy short trails at Hidden Valley and Barker Dam. Almost no cell service in the park, cold fast after dark, and the stars are worth staying for.

2 to 3 hours depending entirely on traffic

The Getty, Griffith Observatory, and the Broad are all free or nearly so, though the Getty and the Broad want a reservation.

2.5 to 3 hours south · Easy walking

Mexico's wine country, with some of the best food anywhere. Coming back across the border can take one to three hours, so make it an overnight rather than a day trip.