The Best Places to Visit in California in Summer

If you're planning a trip to California this summer, this video is going to save you a ton of time and probably a few bad decisions too. Because California has beautiful beaches, unreal mountains, the most national parks in the US, stunning cities, wine country, and even islands and most people try to do way too much or they go to the wrong places at the wrong time. We both grew up in California and spent the last few years traveling all over the state. And today I'm breaking down the 12 best places to visit during summer based on what's actually worth your time, not just the popular spots, but which ones are worth a quick stop a weekend trip or a full week, what each place is best for and how to decide where you should go depending on the kind of trip you want. And trust me, some of these places look incredible online, but are not where you want to be in peak summer. So if you're trying to plan the perfect California summer trip, this is exactly where I'd go. If you guys are new here, hi, my name is Steven. I'm one half of the lovers passport and we take you on a new bucket list adventure every single week of the year. If you love to travel and want to see more beautiful destinations, just like California, make sure to leave this video like and subscribe so you never miss a video. With that, let's go ahead and dive into it. Our first stop is Malibu. This is going to be best if you're looking for beautiful beach views, a really nice elevated aesthetic and a lot of relaxing in terms of how much time you need to spend here. I would recommend spending either a half day or doing a full day trip to the area just because there are a few hikes that you can do in the beautiful mountains behind Malibu, but most of the time you're probably just going to want to hang out on the beach. In terms of price, this is going to be mid to high end budget just because having to pay for parking and the expensive meals in Malibu, it can make it a little bit more expensive. And if you do go, the one thing you have to do is this incredible cliff side beach called El Matador. It's one of the most photogenic beaches in all of California. Next up, we have the beautiful city of San Diego. And I personally say if we didn't live in Ventura County, this is where I personally would move to in California because it's got a mix of everything. You have beautiful beaches, incredible hikes, and you've got like the city downtown scene with lots of good restaurants and lots of things to do. In terms of how long you need here, I would say at least two to three days. If you wanted to take advantage of what San Diego really has to offer, I would say a little bit longer, five days to a week, because there are a ton of little sub neighborhoods of San Diego that you can go and check out and explore. This is a little bit pricier of a California beach town, so expect moderate to expensive budgets here when it comes to eating out and coffee shops and all that kind of stuff. But there are also lots of free things to do like visiting some of the state parks, going to the beach, and enjoying some of the beautiful nature out in this area. If you go at the right time, you might be able to check out the leopard sharks when they're breeding out here, and it's a super cool experience. We've done it a couple of years ago, and yeah, it was really awesome. There's lots of good surfing out here as well. You can also head to one of our favorite spots, which is Sunset Cliffs for sunset, or maybe check out Torrey Pines for a hike. Next up is Big Sur, California. This area is known for incredibly beautiful drives along Highway 1. It gets closed decently often because of landslides from the mountain, but right now it just officially reopened in 2026, so it is going to be perfect to explore this summer. It has unreal views of waterfalls and different hikes and hot springs. If you're a photographer, the photography here is unmatched. I would personally recommend one day if you're just taking a quick day trip from LA up to San Francisco to stop in and explore, but if you really want to explore Big Sur, do some of the hikes, and find some of the hidden gems, we would recommend spending a full weekend here or at least three days. In terms of how expensive this area is, it's going to be around mid-budget. It's not super expensive, although you can go to very expensive places like Alila Ventana, which we got to stay at a couple weeks ago, but it can also be very inexpensive if you could decide to go camping. I'm sure that you've heard of Big Sur. It's known for having one of the most beautiful coastlines in the entire world, and that's why you need to visit during summer. I will say that it is known for also having June gloom, so sometimes when you go there during June, you will have a big fog bank that seems to stop right on top of Big Sur. Just know that if you're planning on going June, the weather can be a little mixed. Next up, we have the beautiful area of Pismo Beach and Avala. This is great for a little weekend trip around California. You don't need too many days here because it is pretty small, but you're also very close to other central coast gems like San Luis Obispo, where you could add on a couple of stops for visiting this area. Pismo was actually one of the first places that Steve and I ever road tripped to and did a little weekend getaway to together when we first started dating, and it is so cute and quaint. It's great for a little relaxing and chill beach kind of trip this summer. It is moderately priced out here. It's not too crazy, but it's definitely not the cheapest destination in California. One of our favorite things to do out in this area is to visit the sand dunes, the Oceano Sand Dunes. They're pretty crazy out here. We always go around sunrise time, but you can go at any point in the day. There's actually an off-roading beach in this area where if you're into that, you can go right out on the sand and it's super cool. There's also some really gorgeous hikes along the coastline. If you head over into Avala, which is right next door to Pismo, there's some really cool rope swing hikes that you have to climb down to some cool caves. Obviously that's a little bit more adventurous and extreme, so use your best judgment on if that's a hike for you, but if not, there's plenty of other good options. There's lots of surfing and surf lessons available out here too. Next up is going to be Los Angeles. This is going to be best for obviously seeing iconic sites like the Hollywood sign, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and visiting some of the beautiful downtown destinations, maybe even taking a trip over to Universal Studios. I'd recommend spending around two to three days in the city if you really want to explore Los Angeles. That being said, it will have traffic. It will be a little bit dirty. It goes with the typical city, but does it still have a lot of beautiful areas around it? Absolutely. In terms of price, it's going to be mid to extremely expensive. Food in Los Angeles is getting more and more expensive. Depending on the hotel you stay at, it can also be very expensive. Almost everything in the city has California prices, so it's going to be a little bit more pricey than a lot of these other destinations we've talked about so far. In terms of why we would recommend stopping in Los Angeles, it has a little bit of something for everyone, especially if you're a family. You can go on a hike. You can go downtown and find a cute coffee shop. You can go to the beach. It has beautiful viewpoints. It has theme parks. It has everything that you would want for a vacation, but California has so much other natural diversity. I would recommend spending only a weekend in LA and then exploring a lot of the rest of the state. Next up is a trip to San Francisco. When I say San Francisco, you might want to spend a couple days in the city, but really the surrounding area of San Francisco because there are so many things that you can add on out here. We actually did a full video on all of the amazing outdoorsy locations in this area, so I'll link that right up here for you as well as in the description box below. There's tons of great hikes right next to the Golden Gate Bridge. You have Mount Tam up there, which is an amazing spot for sunset. You've got lots of parks to picnic at if that's something that you're super interested in. You've got great food and coffee shops and dining in downtown San Francisco, of course. If you're into a little bit of history, you have the Golden Gate Bridge right there. You can do a Golden Gate Bridge cruise underneath it, or you could even head out to the island of Alcatraz, which is also something fun and touristy, which I still love doing even though we've been there a couple of times. If you're into hiking, make sure to check out all of the batteries nearby. If you want to escape the popular stuff by the Golden Gate Bridge, I would head over to the Muir Woods area. Check out that beautiful grove of redwood trees, or if you want a little bit of a further day trip from there, you can also check out Point Reyes. Next up is my personal favorite, and this is going to be Yosemite National Park. This is going to be best if you really are looking for hiking, waterfalls, and just a beautiful place to go and explore. I would probably recommend having two to four days here. Two days is going to be perfect if you want to do more of just the lower Yosemite Valley and do something like the Mist Trail or check out lower Yosemite Falls, but I would recommend more like five days or four days if you want to start to see some of the more epic landscapes like Taft Point or Glacier Point and see both the upper and the lower valley. In terms of price, Yosemite is very inexpensive. All you have to do is either pay for a national park pass or an entry permit for seven days, and you'll be able to get into the park, and camping is pretty inexpensive here too. Why you should go? Obviously, it's because it's one of the most iconic national parks in the entire world. Free solo was filmed here. You can get mixed with incredible rock climbers, the average everyday family just going on a summer vacation and everything in between. Next, we have another classic California national park, which is Sequoia National Park. You only need a couple of days here because it is actually a pretty small park itself. The back country is massive, but the actual national park, you could definitely do in a day or two, maybe just like a Friday to Sunday kind of road trip. This is home to some of the biggest trees in the world, and it is truly remarkable. Although we have visited both in summer and winter, no matter which time you go, it's going to be an incredible experience. These trees are unfathomably large, and you have to check out the Congress Trail while you're there. We actually did a full video on Sequoia National Park too, so I will link that down below in the description box and up here for you if you want to check this out further where we go over all of our favorite trails, but it is 100% a must see. We try and go every year or every other year because this park is truly something else. In terms of cost, this is one of the lower budget ones because it is a national park. I highly recommend if you're going to do a couple of the California national parks that you get the national parks pass. It'll save you some money if you do at least three a year. So that is a pro budget hack there. Next up is going to be Redwoods National Park. If you're looking for a lot of nature and a really peaceful escape compared to the hustle and bustle of a lot of these other destinations, then Redwoods is going to be perfect for you. I would probably recommend one to two days. Redwoods National Park is made up of a lot of little state parks. So when you're driving through, you can explore as much or as little as you want. I will say that there isn't a ton to do in Redwoods National Park besides get away, relax, and do some beautiful trails through some incredible trees. So I'd recommend one to two days. I will say that this was probably one of the least expensive places out of everywhere on the map just because it is so far in Northern California. A lot of the food is much more inexpensive. A lot of the hotels are more inexpensive, and you don't have to pay for too many entry fees because it's made up of a lot of different state parks, so you can kind of just hop from one to another. And if you're looking for a reason to go here, it's pretty magical to say that you can walk through the tallest trees in the world here. So if you already visited Sequoia National Park and saw the largest trees in the world, why not go and check out the tallest ones in Redwoods National Park? Next up, we have beautiful Lake Tahoe. This is one of our favorite places in all of California, and we go here every year. In fact, last year we went there for our wedding anniversary. We're heading back there this June. We've gone the last two years, I think, in June and the year prior in July, and it's just perfect. And I will say, it is extremely busy in the summertime, so pack your patience. I would bring maybe a bike to get around or do e-bike rentals and just park your car once. Try and get to your base location in Lake Tahoe earlier in the day, so that way you don't have to move your car pretty often because the roads do get super busy and congested with traffic. Also make sure to leave no trace when you're visiting this location as well as all the other locations on the list, but this one in particular, because it is super important that you pack out your trash whenever you're visiting any of the beaches, the coves, the hikes in Lake Tahoe, and let's keep Tahoe blue. This is best if you want a nice mix of both water sports and adventure and adrenaline and hiking. There is so much to do out in Lake Tahoe. You can go and do paddle boarding, kayaking, hiking, jet skiing. You can even do a hot air balloon over Lake Tahoe or go for a helicopter ride. There is literally so much out here. The last couple of trips we've done about three to five days. I think that's a solid amount of time to get a ton of activities in, but you want to make sure at least a minimum of three days for you to really get the magic of Tahoe. Now this is a pricier destination, especially for accommodations, so just keep that in mind that it will be on the higher side of your budget. But there are campgrounds about like 30 minutes outside of Tahoe particularly. I will link the website to book those campsites down below. We have both stayed in hotels and camped out here. And even though it's a little bit of a drive to some of the more major spots from the campsites, it does save you a lot of money. But I will also link our favorite hotels that we've stayed at because between the Edgewood and the Hyatt, there's lots of really nice luxury options too. Next is going to be Mammoth Lake, California. This is going to be the best destination if you are ultra adventurous. You can go mountain biking here, you can go hiking, you can explore nearby hot springs. It has beautiful mountain views and there's so many different ways to adventure in Mammoth. In terms of how long to stay here, this is a good long weekend, four days. And I would recommend two days on the short end just because a lot of the hikes in Mammoth are pretty extensive. You can go to a lot of different alpine lakes. And there's so much to see around this area of the Eastern Sierras. In terms of price, this is going to be pretty moderately priced to high because it is summer during peak season. A lot of the hotels and different places to stay are going to be more expensive. That being said, I will say that there are a lot of free activities to do in Mammoth. So the stay and the food can be a little bit more expensive, but the things to do and how much there is to do is much more inexpensive. And in terms of why to go, I would say this is one of the most underrated areas in California. It's the perfect mountain escape. I'm honestly surprised it's not a national park because it has everything that you would want to be a national park. Great little mountain town, I would recommend checking out. And last but not least, we have Channel Islands National Park. This is an underrated hidden gem in California. It's our closest national park between Santa Cruz and Anacapa. Those are the two most popular ones in terms of visitation. You cannot go wrong. There is kayaking. You can go paddle boarding. There's a lot of snorkeling you can do out here. The biodiversity out here is actually incredible. There's some really cute island foxes that you can see on Santa Cruz. Lots of different bird species, lots of different underwater life. You'll probably see lots of dolphins on your ferry ride out there. You'll probably want about two to three days out there. If you go to Santa Cruz, then you do have water available on the island, but if you go to Anacapa, you do have to bring your own potable water for if you're going to camp. The biggest thing in terms of logistics with this one is that you have to, one, get ferry tickets out there, and two, get a campsite if you want to stay overnight. So just keep that in mind. You do have to do a little more logistic planning here, but it is so worth it. The views out in the harbors are just stunning. And that's going to be it for this video. If you found value or if you added one spot to your California bucket list, make sure to leave this video a like and subscribe if you want to see more travel just like this. And if you enjoyed this video, YouTube also thinks that you're going to enjoy this video right over here. And with that, we'll see you in the next one.