Short getaway from San Diego

My husband and I will be visiting my brother in San Diego at the end of February. He is a great host and will have fun showing us the area. However, I don%26#39;t want to impose on him the whole week we are there, so we are thinking of renting a car for a few days and maybe traveling up the coast for 2-3 nights. Any suggestions on where to go? Is Ventura a reasonable destination? We are open to suggestions - we like quaint shops/restaurants (no chains), sight seeing and relaxing on the beach. Thanks for any input you have!

Short getaway from San Diego

YOu might like to drive up to Laguna Beach ,which is much closer than Ventura. You won%26#39;t have to deal with LA traffic that way .

Another idea might be to head out to the Palm Springs area for desert instead of beach.

Short getaway from San Diego

Why Ventura? Just curious how you would name that city? If you are going to drive up the coast toward Ventura, go to Santa Barbara not Ventura.

I like the Santa Barbara and Palm Springs ideas.

Ventura is OK with a small downtown, the mission and a nice beach. There is also a nice harbor with some restaurants. Last time I was there, though, there were many going-out-of-business signs in the store windows.

I think Santa Barbara is a bit more interesting with its historical buildings and architecture. It also has a beautiful waterfront and nice beaches. The SB mission is beautiful and well worth a visit, as are the surroundings of the mission. You%26#39;ll find many quaint shops in downtown SB. You can even do some wine tasting in wine country.

Palm Springs is another good destination for February. If you are lucky, the wildflowers will be in bloom.

Laguna Beach is lovely and 1 hour north of San Diego.

Santa Barbara is a 3 hour trip each way and Palm Springs is a 2 hour trip each way.

I am off to Palm Springs tomorrow. I have not been in about 10 years. I will report back.

As you are already at the beach, a few days in the desert might be a good choice.

Norgetroll there is supposed to be a new Ritz Carlton opening in Rancho Mirage which is a suburb of Palm Springs. It was supposed to open in November 2008 but didn%26#39;t open on time, maybe it will open soon. Have a good trip.

Also Desert Hills outlets with YSL, Gucci, Dior, ect is in that outlet mall. If you go to this outlet mall I would love to know if you think the clothes at these stores is the same stuff sold in the regular stores or if it ';specially'; made for the outlets. Thanks. Happy New Year.

Take a day trip up to the Wild Animal Park near Escondido. This is the best zoo in the world, period. Well, outside of Africa! Most of the animals roam free in a huge valley and the tram provides excellent viewing. There%26#39;s nothing like seeing the animals like that! The only problem is that it can make it hard to see animals in regular zoo encolosures again. Though the SD zoo is probably the best regular zoo, so worth a visit.

There are some funky beach towns in SD area, such as Leucadia, Encinitas, etc. Del Mar is fancier. Carlsbad had a nice walkway on the beach.

I don%26#39;t think you could get to Santa Barbara in 3 hrs because of the traffic... Laguna Beach would be a fine day trip but then so would a lot of Orange County. Check the Overviews (and Things to Do) for SD and OC and you should find plenty of things!

I see that the WAP is under Escondido, not SD. Negative reviews are mostly about walking and heat. True, I always avoid going there in Summer, but that won%26#39;t be a problem for you! The tram is great but I agree that there is a lot of walking, too-- but worth it! I agree with the positive reviews. Also, see as many shows as you can catch!

Do you have any idea what sort of sightseeing you may be doing with your brother? Yes, you could drive up to Ventura or Santa Barbara, or head over to Palm Springs. Ventura is 3 hours away when there%26#39;s not much traffic, Santa Barbara is 40 minutes farther and Palm Springs is 2-2 1/2 hours away. But, if really want to get away for 2-3 nights then I would suggest Santa Barbara. A nice side trip from there is a quaint little Danish town called Solvang.

If you didn%26#39;t want to drive all that far and felt like staying in the San Diego area, the Wild Animal Park is a great idea. You could also drive up to Julian or out to the Anza-Borrego desert.

Many good ideas mentioned here, along with some overly optimistic drive time estimates to Santa Barbara. (Plan for 4 hours, plus any additional time if you decide to take the pleasant coastal route.)

I like the idea of Palm Springs or Santa Barbara. Orange County (Laguna Beach, etc.) won%26#39;t offer a significantly different experience from San Diego in many respects, even though it is a distinctly different place.

How far away would you like to go? An obvious 2-day trip would involve traveling to Julian, Borrego Springs, and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Make it a 3-day trip by visiting Palm Springs, too, and you could even stretch it to 4 days by also visiting the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. February should be a good time to visit the desert, with relatively mild weather and all that.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Santa Barbara sounds like it would be nice, especially if we will go for 3 nights instead of 2. I also like the idea of Palm Springs, though my brother will be upset since he lived there for a year and we never made it out during that time! Still, I know he loved it out there and would recommend it as well. We just bought our plane tickets tonight, so I%26#39;ll report back on the decision... Thanks again!