Hello there!

We are thinking of visiting most of the Missions in CA this year.....and was wondering if anyone has a particular favorite they can recommend as a 'must-see'?

Thanks,
Belindalouwho
lettuceland.com

You are asking if any of the Missions are "worth" seeing for you?

They are only "worth" it if you are interested in their history.

Santa Barbara, Carmel, and San Juan Capistrano are examples of lovely missions, but some of the lesser known ones are interesting if you know their history. These are often not yet restored, and some of them are out of your way.

I like the one in San Luis Obispo.

All except two of the missions are still in the hands of the Catholic and are there still "working" Catholic churches (if there is enough of a structure left to serve as a church).

The other two are Claifornia State Parks. Of these two, I really like La Purisma which is near Lompoc. The state of California has done a superb job of trying to recreate the mission as a working mission and it's the only mission that I've visited where I began to understand what the missions were all about.

Of the rest, I like San Francisco's Mission Dolores and the one in Santa Barbara for big cities. San Juan Bautista for a small town. The one in Santa Clara has been remodled and is very contemporary.

Some people go on a missions trail trip and visit all 21 of them.

I'm certain some of the other Fodorites will chime in with their experiences and suggestions.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

El_Swainer....no, sorry, not asking if any of the Missions are worth seeing, just if it is useful to see ALL of them to understand the history of those times.

Thanks again!

I think San Juan Bautista is one of the most interesting. The town is preserved and there are many historic buildings you can visit. It's between San Jose and Salinas, near Hollister.

I should add, Carmel is pretty great too. And Father Serra is buried there.

My favorite is San Antonia De Padua. It is the only one that is still way out in the country. Looks like it must have when built. It is on a military base, and they've been good about keeping themselves out of the sightlines of the mission.

Google California Missions and you will get all sorts of information. Here's one site:

http://www.cuca.k12.ca.us/lessons/mi.../missions.html

I too like La Purisima for the historical perspective it gives.

I like San Antonio de Padua, too, and for the same reasons lcuy likes it. My son did his [ubiquitous] 4th grade mission project on that mission. (As an aside, during his research we learned that the tiles on the roof of the Burlingame train station are from that mission)

well, gee, dmlove - give 'em back!

(Just kidding!)

Another vote for San Juan Bautista - probably my favorite mission to visit, although I haven't been to Purisima since I was a kid (4th grade mission project) and have heard great things about it.

I like San Juan because they have restored/rebuilt much of the town square, so there is a lot to see in addition to the mission.

San Antonio was neat - were there on a weekday morning and no one else was around. The was very cool.

Definitely worth visiting! Whether you see them all or not, I don't think matters... although that would make a nice theme for a trip if you have the time. The history of California is fascinating imo.

Visiting Carmel (and its beach), the old buildings near the wharf in Monterey, San Juan Bautista and Mission Dolores (in SF) would be nice.
Find some books that talk about living in those days (if you haven't already) and it might be even more fun. Two Years Before the Mast includes some stuff about Monterey in (I think) the Californios days.

A quiet little mission in the SF Bay Area's East Bay Hills (in Fremont) is Mission San Jose. Not crowded at all.

Further north, other places from the Mission and Californios days is General Vallejo's ranch at Petaluma Adobe (near Petaluma) and all the stuff in the town of Sonoma (Vallejo's home and the Sonoma Mission).

If you go to San Juan Bautista, and you like Hitchcock films, take a look at Vertigo, and see if you can pick out the scenes that were filmed there.