We have a long weekend coming-up at the end of September. Any suggestions for someplace that is EITHER a two hour drive or two hour flight? We like cities or larger towns with cultural sites. Not interested in Santa Barbara....

Thanks in advance

For driving purposes, where do you live in So. Cal?

My first choice for driving since you like cities would be San Diego. For flying, I know my first choice would be San Francisco. I guess we need to know what you want to do for your long weekend. Another choice would be to fly to Phoenix and go to Sedona but that's not a larger town. Tucson is nice but would still be pretty hot end of Sept. Non-stop to Portland is around 2 hrs 15 min. Albuquerque is less than 2 hrs and so is Salt Lake City. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I would say you have lots of choices.

Well I'm not sure where you are flying from......but there is now a direct flight from either Seattle or L.A. into Santa Rosa..which makes the wine country within reach without a long drive up from either Oakland or San Francisco. check out Horizon Air.. part of Alaska.

I'd just fly to San Francisco and be done with it. If you like cities with cultural sites, SF is probably the best that California has to offer.

Portland is pretty great, too, and probably falls within your 2 hour flight parameter.

We just got back from two weeks in San Diego and it was perfect.

La Jolla
Coronado
San Francisco
Sedona
Cabo
Portland
Taos/Santa Fe

Tahiti-Your list looks like mine but the OP said they want cities so that would probably leave out Sedona and Santa Fe. I guess once we hear back from them, we'll get a better idea of their interests.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Flying from Los Angeles

We like cities, so Sedona is OUT. Been there once, before it became an "IN" spot, and that was enough for me...

Tuscon sounds interesting and SF is the easiest choice.

Portland was our original choice, but we plan to wait until early June as we both love roses and they won't be in bloom in late September or so I am told.

Thanks again, will consider many of the suggestions.

Tucson will still be hot end of Sept, average in the 90's although by the end of the month could cool down a little more.

What about Santa Fe? It's not a big town but it does have lots of culture, museums, etc.

If you love big cities you most likely won't like Tucson. My DD went to school there and it is nice especially if you love outdoorsy stuff like biking, hiking, etc. It is still very hot up until Oct.
You will love Portland when you go in June. I recommend the Hotel Monaco in the Downtown area - but you'll need reservations now as that is very popular time of year with weddings, graduations, rose festival, and it is a very popular hotel in Portland.

You can get to Puerto Vallarta Mexico on a 2 hour flight from LAX.