igpeaches

We will be staying in Ontario, California for a week and plan on making day trips. We love shopping, wineries, arts, history, etc. We would love some suggestions as to fun things to do in the LA area And how best to utilize our time. We already have a day trip planned for hollywood.

Thank you!

igpeaches

Our trip will be in late march!

JulesK73

There are many wineries in the Temecula area, which won't be far from where you're staying.

PhilippeLeRoux

You'll want to overnight at least once between LA and SF, or twice if time permits. If only one night, I'd suggest Cambria (which is near Hearst Castle, and its well worth squeezing in a tour of Hearst) as its about half way. If two nights, I'd do Santa Barbara or Cambria, and then Monterey or Carmel for the overnight stopovers. For wineries, I'm not familiar with options along the entire route but one area you might want to take a brief detour off of Highway 1 will be Santa Ynez which is near Santa Barbara.

janisj

Philippe: Are you sure you meant to post that response on this thread. Nothing was asked about SF, Cambria, the coast, etc etc . . .

5alive

For art and history:

I'd suggest a day to Pasadena to see the Huntington Garden and Library...treasures there include one of the Gutenberg Bibles, Shakespeare's First Folio, the painting Blue Boy and much more. We also liked the gardens a lot.

I also am a fan of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. A small museum with artwork by Rembrandt, Rodin, Titian (I think) and more. It is a very thoughtful and concise collection. Well worth the time.

Several people live in that area now and can give you restaurant recs.

stumpworks73

You must make at least a half a day at the Getty Museum. The facility and the scenic view are worth the visit not to mention the fine art collection. The museum includes several good restaurant options; include lunch in your plans.

La Brea tar pits is a famous visitor destination with much ancient history of the LA basin. It's a quick visit in downtown LA.

Having a lunch at the Farmers Market 6333 W. 3rd provides an option of about 70 food stands, many very good and located next to the Grove, a very upscale shopping mall.

Take the scenic Mullholland Drive atop the Santa Monicas with beautiful vistas of LA and the valley. Spectacular day or night.

Take care to watch your distances and travel times. It is way too easy to spend too much time on the freeways and stuck in traffic. That's not a vacation.

PeaceOut

Are you sure you want to stay in Ontario for the entire week? You could move to Santa Monica for a few nights, to be closer to beach communities.

I heartily recommend the Getty Museum, or the Getty Center. Both are amazing.

igpeaches

Thank you all so much for your responses! My husband is staying in ontario for work so we have to be there the entire time.

PeaceOut

If you have a smart phone, download the free app WAZE. It is a GPS system which will alert you to traffic snarls or other problems on your route ahead, and it will give you an alternate route. And WAZE will easily re-configure your route, if you miss a turn. I could not navigate LA without it!