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Seaside Villages Bring Out California\’s Best

by

Cary Ordway

Great accommodations, fine restaurants and trendy shops await your exploration when you visit California\’s seaside villages.

These are not your typical beach towns – they go beyond the usual beach and pier and have lots of great restaurants and trendy shops to add to your experience.

La Jolla is a good example. This occupies some of the best real estate in all of California and has dramatic views of the ocean just north of San Diego. But it\’s also a place where you\’ll find world-class shopping, exquisite restaurants and a local population that certainly knows how to enjoy the finer things in life. The home values in California are some of the highest in California, but you\’ll be able to drop in and spend a night or two without completely breaking the bank.

The most expensive lodging will be in the village — although some prices are quite reasonable — but you can also find accommodations closer to Interstate 5 that sometimes offer lower rates. One must-see in La Jolla is Gerard Avenue, the center of all the activity and the place where you\’ll find the best stores and restaurants. Just a block away is the waterfront, and area where you can walk along the sea or enjoy a lazy afternoon laying on a blanket or mat in the beautiful park. La Jolla has excellent nightlife as well with its world-class restaurants and unbeatable weather.

Carmel is another one of those special villages. It\’s on the south shore or the beautiful Monterey Peninsula and is only one square mile. But, in this case, size doesn\’t matter because of the special fairy tale storybook feel of the place that has helped add to the Carmel mystique over the years.

About 4,000 people live in the village, which is known as an artists\’ colony. Perhaps its best-known resident was Clint Eastwood who was once mayor. This village continues to beckon travelers to its Hansel-and-Gretel charms – visitors find lots of tourist attractions and high-caliber hotels. You can expect to find some 50 inns to choose from and, if you\’re an art lover, you\’ll find 90 galleries in this tiny village.

Don\’t forget, you\’re also close to Monterey and many other Monterey Bay attractions so you might want to find lodging along the beach near Monterey and spend some time exploring not only Carmel but this whole picturesque region.

If you\’re headed north to San Francisco, be sure to allow some time to visit Sausalito, located just across from the city of San Francisco. This waterfront community is charming to the extreme, with gorgeous views of the San Francisco skyline. The town is on a slim piece of waterfront, down from the expensive view homes on the nearby hillsides. Population here is about 7,500.

You can easily visit Sausalito by taking a ferry from San Francisco for a day. They\’ll browse the waterfront shops and trendy stores, and here, too, are plenty of galleries and specialty stores. A lot of the shops are located on the west side of Bridgeway and, on the east side, you\’ll find those spectacular waterfront views. Boats are a big deal here – the Sausalito Yacht Harbor features some of the fanciest you\’ll ever see and the marina and docking areas extend about two-thirds the length of the Sausalito waterfront. You\’ll also find a lot of restaurants built on pilings, giving a real nautical feel to the entire downtown area.

Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer and president of Getaway Media Corp, which publishes CaliforniaWeekend.com , covering the

California vacations

and NorthwestTravelAdvisor.com , covering

Pacific NW vacation

ideas.

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com