Escape LA: Day Trips Worth the Drive
Day Trips in Los Angeles
Get out of the basin and Southern California turns into four completely different landscapes within a couple of hours: a Mediterranean-feeling island, a wine-town coast, a mid-century desert resort, and a national park full of boulders. Pick a mode of transport as much as a destination, because two of these are genuinely easier without a car.
Catalina Island, 60 minutes by catamaran
Catalina Express runs high-speed catamarans to Avalon from both Downtown Long Beach and San Pedro, a one-hour crossing each way. Round-trip fares run roughly $84 to $92 per adult plus a mandatory $10 wharfage tax, so budget closer to $94 to $102 total; kids run about $75 round trip. Reserve ahead in summer, since sailings sell out; check current departures at catalinaexpress.com . Avalon itself is walkable, with shore diving and snorkeling through kelp forests at Casino Point Marine Park. Book the Catalina Island ferry if you want a locked-in departure time.
Santa Barbara, 2 hours by Amtrak
The Pacific Surfliner runs five times a day from LA Union Station straight to Santa Barbara Station, two blocks from the beach, in about 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 40 minutes. One-way unreserved coach fare runs $31 to $40, with free Wi-Fi and a cafe car onboard, and it entirely sidesteps weekend gridlock on the 101. Check schedules at pacificsurfliner.com . Once there, Old Mission Santa Barbara runs $15 admission and the Santa Barbara County Courthouse clock tower is a free climb with a panoramic payoff.
Palm Springs and the aerial tramway
Palm Springs sits 107 miles east of Downtown LA, about 2 to 2.5 hours by car outside peak traffic. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway climbs 2.5 miles in the world’s largest rotating tramcars, from the desert floor at 2,643 feet to Mount San Jacinto’s Mountain Station at 8,516 feet in 10 minutes, dropping the temperature roughly 30 degrees along the way. Tickets run $32.95 for adults, $19.95 for kids 3 to 10, and can be booked ahead through Viator for a set time slot. Skip the desert floor entirely in June through September, when valley temperatures routinely top 110°F.
Joshua Tree National Park
About 130 miles east via I-10 and CA-62, roughly 2.5 to 3 hours driving. Vehicle entry is $30 for 7 consecutive days. Hidden Valley’s flat 1-mile boulder loop, Keys View’s panorama over the Coachella Valley, and the Cholla Cactus Garden cover the core sights in a single day. Cell service drops out across most of the park and there’s no running water at the campgrounds, so carry at least a gallon of water per person. Current conditions and road status are posted at nps.gov/jotr .
Joshua Tree and Palm Springs both need a rental car; public transit doesn’t reach either one for a day visit. If you’d rather stay closer to the city, the Los Angeles walking routes cover Downtown and Venice without leaving the metro area at all.