Orange County

Why start in Orange County

Most travel advice tells you to fly into San Francisco or go straight to Los Angeles. We disagree. After a ten-hour flight, what you need is a beach, a good meal and an early night — not a bewildering city and a full itinerary.

Orange County delivers all three. The beaches here are wide, clean and reliably warm. The pace is relaxed. The restaurants are excellent. And LAX is close enough that you can be on the sand within an hour of landing.

Spend two or three days here before you start moving. You will enjoy everything that follows considerably more.

Newport Beach

The most upscale of the Orange County beach towns, with a working harbour, excellent restaurants along the Balboa Peninsula, and some of the best people-watching in Southern California. The Wedge — at the tip of the Balboa Peninsula — is one of the most powerful shore breaks in the world and worth watching even if you have no intention of going in the water.

Newport Beach is the setting for Arrested Development and inspired The OC — the TV series that introduced a generation of British teenagers to the idea of California as a way of life. The geography of both is surprisingly accurate.

Dolphin and whale watching tours depart from Newport Harbor daily. Common dolphin sightings are almost guaranteed — pods of hundreds routinely ride the bow waves of the tour boats. Grey whales migrate past from December to April on their journey between Alaska and Baja California. Blue whales — the largest animals on earth — feed off the coast in summer and are seen with surprising regularity. Dana Point, twenty minutes south on the PCH, is equally well placed and carries the self-declared title of Dolphin and Whale Watching Capital of the World. See our whale watching guide for full details on both departure points.

Huntington Beach

Surf City USA — the name is official and the culture is genuine. Huntington Beach has been the centre of California surf culture since the 1960s and the main street and pier feel exactly as you would expect. Less polished than Newport, more authentic for it.

The beach itself is exceptional — wide, flat and stretching for miles in either direction. It is the kind of beach that makes British visitors understand why Californians talk about the beach the way they do.

Laguna Beach

The most artistically inclined of the three towns, with a genuine gallery scene and some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in Southern California. The town tumbles down the cliffs to the ocean, and the coves and beaches below are worth exploring on foot.

Victoria Beach has a stone tower — the Pirate Tower — built privately in 1926 and accessible only at low tide. One of those California curiosities that rewards the visitor who goes looking.

The Pageant of the Masters — a summer arts festival in which famous paintings are recreated using live human figures — is extraordinary and unlike anything else in California. Book well in advance if you are visiting in summer.

Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm

Disneyland in Anaheim is twenty minutes from Newport Beach and a very different experience from Walt Disney World in Florida. The original park, opened by Walt Disney in 1955, is smaller, more walkable and carries a historical atmosphere the Florida resort simply cannot replicate — you can stand in Main Street USA and understand that Walt Disney himself walked this exact ground. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and the Indiana Jones Adventure are the headline rides; the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are the classics that still hold up. Disney California Adventure next door is included in the Park Hopper ticket and has some of the best rides in the resort.

Book Disneyland tickets and Lightning Lane passes well in advance, particularly for school holiday periods. Arrive at rope drop — the park opens early and the first two hours are significantly less crowded than the rest of the day.

Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park is ten minutes from Disneyland and the oldest theme park in the United States — it predates Disneyland by decades and grew from a literal berry farm and roadside chicken dinner restaurant. The coasters are serious — GhostRider is one of the best wooden coasters in the country — and the crowds are a fraction of what you will find next door. For families with older children who want thrills over theming, Knott's is excellent value.

Orange County sports

The LA Angels play Major League Baseball at Angel Stadium in Anaheim — a classic ballpark opened in 1966 and one of the more atmospheric in the league. Despite the LA prefix, the Angels are firmly an Orange County team and the rivalry with the Dodgers is genuine and long-standing. A summer evening game at Angel Stadium is a very enjoyable few hours regardless of your interest in baseball — the pace of the game suits casual watching, the food has improved dramatically and the atmosphere on a warm night is quintessentially Californian.

The Anaheim Ducks play NHL hockey at the Honda Center, directly across the car park from Angel Stadium. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007 and remain one of the stronger franchises in the Western Conference. If you are visiting between October and April, an NHL game is one of the best live sports experiences available — the speed and physicality of the game is unlike anything on television and the Honda Center is an excellent arena. Tickets are significantly cheaper and easier to obtain than for LA Lakers or Dodgers games.

Day trips from Orange County

Los Angeles is forty-five minutes north — close enough for a day trip to Beverly Hills, Griffith Observatory or the Getty, far enough that you are not in the city when you do not want to be. San Diego is ninety minutes south — a very manageable day trip if you want to see the zoo or the Gaslamp Quarter without committing to a separate stop on your itinerary.