Yes, this Blog post could be a zillion pages long, as there are so many Beautiful Places in California!  I’m always looking for an excuse to visit California, and especially when the temperatures reach over 100 degrees day-after-day in Texas, and Beautiful Places in Southern California and Beautiful Places in Northern California seem particularly dreamy!!!!  But, as I have said many times, I have not travelled everywhere, so today I’m rounding up two fantastic posts written by Travel Bloggers who have all the scoop!

Beautiful Places in California

I’m no historian, but I bet when those early settlers made their way from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast, they arrived at what would eventually be California, looked at each other, and said:  “Fellers….we ain’t never leavin’ this place!”  Their grammar might not have been exactly that, but I am sure the sentiment was the same.  California is simply a gorgeous state!  Let’s take a closer look through the eyes of other Travel Bloggers who were kind enough to allow me to share their tips and insights.

Beautiful Places in Southern California

California Unpublished is a fantastic Travel Blog which I encourage you to follow, and I particularly enjoyed Stacy Molter’s post highlighting her trip to Catalina Island.  You can read her full Blog Post here, and I very much enjoyed these tips:

• Catalina Island is very family friendly!  Consider an Undersea Expedition in a semi-submersible boat five feet below the ocean surface to get face-to-face with Catalina’s abundant marine life.  Another activity that kids (and adults) is the Catalina Aerial Adventure. Guests get to experience an exciting rope course made of bridges, zip lines, and other thrilling obstacles suspended in the trees deep in Descanso Canyon.  My step-son has done this zip line before, and LOVED it!!!
• Stacy also recommended the Island Spa, Catalina Island’s first ever destination resort spa.  Love a good spa recommendation!
• If you are able to spend the night on Catalina Island, Stacy and her family enjoyed staying at the Portofino Hotel.  Overlooking Avalon Bay and just footsteps from the beach is the Portofino Hotel, a stunning Mediterranean-style hotel featuring ocean view suites and cozy rooms.
• Many years ago, my husband and I took our kids to Catalina Island via helicopter.  Most people travel to Catalina island via boat, and Stacy recommends the Catalina Express‘ Cat Jet Express, a high-speed catamaran designed specifically for comfort and speed, which departs from one of three port locations; San Pedro, Long Beach, and Dana Point.  I get sea sick easily, but Stacy has a great tip about the Cat Jet Express!  Each vessel features state-of-the-art stabilizers that smooth out 90 percent of the ocean roll.  The trip takes about an hour.

PC: California Unpublished

Stacy, thank you for allowing me to share your excellent Blog Post about one of the most Beautiful Places in Southern California, Catalina Island!!!

Beautiful Places in Northern California

Another fantastic Travel Blog I highly encourage y’all to follow is More Than Main Street.  Julie Thome keeps it REAL on this Blog, and I always love reading about where she is visiting next!  I’m a big fan of visiting and supporting our National and State Parks, and Julie wrote an excellent piece on visiting California’s legendary redwood trees.  Here are her tips:

• Big Basin Redwoods State Park is the oldest state park in California and has the largest continuous strand of ancient redwoods south of San Francisco. There are more than 80 miles of trails, several waterfalls, and trees 2500 years old!
• Julie’s family chose to walk the Redwood Loop Trail since they only had an hour. It’s a little over half a mile trail that is stroller and wheelchair accessible. This may be a short trail but it packs a big punch! They have a self guided tour pamphlet so you can follow along on the trail.
• There are several other places to see them if Big Basin isn’t along your route. However, Julie personally loved Big Basin because it was a super easy stop without feeling like she had to spend the day hiking or camping. I agree with her sentiment, “Don’t get me wrong, I do like hiking… I just don’t feel like that always fits into the itinerary without devoting an entire day to it.”  Me too, sister!

Julie, thank you for allowing me to feature your Blog post!  The redwoods are certainly some of the most Beautiful Places in Northern California!

OK friends…..I’d love to know your picks for the most Beautiful Places in California!  Leave me a comment, and help me build my California Bucket List!