8 Of The Friendliest Towns In California

California has plenty of crowded cities, but the friendliest pockets are usually the smaller towns where the lifestyle slows down. Coronado on San Diego Bay sits at one end of a long bridge and operates at a different pace. Orinda in the Contra Costa County hills hides Art Deco theaters and outdoor Shakespeare. Laguna Beach has been an artist colony since the early 1900s. Cambria on the Central Coast and Visalia in the Central Valley pair small-town hospitality with the kind of setting most cities can't match. Here are eight of the friendliest towns in California.

Cambria

Cambria sits on the Central Coast in San Luis Obispo County. The town splits into two halves. The eastern village along Burton Drive holds restaurants, galleries, and Victorian-era homes. The western strip along Moonstone Beach Drive faces the Pacific. Moonstone Beach has a one-mile boardwalk along the bluffs, named for the polished agates and moonstones that wash up on the shore. Hearst Castle is six miles north in San Simeon and is open for guided tours of William Randolph Hearst's 165-room estate. The Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery is a short drive further up the coast. Cambria's restaurants lean toward farm-to-table, and the surrounding wine country produces some respected Pinot Noir.

Coronado

Coronado sits on a peninsula between San Diego Bay and the Pacific. The Hotel del Coronado is a Queen Anne-style wooden resort that opened in 1888 and has hosted U.S. presidents, foreign royalty, and the cast of Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (filmed at the hotel in 1958). Bay Books on Orange Avenue is the local independent bookstore. Coronado Beach consistently ranks among the best beaches in the country, with sand that contains traces of mica that catches the light. The Naval Air Station North Island shares the peninsula's north end.

Encinitas

Encinitas sits along the North County coast in San Diego County. The town is anchored by surf culture, and Swami's Beach is one of the most famous breaks in California (named for the nearby Self-Realization Fellowship founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1937). Downtown Encinitas along Coast Highway 101 holds vintage signs, surf shops, and small restaurants. The San Diego Botanic Garden covers 37 acres of themed gardens and is one of the largest plant collections in the western U.S. The San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve has seven miles of trails through coastal wetlands. The Coaster commuter train stops in town.

Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach sits along seven miles of Orange County coastline with steep coastal hills behind it and over 20 named beaches and coves below. The town has been an artist colony since the early 1900s, and the Laguna Art Museum (founded 1918) is one of the oldest art museums in California. The Sawdust Art Festival each summer turns Laguna into an open-air arts market, and the Pageant of the Masters stages "living pictures" recreations of famous artworks with real performers. Heisler Park along the bluffs has tide pools, a beach access point, and views from the cliffs. Laguna Coffee on South Coast Highway is the local morning meeting spot.

Orinda

Orinda sits in the Contra Costa County hills with a population around 19,000. The California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) was founded in 1974 and has been based at the Bruns Amphitheater just outside town since 1991. The company stages Shakespeare and contemporary classics outdoors each summer. Orinda's Theatre Square is anchored by the Orinda Theatre, a 1941 Art Deco movie house still in operation. The town hosts the annual Orinda Film Festival each fall and a Fourth of July parade that begins with a community pancake breakfast. A BART station downtown handles commuter traffic.

Rancho Mirage

Rancho Mirage sits at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains between Palm Springs and Indio in the Coachella Valley. The town has long been associated with U.S. presidents. Gerald Ford, the Eisenhowers, and the Annenbergs all owned property here, and the Sunnylands estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg now hosts presidential summits. The Indian Canyons in the foothills of nearby Palm Springs offer hiking through fan-palm oases. Rancho Mirage holds five major championship golf courses, and the Eisenhower Medical Center is the largest hospital in the Coachella Valley.

Seal Beach

Seal Beach sits at the northern edge of Orange County's coastline, named for the harbor seals that haul out on the rocks offshore. Main Street is a walkable two-block strip with restaurants, surf shops, and the long-running Seal Beach Pier (the second-longest wooden pier in California at 1,865 feet). The annual Seal Beach Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting draws crowds each December. Surfside Pier farther down the beach is open for fishing year-round. Seal Beach has 18 city parks across its small footprint and connects easily to neighboring beach towns by Pacific Coast Highway.

Visalia

Visalia sits in California's Central Valley, surrounded by the orchards and farms that feed much of the country. The town was founded in 1852 and is one of the oldest cities in the San Joaquin Valley. The Tulare County Museum at Mooney Grove Park covers regional history. Visalia is the closest sizeable town to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, where the General Sherman Tree (the largest tree on Earth by volume) draws visitors year-round. Downtown Visalia has been redeveloped with restaurants, an independent movie theater, and the Fox Theatre, a 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival venue still hosting concerts and plays.

The Friendliest Side of California

The Coachella Valley, the East Bay hills, the Central Coast: these eight towns are where California slows down. Some have national rankings to back up the claim. Others just have the kind of locals who give directions instead of dirty looks. The pleasant climate, accessible nature, and steady stream of small-town festivals make any of them a reasonable weekend out.