An hour’s drive north of Los Angeles, Ventura has all the relaxed charm of a classic Southern California beach town. Surfers of every stripe visit this sunny enclave in search of big breaks and the promise of an endless summer, while land-bound travelers visit for expansive beaches and unpretentious seafood restaurants.
Ventura also makes for a great spot along a West Coast road trip: Highway 101 hugs the city’s coastline, offering glittering ocean views from every lane. Park your car downtown and walk just about everywhere: past Main Street’s historic mission and quirky boutiques, along the historic wooden pier and across the tan sand at San Buenaventura State Beach.
When you’re ready to explore further afield, take a boat to the Channel Islands.
As always, check for travel restrictions and closures before planning your trip.
Friday: Stroll Downtown and Walk the Pier
Start your day with a fully loaded lox sandwich at the family-owned Bagelicious Café — if you’ve got kids in your party, they’ll love the blue, green, red and yellow rainbow bagels and the gooey cinnamon rolls. Then hop in the car and drive 2 miles west on Main Street to the hub of Ventura’s laid-back downtown. This pedestrian-friendly area is where you’ll spend most of the day.
Make your first stop the stately Mission Basilica San Buenaventura. Built in 1782, this architectural wonder anchors the city center. Like many of California’s Spanish missions, Ventura’s has whitewashed walls and a red-tile roof, but its ornate tiled fountain, five-bell tower and lush gardens set it apart.
Pay a visit to the mission museum to see two ancient bells carved from wood and a confessional made from Spanish shipping containers. Next door at the Albinger Archaeological Museum, learn about the culture of Ventura’s first residents, the Chumash people. Shell beads, arrowheads, stone bowls and other artifacts on display date back 3,500 years.
Walk east of the mission to find Main Street’s antiques stores, clothing shops and breweries. Downtown Ventura’s businesses are housed in beautifully restored buildings of almost every architectural ilk — Art Deco, Craftsman, Beaux Arts and Victorian.
Poke around downtown’s cool boutiques, like Le Monde Emporium for women’s apparel, Sea Things for beachy decor and the Calico Cat Bookshop for gently used tomes.
Don’t miss a photo op at the Ventura County Courthouse (now serving as City Hall). This 1912 Neoclassical Revival gem is a hodgepodge of Doric columns, Roman arched windows, Carrara marble stairs and a glorious stained-glass dome.
For lunch, cross the street for an ahi tuna burger at Finney’s Crafthouse & Kitchen, then splurge on a root beer float from the retro-1950s Busy Bee Café.
After lunch, dig deeper into the city’s past at the Museum of Ventura County, where exhibits detail Ventura’s history from the early Chumash culture to the 21st century.
The museum’s George Stuart Historical Figures always attract attention. The quarter-life-size statues of famous people — Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Louis XVI and other history-making headliners — are astoundingly exacting in detail, right down to their fingernails. Stuart, a 92-year-old Ojai artist and historian, has created more than 400 of the figures.
Head toward the water to log a few laps along the 1,620-foot-long San Buenaventura Pier, enjoying expansive views of Ventura’s seaside beauty. The wooden structure is a testament to the city’s resilience. Since its opening in 1872, the pier has been destroyed and rebuilt six times due to battering storms, shipwrecks and fires.
As you stroll, chat with the anglers lined up along the pier’s edges to find out what they’re catching. Look west to watch the longboarders ply the waves at Surfers Point.
For your first dinner in Ventura, seafood is a must. Head to the stylish, nautically themed digs at Lure Fish House and choose from a robust menu of local catches broiled over mesquite or raw bivalves from an inviting oyster bar.
Saturday: Cruise to the Islands
If yesterday’s weather was clear, you likely caught sight of the Channel Islands off the coast. Today, you’ll set sail to get a close-up look. Start with a strawberry smoothie and avocado toast at Honey Cup Coffeehouse in Channel Islands Harbor, then board an Island Packers vessel to motor across the Pacific.
The company sails to all five islands of Channel Islands National Park, but since your time is limited, choose the closest: Santa Cruz Island. The one-hour boat ride is part of the adventure: You have a great chance of seeing common dolphins zipping through the waves — sometimes hundreds at once. And if the stars align, a gray, humpback or even mighty blue whale might surface near your boat.
Make sure you’ve packed a lunch, so you can spend most of the day on the islands. You’ll need time to hike, watch the seals and sea lions and admire stunning ocean views. Jump in the water and snorkel with bright orange garibaldis, California’s state fish. You can also make advance arrangements with Island Packers to bring rented kayaks with you to explore the island’s sea caves by paddle.
Hike up the ocean bluffs along the popular Potato Harbor Trail. The 4.9-mile loop offers views of the crystal-clear oblong harbor where you can stop for a scenic picnic.
Be careful to keep your food away from the island’s curious residents. Santa Cruz is home to over a thousand island foxes. Descendants of mainland gray foxes, these small, friendly mammals have no natural predators and are known for stealing travelers’ snacks. (While they might have puppy-like mannerisms, touching or feeding island foxes is strictly prohibited.)
Make sure not to miss your ferry back to Ventura — the park rangers make it very clear that if you do, you’ll be spending the night camped out on the island — then finish up your nautical day with a seafaring dinner at Andria’s Seafood Restaurant. This fresh fish market knows its way around clam chowder, charbroiled salmon, and fish-and-chips.
Time your dinner just right and you can enjoy a few laughs at Ventura Harbor Comedy Club.
Sunday: Explore Local Beaches
At the end of an adventurous long weekend, you deserve to kick back with a surf-and-sunshine day. It’s a good thing you’re in the right location. Ventura holds a privileged spot along the coast — its south-facing beaches see more sunshine and less coastal fog than neighboring towns.
Order a bacon-rich breakfast bowl and nitro brew to go from the Copper Coffee Pot Café, then start your sandy adventures at easy-access San Buenaventura State Beach.
Hugging both sides of the pier, this busy strand of sand fits everybody’s definition of summer fun: Spike a volleyball or toss a Frisbee on 2 miles of curving sand. Go for a swim or hop on the paved coastal bikeway and pedal the old railroad right-of-way along the coast. (Rent bikes from Wheel Fun Rentals at the pier or Ventura Bike Depot.)
When you’re hungry for lunch, shuck a dozen raw oysters — including sustainably farmed Pacific and Kumamoto varieties — at the Jolly Oyster shack, or grill them yourself on beachfront barbecues. If you’ve never tried raw sea urchin, this is your chance.
Next, explore beaches farther afield. Twelve miles north of town, wetsuit-clad surfers stake out the swells at Rincon Point. It’s one of the West’s greatest point breaks, immortalized in the Beach Boys’ song “Surfin’ USA.” From Rincon Beach, you’ll need binoculars to get a good look at the surfers poised to catch what might be California’s best waves.
Pay a visit to McGrath State Beach, where scenes from Rudolph Valentino’s 1921 film “The Sheik” were filmed. Legend has it that Valentino so loved this beach that he decided to live there. When his movie-star friends joined him, the neighborhood became known as Hollywood Beach.
Visitors who aren’t from the Golden State are often surprised to see oil-drilling platforms a mile or so offshore. During the winter holidays, they’re illuminated with festive lights.
Turn your back on the sea (briefly) and visit the 107-acre Ventura Botanical Gardens, on a hillside above downtown with expansive views of the coast and Channel Islands. Walk the garden’s easy trails and enjoy the good company of 160 plant species, including Chilean cacti and California native plants.
For your last evening in Ventura, return to your favorite beach and plop down on the sand to watch the sun set. Then score a table at Rumfish y Vino for seafood-focused Caribbean fare and delightful cocktails, or head back to the pier for fish tacos and sunset views at Beach House Tacos.
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