The 10 Weekend Getaways From San Diego To Mountains, National Parks, and More In 2022

When you’ve had enough of San Diego’s warm weather and beautiful beaches, you can choose from a wide range of things to do in the area. You can drive a short distance to hike through the rough canyons of Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert or fish off the coast of Baja Mexico.

Natural wonders like Sequoia National Park’s giant redwoods are easy to get to, and so are city adventures like checking out the booming food scene in Downtown Los Angeles (Downtown Los Angeles).

With some careful planning and the large number of freeways in Southern California, you can also have two very different adventures in the same day. It’s very easy to surf at Pacific Beach in the morning and ski in the mountains of Big Bear in the afternoon.

Plan your adventures with our list of the best weekend getaways from San Diego.

From quiet beaches to cute mountain towns, San Diego is full of places that are great for couples. Our list of the best weekend getaways from San Diego will help you find the best places to go and relaxing places in San Diego.

Check out these best places to visit in San Diego and the best luxury hotels in San Diego if you must plan your vacation to this exciting city. If you enjoy our blogs, make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Read our list of the best weekend getaways from San Diego to make the most of your time there.

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Best Weekend Getaways From San Diego

Even people who live in San Diego, which has some of the best weather in the country and is one of the most desirable places to live, may want a change of scenery from time to time. Getting out of the city for a few days is good for your health, and there are many great places to visit close to the city for weekend getaways from San Diego.

You can get to mountains, deserts, national parks, casinos, or vineyards in a few hours by car. You can spend the day hiking, shopping, getting spa treatments, going to a museum, or just having fun in a new place. You can even choose a relaxing staycation that is just minutes from home but feels like a world away.

When you want to take a short vacation, you might want to think about one of our ideas. A few days, or a three-day weekend if you can make it work, will give you a break and give you the chance to see a new place or go back to a favorite one.

Whether you want an active trip full of hiking and water sports or a relaxing vacation spent lounging by a pool or on the beach, San Diego is a short drive away from a number of great weekend getaway spots.

Here are ten best weekend getaways from San Diego within just a few hours’ drive of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Palm Springs.

1. Death Valley

Death Valley National Park, which is about five hours’ drive north of San Diego, is a great place to get away from the beach and the city. You can see beautiful rock formations along the road before you even get to the park.

When you come from San Diego, you’ll enter the park on Panamint Valley Road and see the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes right away. Stop by the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to buy your pass, look at the displays, and talk to a park ranger about anything you need to know.

Zabriskie Point is a must-see, especially at sunrise and sunset, because it has some of the most beautiful views in Death Valley. Artists Drive is a great place to take pictures because it has hills of different colors and strange rock shapes. You can hike one of the many trails in the valley, or you can just drive through the park and enjoy the views.

Check the weather before you go, because summer temperatures in Death Valley can sometimes reach 120 degrees. Some tourists don’t mind the extreme heat, so that doesn’t stop them from going, but outdoor activities should be done carefully.

You can stay at one of the many campgrounds, the Ranch at Death Valley, which is good for families, or the historic Inn at Death Valley. One of the best mountain getaways near San Diego.

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2. Los Angeles

It takes about two hours to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, which is a great place to go for a weekend trip. It’s probably best to focus on one area, like a beach trip to Santa Monica or a foodie trip to Downtown Los Angeles (downtown Los Angeles). One of the best day trips from San Diego.

The downtown area of Los Angeles is doing well. There are new restaurants on every street, and buildings from the early 20th century have been turned into luxury loft apartments or high-end shopping. You must eat at the Grand Central Market, which is now a gourmet food hall, and see a concert at Disney Hall. The Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles has been fixed up and now has more modern musical acts.

If you don’t want to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, you can take an Amtrak train from the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego to Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. Then, it’s easy to take the Metro all over downtown and the rest of Los Angeles, including places like Hollywood, Universal City, and Santa Monica Beach that are popular with tourists.

The office building and theatre that are now the Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles were built in the early 1900s. The theatre is still a popular place for concerts and shows. The stylish hotel is right in the middle of DTLA on Broadway, making it easy to walk to all the cool shops and restaurants.

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3. Dana Point

Visit this coastal city about 70 miles north of San Diego if you can’t stand not being near a beach. Some of California’s best beaches for swimming, surfing, and tide pooling are an easy drive up the coast on Interstate 5. Doheny State Beach is a popular place for surfers, and it also has places to picnic, camp, and park RVs. Visitors come to Capistrano Beach for the food stands, volleyball, basketball, and beach activities.

At Dana Point Harbor, you can shop, eat by the water, go fishing or whale-watching, rent a kayak, or rent a boat. The Ocean Institute teaches people about the environment through cruises on their 65-foot research vessel that look at the ocean ecosystem and marine life in the area.

On land, the Dana Point Headlands Conservation Area has four parks that cover 60 acres and provide homes for more than 150 species of plants and animals that live along the coast. One of the romantic getaways in San Diego.

You’ll find the perfect place to stay for your vacation, from campsites near the beach to motels, hotels, and resorts. For a luxurious weekend, you could stay at the Monarch Beach Resort, which has a spa, golf course, private beach club, rooms with views of the Pacific, and restaurants like Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak and an oceanfront restaurant.

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4. Temecula

This beautiful rural area is only an hour from San Diego. It used to be a farming area, but now it’s a popular place for tourists. There are a lot of golf courses and hotels in the Temecula Valley. It’s also a popular place for hot air balloon rides in Southern California.

Some of the original buildings from Temecula’s farming days are still there in the Old Town area. There are many restaurants, antique shops, and museums in the small downtown area. Pennypickle’s Workshop is a hands-on science museum for kids.

The Signature Temecula is a good budget option for people who want to spend more time in the Old Town area. It’s right next door to one of the best Mexican restaurants in town, Lienzo Charro, and only a short walk from the Old Town area.

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5. Palm Springs

Palm Springs is a desert city in California that can be reached by car in less than three hours. Depending on the season, you can spend the day relaxing by a pool, shopping, hiking, playing golf, or going to a spa. In the evening, you can listen to live music and eat outside.

The Uptown Design District has become a popular place for people to go shopping for unique home decor, art, clothes, and gifts. The collection and special shows at the Palm Springs Art Museum will amaze art lovers.

For nature lovers, there are hiking trails for all skill levels, such as the Indian Canyons, which have waterfalls, streams, rock art, and plants that are native to the area. Joshua Tree National Park is about an hour to the east. It has beautiful rock formations, a clear night sky, and campgrounds.

Depending on what you have planned for the weekend, you can stay at a high-end golf resort, a boutique hotel, a restored motel-style inn, or a modern hotel in the city.

The Kimpton Rowan has a rooftop pool and a beautiful restaurant, and the restored Villa Royale has a retro feel. The 11-room boutique hotel Dive looks and feels like the French Riviera in the 1960s, making it a great place for a buyout. There is also a guide for LGBTQ visitors and locals that makes it easy to find things to do and places to stay.

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6. Lake Arrowhead

Lake Arrowhead is high up in the San Bernardino Mountains. It is only two hours by car from San Diego. In the winter, people come here to ski at the Snow Valley ski resort, which is only 30 minutes away. In the summer, it’s a beautiful, rustic lake getaway that’s good for the whole family.

There is a big lake and hundreds of miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking. Lake Arrowhead is a small town with a good variety of hotels, restaurants, shops, and art galleries. The lake is a great place to swim, fish, go boating, and do water sports like wakeboarding, riding Jet Skis, and water-skiing.

The Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa is a big resort on the shore of a lake. It has its own marina where people can rent boats and other water sports and have a lot of fun out on the water. It’s also a great choice in the winter, when it’s easy to get to nearby ski resorts.

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7. Las Vegas

The bright lights of Las Vegas are only five hours away by car or a short flight (picture poolside relaxing, shopping, gambling, shows, dancing, and thrill rides).

Hotels on the Las Vegas Strip and in downtown offer shows in lounges, showrooms, and concert halls, as well as a wide range of restaurants, from casual to upscale.

Take a 30-minute ride on the High Roller, the world’s largest observation wheel, and soar 550 feet above the Strip. This is a fun way to get away from the tables. You can fly over Fremont Street on a zip line in downtown Las Vegas, or you can take the longer, higher Zoomline ride and glide like Superman at up to 40 miles per hour.

Don’t miss the free light and music show at Fremont Street Experience, which has the world’s largest video screen. You can pretend to be in Italy at The Venetian or in Egypt at the Luxor Hotel because there are so many hotels to choose from.

You can shop at hotel shops or malls and eat at the newest restaurants from famous chefs like Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Lorena Garcia, and David Chang, who just opened Majordomo Meat & Fish at The Venetian.

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8. Riverside

Riverside may seem like an odd place to go for a weekend getaway because it isn’t known for its resorts, but a stay at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa is worth the trip by itself.

The building is in the middle of the city and has interesting architecture. It has been welcoming guests for more than 100 years. After you’ve explored the property (make sure to get a free tour from one of the hotel’s ambassadors), you can go to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, which is about the city and region, the Riverside Art Museum, which has a great collection of mostly Californian and American painters, and the University of California, Riverside Museum of Photography.

The Mission Inn is also right across the street from the city’s historic Fox Performing Arts Center, which is an old theatre where popular musical acts and live shows are held.

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9. Borrego Springs

Borrego Springs is in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, about 90 miles northeast of San Diego. It is the only town in California that is surrounded on all sides by a state park. The International Dark-Sky Association has named it an International Dark-Sky Community. Throughout the year, there are many events for people who like to look at the stars.

Borrego Springs has shops, restaurants, and art galleries like a small town, but it also has big-city events like the annual Film Festival in January. The Borrego Art Institute has a gallery, a pottery studio, a workshop, and programs for kids. One of the best mountain getaways near San Diego.

They also offer classes, shows, and events for the community. Borrego’s Sky Art Sculptures, 130 ancient animals, snakes, and otherworldly creatures, can be found in the area. The town is also known for the wildflowers that bloom in the spring, which bring a lot of people there every year.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has campsites (check current rules), and RV parks, motels, and resorts offer a variety of places to stay. You can stay in a vintage trailer at Desert Sands RV Park or choose a deluxe guest room or casita with a private pool at La Casa del Zorro. The casitas have one, two, or three bedrooms.

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10. Mammoth Lakes

High in the Eastern Sierra mountains is a place that is mostly used as a winter resort. It takes about eight hours to drive there or a short flight. United has flights that go straight from LAX to Eastern

Sierra Regional/Bishop Airport (BIH). Mammoth Lakes is about a 45-minute drive from the airport. Advanced Air offers a semi-private flight from Carlsbad (CLD) to Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH), which is 15 minutes from the resort area. One of the best weekend trips from San Diego.

Mammoth gets a lot of snow, so winter is all about snow. The lift-served ski mountain in California that is the highest is at the Mammoth Mountain ski resort. There are 25 lifts that take you to 175 different runs. The longest one is three miles long. Also, there are 10 terrain parks to ride through.

Mammoth is also a great place to go on vacation in the summer and romantic getaways in San Diego. There are hiking trails, world-class mountain biking, and some great golf courses at the mountain resort. Some of the ski lifts work, so you can go to higher elevations or ride your mountain bike down the slopes.

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