Day trips from Los Angeles

A day outside the city: Malibu, Santa Barbara, the vineyards, the desert.

Five recommendations, each checked every 90 days.

The docent-led tour at Casa del Herrero
A 90-minute docent-led tour, by reservation only, of the house George Washington Smith built in Montecito in 1925, its gardens and George Fox Steedman's workshop.
Checked 25 September
The docent-led tour at Lotusland
A two-hour, two-mile walk with a docent through Ganna Walska's 37-acre garden estate in Montecito, open only by advance reservation, Wednesday to Saturday.
Checked 25 September
The historic house tour at Sunnylands
A 90-minute guided walk for seven through the Annenbergs' 25,000-square-foot midcentury winter house in Rancho Mirage, where presidents and heads of state have met since 1966.
Checked 25 September
The Julia Morgan tour at Hearst Castle
A two-hour, semi-private tour of Hearst Castle led through the work of its architect, Julia Morgan, including rooms and a buried terrace the 70-minute tours leave out.
Checked 25 September
The private architecture tour at the Salk Institute
A one-hour walk with a docent, for your party alone, through the travertine courtyard and outdoor spaces of Louis Kahn's 1965 laboratories on the bluff at La Jolla.
Checked 25 September

About this list

A day outside the city: Malibu and the coast, Santa Barbara, the vineyards of the Santa Ynez Valley, and Palm Springs.