The 5 Best Tourist Attractions Along California's Scenic Coast, According To Reviews

Even the most rugged family of outdoor adventurers arrives at a moment when they look at each other and say, "Let's just play tourist today." This means let's relax, slow down, savor the sights, and maybe see something so awesome and improbable it will set the kids to chattering like chipmunks for a few hours instead of fighting in the backseat. No kids? Then something you and your boo can giggle about later in your rooftop tent as you take a break from the stunning scenery of California's national parks.

California is home to such a density of natural wonders that we'll never run out of mountains and waterfalls to talk about, but what about those other things that aren't majestic, and might even be a little bit kitschy, but are as memorable as all get-out? We're talking about the kind of sights that make you wax nostalgic years later when you see them in the background of a movie scene or those that make you want to dash off a postcard that says, "Having a wonderful time! Wish you were here!" We're talking drive-through trees in the redwoods, a castle built by an industry baron for a movie star, and a motel where you can sleep like a caveman.

We combed through social media, and our own considerable memory banks from generations of family vacations, to unearth the most potently unforgettable attractions out there for this list. So take a break from the soul-stirring mountain sojourns and edifying museum tours, and play tourist for the day — just because it'll make you smile.

Remember when your parents took you here that summer in sixth grade in their Volvo station wagon, because their parents took them in their Oldsmobile? "Blast from the past," one Tripadvisor visitor writes, "Our grandsons wanted to see a drive through tree and we took them to one that we had visited when we were kids in the 70's."

You may roll through it in a Tesla today, but the Chandelier Tree is still there, a living thing you can drive through with childlike delight. This giant Coastal Redwood three hours north of San Francisco is 2,400 years old and was hollowed out to make it into a tourist attraction in 1937. Remarkably, the over 300-foot tall tree is still thriving and even growing, so you needn't feel bad about disrespecting its integrity as you roll through as if entering a car wash. How does it stay standing? Coastal Redwoods have broad, shallow root systems that spread out up to 250 feet in all directions and intertwine with the roots of neighboring trees, making a stable base. Drive-Thru Tree Park includes a picnic area and a gift shop (postcards are making a comeback, and the ones here are doozies).

Drive-through trees were popular in the early 20th century, but some didn't survive the assault on their structural integrity for long. The Chandelier tree is one of three that remain. The others include the Shrine Tree on the Avenue of the Giants and the Tour-Thru Tree in Klamath, but the Chandelier Tree is the granddaddy of them all. It's a pretty quick detour on your way to see some trees in all their natural glory at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

California newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst spent 28 years building the Hearst Castle, a fanciful mansion in San Simeon that he shared with his movie star mistress Marion Davies. It's an essential stop on any scenic coastal California road trip itinerary. 

Standing on a remote hilltop, it's the most over-the-top, ostentatious conglomeration of architectural styles you could ever hope to see — and good luck seeing all of its over 165 rooms. The main house, called "Casa Grande," occupies over 68,000 square feet. For the sake of comparison, that's just slightly bigger than the White House. You can start by touring the grandest rooms, plastered in ornate Gothic, Moorish, and Italianate details, with elements imported from all over Europe. Hearst and Davies hosted epic parties here, attended by a staggeringly diverse array of guests, from Winston Churchill and Howard Hughes to Buster Keaton and Joan Crawford. 

When you see the Romanesque colonnades surrounding the swimming pool you'll be reminded of Caesar's Palace, but the Hearst Castle's Neptune Pool, built in the 1920s, was putting on a show when Las Vegas was just a gleam in Bugsy Siegel's eye. Scenes from Spartacus were filmed here. 

The castle, which was the work of notable female architect Julia Morgan, remained unfinished at Hearst's death when it was donated to the State of California. Today, it is operated as Hearst San Simeon State Park. 

If you're wondering what to make of all this spectacle, one Redditor sums it up neatly, writing, "It is American in the most American way possible. It bastardizes everything, but also executes at a really high level and somehow comes out looking cohesive. The American melting pot in a nutshell." 

Redditors love steering California newbies to the Madonna Inn, and no wonder. This roadside motel is kind of like a theme park in its own right, with every one of its 110 rooms decorated according to a uniquely zany concept — there's the rock-walled Caveman Room, the hunting-themed Fox & Hound Room, and the tree-lined Jungle Rock Room. The building's white gabled and turreted exterior is like a cartoon version of a Swiss chalet, while the hot pink tennis courts scream Barbie, and the beach-entry swimming pool lends the kitsch-fest a hint of luxe. "The amazing thing is it still looks exactly like it did decades ago. My childhood memories of this place are magical," one Redditor reminisces.

If you're touring Paso Robles wine country, the Madonna Inn is perfectly located amid that region's splendid coastal scenery, but be sure to have at least one cocktail or meal here, even if you don't spend the night, because the bar, cafe, and restaurant are each more opulent and outrageous than the last. If the raspberry gimlet at the cocktail lounge doesn't get you tipsy, the whirling, swirling pink rose carpet most certainly will. Dine, if you dare, in the cacophony of questionable splendor that is Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steak House (pictured), preferably after a raspberry gimlet or two. Those eager Redditors say to order the filet and the truffle fingerlings, with a slice of the signature pink champagne cake for the win.

One of the most touristy things you can do in San Francisco also happens to be one of the best: walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. "This is a must see," one Tripadvisor visitor writes, "It is so impressive, after seeing it for years in movies we finally got to see it in real life." That is how you'll feel, too. On a day when cotton ball clouds roll across the sky, and a fleet of sailboats flying colorful spinnakers sweeps toward a finish line somewhere off Angel Island, the bridge is magical, and to slow down and take it all in, you have to get out and walk. There is a Welcome Center on the San Francisco side, and a stunning vista point immediately after the bridge, on the Marin County side, where you can overlook the silvery gleaming San Francisco skyline. Look west, and you might catch a glimpse of a bright-colored tent at Kirby Cove Campground. On a clear day, you can also see the Farallon Islands.

If you'd like a view into the history of the 1937 bridge, you can sign up for a walking tour. But our favorite way to see the bridge is to make a five-mile urban day hike out of the experience. Take the bus to the Welcome Center (the limited parking is a nightmare), then walk across the bridge and carry on down through Sausalito, where you can take the ferry back to the city for another glorious view of the bridge.

There is no place on earth quite like the kitschy, spontaneous carnival that is the Venice Beach Boardwalk. "Here is the place you can feel the California vibe and free spirit and you can't help but charge yourself with positive energy!" one Tripadvisor visitor rhapsodized. Up to 30,000 people a day throng the two-mile-long boardwalk and bike path, and you might as well be one of them.

The historically lively oceanfront lined with T-shirt and sunglass stalls is steeped in quirkiness, with strolling musicians, artists painting portraits, and people whizzing by on Segways, bikes, and rollerblades. You'll see Muscle Beach, an outdoor gym where bodybuilders glisten in the sun — Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger once trained here. There's also a skate park packed with Tony Hawk wannabes executing ollies and drop-ins. Then you can wander the beach and eavesdrop on surfers to see if they really do call one other "dude." Keep going and you'll end up leaving the frenzy behind for sunny, serene Santa Monica, with one of the best beaches in Southern California.

Eventually, you'll have had enough of the festive crowds, so head on over to stroll the Venice Canals, a residential area of homes fronting a series of shallow waterways connected by quaint arching bridges. Then head over to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, the hipster version of Venice, where you can sip on a bone broth elixir and browse through letterpress gift cards and millennial pink sweaters.

To find tourist attractions that earn the title without falling into the "trap" category, we consulted forums and review sites in search of the iconic and quintessential, narrowing the field down to sites that inspired real emotion in visitors and created lasting memories of the kind that get passed down from generation to generation. We also drew on multiple generations of personal experience with West Coast family road trips and tapped the memories that stood out most. And finally, we looked for attractions with that ineffable "only in California" quality. Because what's a vacation without some local color?