Suggest some lesser known cities in California that might be interesting to visit. I’ve been to Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. What other cities might be fun for a weekend trip? Usually when I go on trips I spend the day visiting museums or historical places. At night, I like live music, good food, and cultural events.
You might try one of my favorite spots, Bodie, CA
You might like Grass Valley, a little town in the Sierras between Sacramento and Reno.
If you don’t require something that’s off the beaten path, I thought this book was a great guide to various places all over the state. That’s coming from a California resident.
You could also do a roadtrip along beautiful Highway 1 and stop at towns all along the way, but none of them are as metropolitan as the big three that you mentioned (which could be good or bad, depending).
Me, I’m partial to Arcata myself, but I don’t think it’s really what you’re looking for.
If you like historical stuff, outside of Sacramento you can take California State Road 49, which will include places like Sutter’s Mill and Calveras, if I recall correctly.
I concur with Highway 49 and places such as Nevada City, Grass Valley, Coloma, Jackson, Angels Camp, Columbia, Sonora, Jamestown, and Yosemite National Park.
I also concur with Highways 1 and 101 and places like Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, San Simeon, Big Sur, Carmel, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove, Monterrey, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, Point Reyes, Bodega / Bodega Bay, Mondocino / Fort Bragg, Eureka / Arcata
There are other places that are also nice to visit and poke around a bit or go window shopping such as:
Mt. Shasta
Guerneville (On the Russian River … good for a weekend getaway in a cabin)
Lake Tahoe
Sacramento
Auburn, Folsom, Chico, Davis (wandering and window shopping)
Napa
Sonoma
Oh, and if you have some time to kill, here are some drives I really like:
Highway 160 between Sacramento and the Bay Area … It goes along the Sacramento River through the Delta. Stop and check out the town of Locke.
Highways cutting through the Coastal Range (e.g., 20, 33, 128)
Highways cutting through the Sierras and Tehachapi Mts. (e.g., 4, 88, 58)
Highways cutting through the Peninsular Range (e.g., 74, 76, 79, 94)
Highway 395 through the Owens River Valley (Bishop area roughly) and again north of Susanville
Highways through the Cascade and Trinity Mts. (e.g., 3, 299)