Ojai

The downtown area is fairly small and quite easy to get around on foot, but for further exploration you will of course need a car.

• 🌍 Ojai Valley Museum, 130 W Ojai Ave, ☏ +1 805-640-1390. (updated Aug 2019)
• 🌍 Lake Casitas (Go west on Route 150). This is quite a large reservoir that has an island in the middle of it during wet years. (updated Jun 2018)

• 🌍 Los Padres National Forest (In the mountains north of Ojai). The region north of Ojai is protected national forest land, although a lot of the forest was burned by the Thomas Fire in 2017, which was one of the largest wildfires in history and was partially the reason for the terrible mudslides in the area a few months later. (updated Jun 2018)

• 🌍 Boccali's, 3277 Ojai Ave (a couple of miles past town on Ojai Ave., coming from the West), ☏ +1 805 646-6116, boccali@verizon.net. M Tu 4-9PM, W-Su noon-9PM. Cash only Italian dining with lots of outdoor patio space. Local landmark. (updated Oct 2015)
• 🌍 Bonnie Lu's Country Cafe, 328 E Ojai Ave (the Arcade Shopping Center), ☏ +1 805-646-0207. Th-Tu 7AM-2:30PM. This small American diner offers extraordinarily friendly and attention service and serves well-prepared meals. There is nothing to complain about with the food - everything is tasty - although it lacks a standout "must-have" dish. There are a limited number of seats so be prepared to wait when things are busy. (updated Oct 2015)
• 🌍 Farmer and the Cook, 339 W El Roblar Dr. Locally owned vegetarian restaurant and produce shop. Highlights include organic salad bar that is picked fresh from the owners own farm! On Thursday mornings you can even help harvest greens on this lovely farm, and that entitles you to a free salad for lunch!. (updated Oct 2015)

• Tipple and Ramble, 315 N. Montgomery St., ☏ +1 805-319-9496, info@tippleandramble.com. W-F 2-8PM, Sa Su noon-8PM. Tipple & Ramble is part picnic shop, part wine bar in Ojai, California. A shop that specializes in indoor/outdoor decor, entertaining wares, small batch speciality food items, games, and vintage and new barware. Goods that have a sense of whimsy and adventure, to go on a picnic, make s'mores with the family, or host a cocktail party. (updated Aug 2018)

• 🌍 Casa Ojai Inn, 1302 E Ojai Ave, ☏ +1 805 646-8175, toll-free: +1-800-255-8175, reservations@ojaiinn.com. (updated Oct 2015)
• 🌍 The Capri Hotel, 1180 E Ojai Ave, ☏ +1 805-646-4305. Check-out: 11AM. This 30-room hotel aims for a retro-1970s vibe and hits the mark pretty well. The outside looks a bit rundown, but the rooms have been redone and contain modern amenities like flat-screen TVs and nice touches like locally-made snacks in the minibar. Continental breakfast daily from 8AM-11AM, free wi-fi, pets allowed for an extra fee, and the lobby has a decent library of DVDs and VHS (yes, VHS) movies that can be borrowed and played on the in-room DVD/VCR (yes, VCR). The pool is a selling point and worth a visit. $150-250. (updated Oct 2015)
• 🌍 Ojai Valley Inn, Resort & Spa, 905 Country Club Rd, ☏ +1 805 646-1111. This AAA Five Diamond Award winning Southern California resort offers a luxury spa, championship golf school, and access to local activities such as wine tasting, tennis, and horseback riding. $300+. (updated Oct 2015)

• Ventura - Located on the coast 22 miles east of Ojai, Ventura is home to many interesting shops, the historic Mission San Buenaventura, and is the gateway for excursions to the Channel Islands National Park.
• Santa Paula - 17 miles to the east, Santa Paula advertises itself as the "Citrus Capital of the World" and was an early center of California's petroleum industry. It is home to the California Oil Museum, housed in the historic Union Oil Building.
• Carpinteria - This small oceanside town is located 22 miles west of Ojai and offers a salt marsh preserve, tide pools, and a seal and sea lion rookery that is active from December through May. During the first weekend in October Carpinteria plays host to nearly 100,000 visitors at its annual avocado festival, which features the world's largest vat of guacamole.
• Carrizo Plain National Monument - Slightly more than an hour north via Highway 33, this remote national monument is home to the largest remaining native grassland in California. During wet years it boasts spectacular wildflowers in the spring, and Soda Lake is an important wintering area for waterfowl when precipitation is sufficient to flood the seasonal lakebed. The park is also home to Painted Rock, a Native American site that has been adorned with pictographs over thousands of years. Services are extremely limited, with just a small visitor center, two primitive campgrounds, and a handful of marked trails available.