I’ve never been the biggest fan of Southern California. Yes, it has good weather and nice beaches but I’ve always thought it to offer nothing more than run down beach towns or large, sprawling cities, chock a block full of traffic. Having said that, I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed our recent trip to New Port Beach and Huntington Beach.

What I enjoyed most was how relaxing the weekend turned out to be and how refreshed I felt returning from the quick break. The flight from San Francisco to LA is about an hour which makes the journey really easy. We stayed at the lovely Lido House hotel which was such a treat and spent our days lying at the pool or on the beach, having leisurely breakfasts and lunches at great restaurants, including Nobu, and cycling along the beach, the canals or through the rather sweet downtown.

But, what also surprised me about SoCal was how much is actually happening down there. I expected New Port Beach and Huntington Beach to be rather quiet. But in between our relaxing, when we did feel like a bit of a party, one was pretty easy to come by – restaurants and bars were a hive of activity and the beach party we attended with friends was unbelievably busy and great fun!

So, SoCal appears to have more to offer than I thought and we’ll be heading back down there this coming weekend to celebrate my husband’s birthday so please send any recommendations of things to do, places to eat at and parties to attend so that my current, rather positive impression of SoCal can be maintained.