It doesn’t matter whether you forgot to reserve a Memorial Day campsite six months ago or convinced yourself you wanted a quiet weekend at home — right up until the forecast turned out to be a flawless 65 and sunny. Suddenly, staying put feels like a waste of a perfectly good long weekend.

The good news: It’s not too late to flee the city. The better news: You do not need to spend hours toggling between Reddit threads, Airbnb tabs, and whatever itinerary Claude hallucinated for you at 1 a.m. The Standard has already done the legwork. We’ve road-tested the restaurants, bars, bakeries, and wineries worth pulling over for, from day trips just beyond the Bay to destinations halfway to Los Angeles.

Here are five trips for the long weekend — no plane ticket required.

Petaluma might be best known for its agricultural history, but this humble chicken-and-egg town has a lot more going for it than just farm-fresh poultry. About an hour north of San Francisco, the come-as-you-are Sonoma County city has a food scene worth getting to know. Be sure to stop for breakfast at Della Fattoria (opens in new tab), known for its Meyer-lemon rosemary bread and hearty scrambles, followed by lunch at The Local (opens in new tab), a sandwich shop owned by Chris Osborne and Raul Lopez, who worked in the kitchens of Michelin-starred SF restaurants including Lazy Bear and Californios. At Pearl (opens in new tab) in the Warehouse District, you’ll find seasonal Mediterranean breakfast and lunch menus that would make Yotam Ottelenghi proud, while Ernie’s Tin Bar (opens in new tab), an auto-shop-turned-dive, has deer heads on the wall and cold beer on tap. Before you head home: Made-in-house charcuterie from Canteen Meats (opens in new tab) makes for a perfect edible souvenir. 

Read our full guide to Petaluma, the best Bay Area food town you’re not going to.

You’ve wandered the boardwalk, defied death on the ancient Giant Dipper, and scarfed a hot dog with your toes in the sand. But there’s more to Santa Cruz than tofu scrambles and greasy spoons — just ask some of the high-profile chef residents, including David Kinch of Manresa and Elan Emerson of Contigo. They’ll point you to local favorites like The Midway (opens in new tab), where the lunch and dinner menus highlight farmed and foraged ingredients, and La Bottega del Lago (opens in new tab), a neighborhood Italian deli with housemade pasta and fantastic imported gelato. At Hanloh (opens in new tab), one of the city’s most exciting restaurants, you’ll find homespun yet refined Thai cooking hidden inside hip rare-books purveyor Bad Animal. And for a quintessential Santa Cruz experience, stop at Steamer Lane Supply (opens in new tab), a little kiosk at Lighthouse Field State Park. It’s got seating directly across from the world-famous Steamer Lane surf break, so you can snack on a rock cod quesadilla or salmon poke bowl while watching the wave riders do their thing.  

Read our full guide to Santa Cruz’s fantastic food scene. 

In early 2023, a landside shut down a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway, the scenic road that runs through Big Sur’s redwood forests, rustic-chic resorts, and extraordinary views of mountains and ocean. Now that it’s back open, we scoured the route for the best restaurants and bars up and down all 90 miles. The cream of the crop includes places like Fernwood Tavern (opens in new tab), a local hang that’s popular with hospitality workers who come for pizzas, truffle fries, wings, and after-shift drinks. For a more scenic option, there’s always Nepenthe (opens in new tab), a Big Sur icon that sits 808 feet above the Pacific. It serves perfectly fine food — but absolutely stunning views. For a meal that feels more destination-worthy, pre-order a $60 bento box from Treebones Resort (opens in new tab). Technically speaking, this decadent oceanfront lunch might be more accurately described as elegantly packaged chirashi, but comes loaded with enough albacore, salmon, unagi, and ikura that two can share.

Read our full guide to the best places to eat and drink on the newly reopened Highway 1. 

Fine-dining fanatics have long flocked to Healdsburg, the chic little town on the northern end of Sonoma Valley that’s home to three-Michelin-starred SingleThread. But you don’t have to drop four figures to eat well in these parts. Husband-and-wife team Melissa and Sean McGaughey own two Healdsburg hot spots: Quail & Condor (opens in new tab), a bakery that serves highlyly sought-after breads and pastries, and Troubadour (opens in new tab), where the lunch menu includes super-stacked sandwiches on housemade bread. Even newer is Bistro Lagniappe (opens in new tab), a French-inflected restaurant where humble, wood-fired cooking covers steak frites, roasted chicken, and a loaded lamb cassoulet. And of course, this is the land of pinot noir, so head to Martha Stoumen Wines (opens in new tab). The tasting room feels like a French bar à vins with cozy corners where you can taste through a flight, sample a glass, or linger over a bottle.

Read our full guide to the more chill — and more exciting — side of Healdsburg dining.

For far too many of us, Bakersfield is little more than a pit stop on the trek from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. But there’s a strong argument for making the Central Valley town, about 4½ hours south of San Francisco, the destination for your next getaway. First, it’s one of the best places in the state to enjoy Basque cuisine, including at Wool Growers (opens in new tab), a 70-year-old restaurant in the Old Town Kern neighborhood. Order the “complete setup,” an elaborate, family-style supper that can be washed down with a $10 carafe of house wine. For a more beverage-focused experience, the city’s dive bar scene can’t be beat: Check out the cash-only Guthrie’s Alley Cat (opens in new tab) (established 1940) and Foxtail Lounge (opens in new tab), a quiet craft-cocktail den with a 1960s Palm Springs aesthetic. Don’t leave without visiting the last outpost of a bygone American icon, Woolworth’s Luncheonette (opens in new tab), which is once again the pride of downtown after a lengthy closure and renovation. 

Read our full guide to Bakersfield, yes, really.