Located at the south end of Silicon Valley and at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Los Gatos boasts a charming downtown full of good shops and restaurants. This often-overlooked spot is close to several great wineries and one of the area's most enjoyable walking/biking trails.

There's even more reason to visit Los Gatos around Christmas time, besides the obvious goal of getting the holiday shopping done. You can also take an evening carriage ride through the town's best-decorated Victorian neighborhood and enjoy a night drive through the Fantasy of Lights at Vasona Park.

Whether you choose a weekend getaway or a day trip from a nearby area, our Los Gatos Getaway Planner will help you find the best places to eat, sleep and shop.

California's Riviera (aka Santa Barbara) is a good place for a relaxing, car-free getaway and you'll find a wide range of places to shop along State Street. For something more unusual, go on Sunday morning for the weekly crafts market along the waterfront.

Use the Santa Barbara getaway planner to find all its best spots, affordable hotels and places the locals like to eat.

Instead of elbowing your way through the crowds at the mall, coming out feeling like you've been running with the bulls at Pamplona, why not run off to a nice little place for a quick getaway and some shopping? The next few days, we'll feature a few of California's best places to get away and shop at the same time. Depending on where you live, any of them are suitable for a weekend getaway or a day trip.

The name of La Jolla, California means "the jewel," an apt moniker for a beautiful town ringed with blue waters. La Jolla is one of the prettiest California oceanside vacation towns, and home to several of the state's best beaches. It's also got a nice, walkable shopping area.

You can plan your La Jolla trip in a jiffy using our weekend getaway planner.

Bodie is a late 1800s gold rush town, abandoned some years later when the mine played out. At its peak, it had more than 10,000 residents and its main street was a mile long.

Today, the town has about 300 buildings and is maintained by the State of California in "arrested decay". They don't fix anything up, but they don't let it get any worse either.

More: Bodie Visitor's Guide | Images of Bodie