{"id":316060,"date":"2026-05-14T21:45:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/316060\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T21:45:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:45:47","slug":"10-california-cities-make-best-summer-travel-destinations-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/316060\/","title":{"rendered":"10 California cities make best summer travel destinations ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fresno was once declared \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Glyk2wuCJ3Y&amp;rco=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The City Addicted to Crystal Meth<\/a>\u201d in a 2009 documentary \u2014 but now, somehow, it\u2019s landed on a new list of America\u2019s best <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/11\/lifestyle\/many-cant-afford-summer-vacation-due-to-increasing-travel-costs-survey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">summer vacation destinations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The much-trolled California metro ranked No. 84 overall in <a href=\"https:\/\/wallethub.com\/edu\/best-summer-travel-destinations\/3792\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">WalletHub\u2019s 2026<\/a> \u201cBest Summer Travel Destinations\u201d rankings, beating out several better-known areas across the country despite finishing near the bottom in attractions and safety.<\/p>\n<p>Fresno somehow cracked WalletHub\u2019s list of Top 100 summer vacation destinations. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Louis Theroux dubbed Fresno \u201cThe City Addicted to Crystal Meth\u201d in a 2009 documentary. Dave Benett\/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Two surfers walk along a path above the ocean. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The Central Valley city was famously featured in the addiction documentary by British filmmaker Louis Theroux \u2014 the flick explored the devastating toll meth use took on parts of Fresno.<\/p>\n<p>WalletHub compared 100 major metro areas across dozens of metrics tied to summer travel, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/26\/lifestyle\/most-expensive-and-affordable-summer-travel-spots\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">including airfare costs<\/a>, hotel prices, attractions, weather, activities and safety.<\/p>\n<p>Fresno\u2019s overall ranking was largely carried by its weather score, where it scored No. 2 in the nation.<\/p>\n<p>The city, however, faired <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/07\/17\/lifestyle\/americans-go-to-extremes-to-fund-vacations-study-shows\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">far worse in other categories<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fresno ranked:<\/p>\n<p>No. 69 for travel costs and hassles<\/p>\n<p>No. 83 for local costs<\/p>\n<p>No. 77 for attractions<\/p>\n<p>No. 94 for activities<\/p>\n<p>No. 88 for safety<\/p>\n<p>Still, Fresno managed to edge out <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/10\/us-news\/major-california-cities-ranked-as-the-top-10-worst-places-for-buying-homes-heres-where\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">destinations including Santa Rosa<\/a> \u2014\u00a0the urban center of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/27\/lifestyle\/boutique-wine-country-hotspot-is-latest-victim-of-napa-crisis\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">California\u2019s wine country<\/a> \u2014\u00a0Seattle, and Colorado Springs, CO.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/06\/us-news\/california-ranked-among-worst-states-for-young-adults-still-living-at-home\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">California\u2019s overall showing in the rankings <\/a>was surprisingly weak.<\/p>\n<p>Only one California metro area cracked the top 20, with San Diego finishing as the state\u2019s highest ranked destination at No. 19 overall.<\/p>\n<p>An archway sign over Van Ness Avenue reads \u201cFresno \u2013 The Best Little City in the U.S.A.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>A man floats in an inflatable boat on a lake in Fresno, California, surrounded by green trees and dry, grassy hills. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Aerial view of luxury homes lining the coast near La Jolla Shores beach in San Diego, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles landed at No. 34 despite ranking No. 2 nationally for attractions, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/21\/real-estate\/how-california-cities-ranked-in-new-wealthiest-us-suburbs-list\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">while San Francisco was stuck in the bottom<\/a> 20 at No. 82.<\/p>\n<p>Four California metros finished in the bottom 10 overall, including aforementioned Santa Rosa, Bakersfield, San Jose and Oxnard.<\/p>\n<p>WalletHub said <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/06\/real-estate\/least-affordable-california-cities-for-renters-ranked\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the study focused heavily on affordability<\/a> and convenience rather than scenic beauty alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to determine the best summer vacation spots, WalletHub compared 100 f the most populated metro areas across six key categories,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<p>The top overall destination in the country was Atlanta, followed by Orlando and Austin.<\/p>\n<p>The 10 California cities that cracked the Top 100:<\/p>\n<p>San Diego \u2014\u00a0No. 19<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles \u2014\u00a0No. 34<\/p>\n<p>Riverside \u2014\u00a0No. 62<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco \u2014\u00a0No. 82<\/p>\n<p>Sacramento \u2014\u00a0No. 83<\/p>\n<p>Fresno \u2014\u00a0No. 84<\/p>\n<p>Santa Rosa \u2014\u00a0No. 92<\/p>\n<p>Bakersfield \u2014\u00a0No. 93<\/p>\n<p>San Jose \u2014\u00a0No. 96<\/p>\n<p>Oxnard \u2014\u00a0No. 100.<\/p>\n<p>Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n<p>California Post News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCaliforniaPost\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@CaliforniaPost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">TikTok<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/californiapost\" 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src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno was once declared \u201cThe City Addicted to Crystal Meth\u201d in a 2009 documentary \u2014 but now, somehow,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[7,112,114,113,971,40528,115495,5931,2422,43174],"class_list":["post-316060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-california","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-meth","tag-rankings","tag-summer","tag-travel","tag-vacation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}