Discover Whittier: Trails, Art, and History

Whittier combines active trails, art, and a vivid local history into a diverse travel destination. Families looking to bring together different interests will find opportunities for both exercise and visits to museums, galleries, and historic sites. When choosing a vacation rental in Whittier, it can therefore be important to consider whether you would prefer to shape your stay around days of cycling and hiking, cultural visits, or a mixture of both.

Exploring the Greenway Trail and Whittier Hills

The Whittier Greenway Trail is a 4.5-mile recreational and commuter bike path as well as a pedestrian trail. It therefore provides a concrete starting point for a stay in which you want to experience Whittier on foot or by bicycle. The trail's stops highlight various aspects of Whittier's history, growth, and development. Exercise and local history come together in the same experience here, without requiring you to commit to a purely sports-focused trip.

The Whittier Hills offer a different perspective on the landscape. More than 1,700 acres are protected there; bike and hiking trails offer views of Downtown Los Angeles, Catalina Island, the Pacific Ocean, and the Hollywood Sign. This combination of trails and expansive vistas makes the Whittier Hills a fitting focus for anyone who enjoys spending vacation days outdoors while seeking a variety of landscape impressions.

Art and City Life in Uptown Whittier

Uptown Whittier is a historic shopping district with boutiques, dining options, and a restored movie theater with several screens. The district complements the area's natural and trail experiences with an urban side. For a stay with a changing pace, you can combine a visit there with a walk, a meal, or a movie without reducing Whittier to just one type of leisure activity.

For more than 80 years, the Whittier Art Gallery has offered free monthly art exhibitions to the public. Those who enjoy including a regular cultural activity in their vacation will find a special point of interest here. The exhibitions can also provide a quieter complement to active days on the Greenway Trail or in the Whittier Hills.

Historic Sites and Local Topics

Whittier can also be explored through its buildings and historic collections. The adobe house in El Ranchito was fully restored to look as it did in the 1880s. Pío Pico State Historic Park includes historic gardens and is registered as California Historic Landmark No. 127. The park also includes a 15-room adobe house with interpretive exhibits.

The permanent exhibitions at the Whittier Museum cover agriculture, Quaker settlers, and Whittier College. The Jonathan Bailey House is the oldest building in Whittier. Tours are guided and generally last about an hour. In the Earlham Historic District, seven properties represent an early Whittier College neighborhood dating from 1903 to 1940. This allows you to choose individual historical topics according to your interests rather than experiencing every impression in the same way.

Which Type of Stay Suits You?

A vacation rental in Whittier is particularly suitable as a search option if you want to organize your stay around different ideas for each day: active hours on the trails, views from the Whittier Hills, art at the gallery, or historical themes in museums and buildings. Families and other travel groups can take different interests into account and balance the character of their trip between exercise, city life, and history. For further orientation, you can also find Signal Hill, Culver City, Mission Hills, Glendora, Rancho Palos Verdes, Baldwin Park, West Covina, and Alhambra.

For the broader travel overview: Los Angeles.