Christmas in Cambria, CA

Cambria is a gorgeous town little town on the northern end of the Central California Coast.  Gorgeous beaches, pine trees, two sections of town for different shopping and dining experiences, and lots of activities.  The West End is closest to the Highway, and is more modern but has tons of charm.  The East End is historic and offers a lot of antique stores, gift shops and wonderful restaurants. There are garden shops, art galleries, jewelry and a lot of handmade one of a kind items.  You won’t want to miss Linn’s Restaurant  known for their pies!  They have a farmers market, craft fairs and other events.  

 

Cambria Pines Lodge

Cambria Christmas Market

My most recent trip was taken in late November and we had some new experiences.   We had never been to the Cambria Pines Lodge but my friend has told me for years to go see their Christmas Lights.

 

They call it “The Christmas Market”.  It was $5 for adults and kids 12 and under are free.  We entered at the top, where the little shops were set up.  There was hot chocolate, cookies, cinnamon rolls, even tamales.  There were vendors of all kinds selling Christmas and handmade items.  

        We really didn’t know what to expect, but it was really nice.  After looking at all the goodies, we found our way to the light display.

At the end of the light trail, we found a lovely nursery decorated in christmas lights and displays. In the main building  I walked into a room that was so sparkly and beautiful it took my breath away.  It looked like an ice palace!  I took a picture but it doesn’t do it justice!  It is a sight to be seen in person!  It was very well done, and beautiful.

 

In the East End some of our favorite places are:

 Spellbound This cute little house is a shop that has lots of smelly stuff in it, like lotions, oils, soaps, etc… but we wind our way through to the back yard of this tiny house.

 This is my original post from when we were there in 2011:  There you will find a jewel of a garden with paths, plants flowers, and some garden things, but our favorite feature is the FAIRY GARDEN! There is (used to be) a “room”  made of grape vines, just big enough for kids that they can go into and they would sit on tiny benches, and watch the fairies go about their business.

The grape vine room is closed now, but they made a different fairy garden.  It all seemed a lot different, it has new owners, and new name and a new paint job.  Maybe the garden seemed so different because we’d never been there in the fall/winter.  It’s free to walk through the garden.  

 

There are sooooo many shops and things to do here, I can’t name all of them but here are a couple of our favorites:

The Garden Shed  

                                                                               

 Cambria Historical Museum

 

 

Shamel Beach Park

Shamel Beach Park (photo above of beach)  features a lovely grassy area and picnic tables, a large play structure for the kids, a built in pool, a gazebo, and beach access.  Some of the prettiest pebbles and drift wood, I’ve seen are on this beach.

My favorite place to stay when I’m in Cambria is Fog’s End Bed and Breakfast.  We’ve stayed there a couple of times, upstairs. It is so relaxing and homey.  There is a baby grand piano in the entry, a barn out back with a pool table, and a bocche ball court.  There is a dog park across the street.

There are a lot of quality motels and inns on Moonstone drive.  We’ve never stayed there but it’s a pretty place to watch the sunset.

You can find more information on the community of Cambria here:

Cambria, CA