That Cool Travel Couple

We love visiting Julian because every time we go, we find something new to love about this small town! Head to this mountain town renowned for its apple heritage.

Where to Stay

There are a couple of awesome campgrounds in the Julian area that are great to visit during the summer. You’ll want to look into William Heise County Park, which is one of the closest campgrounds to Julian. We actually visited Julian from Anza Borrego campground – but it’s about an hour’s drive! Anza Borrego State Park is well worth the extra effort though.

The last time we visited Julian was in the winter time – and it gets CHILLY up in the mountains during this time of year! We didn’t feel like camping, so instead we booked ourselves into this awesome GNOME HOME! You can book it on VRBO. We had an amazing time here – it’s a separated small home on a ranch that has a couple of other housing options as well. It came equipped with a fridge, coffee maker, playing cards, an indoor waterfall shower, a fireplace and hundreds and hundreds of cute little gnomes! It reminded us of a little hobbit hole, and we had an amazing stay here. It’s also only a few minute drive from downtown Julian which is absolutely a perfect location for stargazing as well. Julian is an International Dark Sky Community so definitely plan on looking UP at night during your trip!

Downtown Julian

Julian is a small mountain town nestled amongst the Cuyamaca Mountains. Its best known best for its APPLES! Think apple pie, apple cider, apple crumble, apple wine and much, much more. There’s also a popular Apple Days Festival held in the fall with music, dancing, food and drinks that’s been around for over seventy years!

One of the best things to do in Julian is to wander along the main street (aptly called Main Street) and pop in and out of the quirky and unique shops lining the street. This is a great place to shop for gifts (especially for hard-to-shop-for people!). You’ll also find a huge array of apple jams and jellies, specialty vinegars and oils, and other trendy condiments. Our favorite shop is The Warm Hearth of Julian which sells everything from board games to Harry Potter paraphernalia to kitchen accessories to furniture and home decor. You’re guaranteed to find something you like in here.

The Warm Hearth is right next to one of the most famous spots in Julian for apple pie – Mom’s Pie House. We have yet to try the apple pie from Mom’s, because the line always wraps well around the block! Instead, we sampled apple pie from Julian Grille. This turned out to be our favorite restaurant in Julian with high quality seafood and delicious drinks and desserts. It’s set in an old bungalow from the 1920s that has been beautifully preserved, and has a lovely small-town feel. If you walk past Julian Grille you’ll find an adorable bookstore with a wide selection of well-priced second hand books. It’s hard for us to resist visiting in here whenever we’re in Julian.

Julian Adjacent

If you continue up Main Street it eventually turns into Farmer Road. After driving up a small elevation you’ll come across a handful of local cideries and wineries. Our favorite here is Menghini Winery, with its beautiful wisterias and dreamy barnyard feel. There’s also Storum Ranch Cider and Wine along with Volcan Mountain Winery.

Nearby the entrance to Volcan Mountain Winery is the trailhead for the Volcan Mountain hike. There are a couple of different routes you can take here with varying lengths, so be sure to pack plenty of water and consult with an app like AllTrails prior to embarking on your hike!

The town of Wynola is just up the road from Julian and houses Julian Station, an awesome little collection of cideries and shops. We sampled ciders from Julian Hard Cider and wandered around the shops which displayed unique hand made crafts from local artisans. There was a lively outdoor band and plenty of seating around fire pits outdoors which made for a lovely afternoon. Santa Ysabel is a town west of Julian with several delicious looking restaurants, cafes and a small art gallery.

Looking for more road trip ideas in California? Head to our California landing page, or check out this awesome PCH road trip map!