Camarillo is located north of Los Angeles and is often considered part of California’s Central Coast. Situated in Ventura County, the cooler temps and close proximity to the San Fernando Valley make it a great staycation destination.
The first day of fall just so happens to land on a Tuesday this year, making it an official Travel Tuesday! To celebrate the season shift, I’m sharing with you all the things we did during our recent trip to Camarillo.
On Saturday morning, we left our home in the Valley and drove about 40 minutes to Camarillo. We stopped at Azafran Restaurant located on Ventura Blvd for breakfast. My husband had the French Toast with Nutella and I opted for Criollos, which is an egg and beef dish.
From there we walked a short distance along Ventura Blvd to the Camarillo Farmers Market.
Old Town Camarillo is very charming and there are many cafes, retail shops, and specialty stores lining the street. I must say that as a Valley resident, walking down a different Ventura Blvd kept throwing me for a loop!
Camarillo has an emerging arts scene and steps away from the Farmers Market is Studio Channel Islands, which has two art galleries.
It was almost one o’clock and time for our afternoon tea at All Things Tea! The owner is a certified tea specialist who crafts custom tea blends. There are over 130 specialty loose-leaf teas to choose from, sold under their Tea-Liteful blend.
Our Windsor Afternoon Tea came with tea sandwiches, scones, sweet treats, a pot of tea and a cucumber starter. Everything is made in-house, and the fresh crème and scones took me right back to that time when I visited the UK and had a traditional tea in Bath!
Later we checked into our room at Hampton Inn & Suites which was the perfect home base for our vacay.
Dinner was in a different part of Camarillo at Lucerne Restaurant. Their service is excellent and I had a hard time choosing an entrée from their extensive menu. To start, we had a Caesar salad and their delicious bread. My husband opted for the Linguini Napoli, which had shrimp and calamari. I ordered the Penne Alla Pana with shrimp and scallops. Both dishes were so flavorful. I love Italian food and would definitely come here again for dinner!
The next day, after a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed over to do some shopping at Camarillo Premium Outlets. One exciting update from my last visit to the outlets is that Fabletics just opened their store earlier this year, as did Reformation. However, my husband needed new shorts, so while he dashed off to Old Navy, I took my time and explored. I wanted a new wallet and workout clothes, which I easily found since I had so many stores to choose from.
All of that shopping made us hungry, so we left the outlet mall and drove over to Carrara’s Italian Cafe in Old Town Camarillo. It was their grand opening, and after we ordered our food, I had the opportunity to meet the owners. You can spot them in my highlight video below!
@realmomofsfv Entering our fall era in Camarillo! 🍂 Check out everything we did during our recent @Visit Camarillo ☀️ weekend getaway! #hosted #VisitCamarillo #WeekendMoments #TravelBlogger #eeeats
Our final stop was at Underwood Family Farms in Somis, just a short drive from Camarillo! We saw the cutest animals and picked up a basket of cherry tomatoes to take home.
Camarillo is perfect for an afternoon of exploring or a weekend getaway! If you need help planning your trip, click over to the Visit Camarillo website. You’ll find great recommendations, sample itineraries, and more. Don’t forget to visit their Facebook page and Instagram to get the latest updates!
Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. Visit Camarillo (Camarillo Hotel & Tourism Association) arranged our dining and hotel accommodation, which helped facilitate this review. All images and opinions are 100% my own.
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