By John Metcalfe
The Mercury News
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Not everyone can take a European vacation. Fortunately, there’s always California—with its Mediterranean climate, architecture, and wine.
Those seeking a taste of the Continent here at home should consult Travel + Leisure’s “8 Small Towns in California That Feel Just Like Europe.” Writer Chelsee Lowe, who traveled around Europe on a Shakespeare-oriented study abroad program, has chosen “dupes” for many famous countries and regions based on things like sunbathing beaches, jagged Alps-style mountains, castles, and Danish windmills.
“Now, I will not argue that sipping Champagne in, well, Champagne, France, can be perfectly replicated in California,” Lowe writes, “but if you’re looking for a similar sense of escape in an equally winsome setting, I dare say you will find some pretty solid European dupes in California.”
Given that 10 is a nice, neat number, we’ve decided to add two more of our own destinations. Kensington is a charming community in the East Bay hills with a British pub and God’s-honest roundabout—it’s such a ringer for small-town England, it should be named Appleby-in-Webleyland or something. And Healdsburg is certainly a dupe for Italy’s wine country, with its rustic town square and same-latitude climate for growing Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
Aerial view of Catalina Harbor. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Small Towns in California That Feel Like Europe
- Catalina Island (a dupe for Santorini, Greece or Italy’s Amalfi Coast)
- Solvang (Denmark)
- Mammoth Lakes (Switzerland)
- Santa Barbara (Madrid)
- Mendocino (coastal England and Ireland)
- Carmel-by-the-Sea (rural France and Germany)
- Napa Valley, particularly Calistoga and Kenwood (Europe’s wine castles)
- Temecula (Tuscany)
- Healdsburg (Tuscany)
- Kensington (small-town England)
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