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Irvine -- the Center of the OC
Located in the center of Orange County, Irvine is a convenient gateway to a true Southern California vacation. Visitors can enjoy Irvine's golfing, miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails, shopping, arts, culture, diverse dining, events, activities and the city's close proximity to the area's popular beaches and dozens of attractions including the world-famous Disneyland® Park.
A Step Into the Past
The history of Irvine is not a long one. In fact, today's growing city is less than 50 years old. But the Irvine region has a long and rich history, dating back to 1878 when James Irvine bought the land, creating the great Irvine Ranch which once stretched more than 170,000 square miles from the Santa Ana River to the Pacific Ocean. Today, visitors can explore the Irvine Historical Museum, the oldest standing structure within the original boundaries of Irvine Ranch and the first wooden house erected between Anaheim and San Diego. In addition, the Irvine Ranch Historic Park, site of the original Irvine Ranch headquarters, features several of the original structures, including the home of James Irvine II, numerous barns and residential buildings.
Meeting-Friendly Irvine
Irvine boasts 14 hotels ranging from AAA four-diamond and all-suites properties, to boutique and economy with nearly 3,400 sleeping rooms and thousands of square feet of flexible meeting space to accommodate 10 to 2,000 people.
Conveniently located in the center of Orange County, Irvine is located just 45 miles south of Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego.
Near perfect weather provides the ideal meeting backdrop year-round. Irvine offers numerous distinctive meeting and off-site venues including Orange County Great Park, the Marconi Automotive Museum, the Bren Events Center, and the Irvine Museum along with many group-friendly restaurants and exclusive entertainment venues.
Irvine is a premiere Southern California meeting and event destination that is not only affordable and easily accessible, but also has been named "America's Safest Big City" for seven consecutive years by the FBI.
Gone Green
A leader in sound environmental practices, Irvine is ranked 13th out of 178 Smarter Cities by the Natural Resources Defense Council and was also named to OC Metro's 2010 Green Team for its environmental stewardship. While the focus on green meetings continues to grow in the industry, Irvine is recognized as an ideal setting for sustainable meetings and events.
Explore the Great Outdoors
One may not associate Orange County with green space and outdoor activities beyond surfing and beach volleyball, but Irvine boasts more than 2,000 acres of open space with more than 40 miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails.
Irvine's Natural Beauty
Prized for its beauty, unusual geology and extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna, the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks feature many special places unlike anywhere else: the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, one of Southern California's largest coastal freshwater marshes; Irvine's beautiful and tranquil Bommer and Shady Canyons and the distinctive Quail Hill preserve.
Explore the area deemed by scientists as one of the world's biodiversity "hot spots" -- an area with large concentrations of different species; discover the hundreds of species of plants and animals, including eagles, badgers, mountain lions, Tecate cypress trees, and many rare species of birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Fashionistas Unite in Irvine
Those who love to shop should plan to bring an empty suitcase when visiting Irvine! Irvine and the surrounding area offer fashionistas, casual shoppers and people-watchers five major retail and lifestyle centers. More than just shopping, visitors will find well-known department stores, specialty boutiques, a wide assortment of restaurants and cafés, entertainment venues, beautiful courtyards with fountains, a carousel with antique-design horses and a menagerie of animals and even a 108-foot tall Giant (Ferris) Wheel.
Dine Around the World
Restaurants in Irvine offer casual diners and foodies alike the qualities that make Orange County a standout on the Southern California dining scene: fresh ingredients, diversity and leadership in "green dining."
In Irvine diversity is the norm. Because this is California, "healthy" never means "boring," and culinary innovation is a way of life. Irvine is also perfectly positioned for farm-to-table dining. Many Irvine restaurants choose local produce and meats not just for the good of the planet, but also for the rich and subtle flavors they bring to every dish.
Because of Irvine's international community, restaurants also offer favorites from Chile to China, with a concentration of fast, friendly Asian restaurants you might only expect on the Pacific Rim. Irvine offers foodies true global "cuisine," with a wide selection of foods from India, Persia, Thailand, Vietnam and other distant shores: the chance to dine around the world in just over 40 square miles.
Sing, Dance, Play
Irvine sustains a vibrant community of actors, dancers and artists who bring their talents to stages, galleries and festivals throughout the year. From the beautiful, modern theaters and halls of the Orange County Performing Arts Center to the community playhouse Musical Theatre Village, Irvine is a place where arts and culture thrive.
Kid Approved
Wherever you are in Irvine, there's a park or playground literally minutes away. The shopping malls sport bowling alleys and seasonal open-air ice-skating, there are carousels around every corner and even the Steelhead Brewing Company offers small-batch root beer, letting kids in on the micro-brew action with mom and dad.
Irvine offers plenty of fun-focused venues for kids, from Pretend City Children's Museum -- where little ones put on their professional hats for an imaginary excursion into the working world -- to bowling alleys, K1 Speed Go Kart Racing and even a skate park.
