Things to Do in Orange County

When you're in Irvine, you never have to look (or drive!) far to find things to do. Irvine packs metropolitan shopping, hiking and bird-watching, international ballet, world-class golf, balloon rides and one of the most diverse dining scenes on the West Coast all into the space of about 45 square miles. Here, almost everything is less than 15 minutes apart.

Close proximity of so many attractions and activities is one of many things that makes Irvine not only a great place to live, but also a great place to visit. You can finish biking Bommer Canyon at sunset, stop for a quick, healthy dinner at The Flame Broiler (16 minutes away), hit your room at the Residence Inn (11 minutes away) to freshen up and still make it to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts (7 minutes away)  before the symphony is even warming up — without breaking a sweat. And if it's a weekend night, you'll still have time for dessert and a ride on the 108-foot Ferris wheel at the Irvine Spectrum Center after!

Being able to shift easily between outdoor recreation at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary or Turtle Rock Nature Center and urban fun — whether dancing at Chateaux or enjoying arts and culture at the Irvine Barclay Theatre — is reason enough to visit Irvine, but the City is also the center of Orange County. That means convenient access to an even wider spectrum of things to do: exceptional shopping at Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, miles of Pacific shoreline from Laguna Beach to Huntington Beach and being able to reach Disneyland Park® and Knott's Berry Farm in under half an hour.

Of course, those are just the attractions and activities you can find any day of the year. Be sure to check our Irvine Events Calendar to see what's happening now and in the months ahead. With festivals and multicultural events, free summer concerts and holiday events throughout the year, when it comes to things to do in Irvine, the question is never what is there to do, only how to fit it all in!