Great Summer Getaways: The Northwest and California

"All the world’s a stage," as the Bard wrote, but few places are more so than Ashland, a 20-minute drive north of the California border. Now in its 83rd season, the town’s Tony Award–winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival presents a slew of plays — Shakespearean and contemporary, indoors and under the stars — throughout the summer. But Ashland itself shares top billing thanks to a friendly, small-town vibe, cute inns (the Bard's Inn, or Green Springs Inn, which has cabins), lush Lithia Park and excellent restaurants (Loft Brasserie & Bar, Hearsay). Outside town, you can hike or bike through evergreen forests and wildflower meadows, sample vintages at local wineries or shoot rapids on the Rogue River and still make it back for an evening curtain. The closest major airports are in Portland and Sacramento, both nearly 300 miles away, but there's a small one in nearby Medford, Ore. This is prime road trip country, though. If you're flying and have the time, consider adding Crater Lake and the gorgeous Oregon coast to your itinerary.

Santa Catalina Island, Calif.

“Twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me.” So goes the 1950s hit song, and it’s still true for the 1 million annual visitors who come by ferry, seaplane or even helicopter to this island southwest of Los Angeles. Most stay and play in tiny Avalon, a SoCal vision of la dolce vita, with two dozen inns and hotels and a harbor filled with bobbing pleasure craft. Beach lovers will find balmy waters perfect for swimming and paddleboarding, and offshore kelp forests can be explored by scuba, snorkel or glass-bottom boat. Hiking trails lace the rugged interior, and on 4WD tours you may spot descendants of bison imported for a 1920s movie shoot.

San Juan Islands, Wash.

The 172 named reefs, crags and isles of the San Juan Islands are scattered like moss-green pebbles across the waters of northwest Washington. You can reach the three main islands — Orcas, San Juan and Lopez — by seaplane, but to capture the islands’ slow-down groove, take the lumbering state ferries. In the “big town,” Friday Harbor (pop. 2,162), you’ll find boutiques and fine dining (Duck Soup, Backdoor Kitchen), as well as around two dozen hotels and inns. But the islands’ unique pleasures lie along bikeable country lanes, at u-pick berry or lavender farms, and aboard a boat when you’ve just spotted the black-and-white orcas that call these waters home.