Nearby: Wonderland Walk in Cayucos

The Wonderland Walk turns Ocean Avenue into a holiday stroll

In Cayucos, up the coast. The Wonderland Walk runs down Ocean Avenue on Saturday, December 12 from 3 to 6 PM, the second day of the Christmas in Cayucos weekend. Shops stay open late with decorations up and seasonal specials out, and the whole thing works as an unhurried holiday afternoon: stroll the street, duck into the stores, and let the beach-town version of a Christmas market unfold at walking pace.

The 3-to-6 window is smartly chosen, starting in daylight and ending after dark, so the walk begins with ocean views and finishes under the lights. Coming the night after the tree lighting, it completes a genuine holiday weekend up the coast, and the shopping is real: Cayucos’ small independent stores are exactly where the unusual gifts live.

The walk is free, and Cayucos is about ten minutes up Highway 1 from Morro Bay. Bring layers for the post-sunset stretch, and consider bookending the stroll with dinner in town, the restaurants fill pleasantly on Wonderland night. Between the two evenings, the reworked one-weekend format concentrates the whole town’s holiday energy into 48 hours, which suits a beach town that does small and warm better than big and sprawling.

For more holiday strolls and seasonal happenings up and down the coast, see what is on the event calendar.

Photo Credit: facebook.com/CayucosCA