SeeCalifornia.com

Do you look at magazines for vacation inspiration? According to a recent study of more than 2,000 American leisure travelers, visitor guide requests rank 10th of tools for trip planning. Popularity rises from less than 10%  to nearly a quarter–24.6% use once visitors are in their destination, however (80% of guide users seek attraction information and 70% want maps.)

Visiting California’s biggest tourist draws starting with Los Angeles, there doesn’t appear to be an actual printed guide request form on their website. Moving onto San Francisco, it looks like you may be charged shipping & handling costs for mailed guides–forget that! In California’s third largest city, San Diego, they welcome requests with open arms, providing an easy-to-see offer for ordering free magazines and golf brochures. San Jose seems to have a guide but ordering it isn’t so easy–it requires a second address entry or it won’t complete your online request.  Meanwhile, Sacramento guide is pretty straight forward to order. In general, these guides have some nice photos to look at and great ideas for things to do and see. It’s like seeing the best of the best.