Carlsbad Flower Fields - A Complete Guide
Spring is here and that means the arrival of beautiful spring blooms! You can find bursts of colorful flowers all over California at this time of year, but for a guaranteed show of color, you really must come to the Flower Fields in Carlsbad!
What makes the flowers here special are the unique Giant Ranunculus variety that cover over 50 acres in neatly displayed rows that stretch to the horizon.
We decided to visit Carlsbad for the weekend and make a trip out of it. Here's our complete guide to how to enjoy the Flower Fields to the fullest:
Table of Contents
When To Visit
The Flower Fields are in bloom between March and May, with the best time to visit being mid March through late April as that's when you’ll catch the fields at their peak bloom.
Also, if you’re visiting with family, there are plenty of things to do in Carlsbad and San Diego for kids!
Keep in mind this is an actual flower farm, so some parts of the fields will be in full bloom while others will just be starting or ending. After May, most of the flowers will have been harvested for sale to florists across the country!
Either way, it really is amazing to see endless rows of lush flowers stretched all the way to the horizon!
Tickets:
$22 for adults / $10 for children for a Day Pass (timed entry)
$46 Season Pass
Hours: 9 am to 6 pm daily
Flower Field Experience
The flower field tickets are timed to control the crowds, so it’s best to arrive in the general timeframe of the ticket entry time, but don’t worry if you’re 15-30 minutes early or late - they will still let you in!
When you first enter, we noticed some people spent a good amount of time in the entrance area, but we recommend heading straight to the flower rows as that's where the visual feast is! In our case, this was a 15-minute walk after turning left at the entrance.
When you get to the rows of flowers, you’ll probably wonder how people get shots of themselves inside the flowers. If you walk around, you’ll see various entrances in the flower fields that were made for people to stand in to take photos with the flowers as backdrops.
Pro Tip: To make it seem like you’re ‘standing’ in the midst of the flowers, have your photographer stand a bit further away from you and crouch down so the flowers are in the foreground. This way it’ll look like you’re in the middle of the flowers as opposed to standing on a cutout area.
Some areas also have cute white benches that you can sit on for your photo backdrop, while others are narrow cutouts. We obviously preferred the deeper areas to walk around in, allowing for more photographic creativity.
I liked that people naturally formed lines and allowed others the space needed to take the perfect photo. If the area you want to photograph seems too busy, just walk up a bit further - we found plenty of spots with barely any people.
Reminder: As tempting as it is, please don’t cross over the green tapes to take photos. This is a working farm - walking into the flower rows damages the irrigation and opens up the flowers to blemishes. We didn’t really see anyone crossing over the green tapes - so don’t be that person, please!
In addition to the flowers, there is a variety of fun activities on-site such as Sunset Wine Tasting, Flower Crown Workshops, Yoga, Live Music, and more! They tend to happen on the weekends, but definitely check out the calendar here.
What To Bring
The Carlsbad Flower Fields is one of the best backdrops for dreamy photographs or colorful Instagram Reel or TikTok content! Be prepared with these helpful tips:
Sunscreen - there aren’t any shaded areas in the flowers and combined with the strong Southern California sun, you really need to protect your skin! We totally forgot to bring some and after a couple of hours, we definitely started to turn a little red!
Water - if you’re planning on staying a couple of hours, bring at least a liter of water per person. The constant SoCal sunlight combined with the sheer size of the Flower Fields means you’ll be finishing that water in no time.
Pretty Outfit - If you’re here to take photos, bring an adorable sundress, matching hat, and sunglasses. The hat and sunglasses are great photo props but also double to protect you from the sun. There’s also no shame in bringing multiple outfits although you’ll have to change out in the open.
Camera Gear - Depending on how serious your photoshoot is, you can bring an SLR with a fancy lens or a smartphone! A tripod is a great idea if you want to take self-portraits of one or more people. A portable battery for your smartphone is a smart choice too.
How To Get Here
Located just north of San Diego, the easiest way to get to Carlsbad is by flying into San Diego and driving about 40 minutes. Alternatively, the drive from Los Angeles is around 1 hour 45 minutes if you want to combine a trip to the City of Angels.
San Diego: 40 minutes
Los Angeles: 1 hour 45 minutes
Palm Springs: 2 hours 15 minutes
Parking is included with your ticket. We noticed there were many spaces available with someone directing traffic to the best open spot. We got lucky with a spot right near the entrance!
Where To Stay
Park Hyatt Aviara
Since we flew in from San Francisco, we needed a place to stay. We’d heard so many nice things about the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, so we decided to check it out for a couple of nights!
Having stayed in other Forbes Five Star rated properties, we knew we were in for a real treat during our stay at the Park Hyatt Aviara.
After a $50 million renovation in 2020 emphasizing the natural beauty of the outdoors throughout the property, the first thing you notice when walking into the lobby is the wide-open space facing the expertly manicured back lawn and cool ocean breeze flowing in.
We also loved the countless plants and botanical life in many parts of the public areas! More than once, we commented amongst ourselves that it felt like living in a botanical garden of sorts!
Our modern room was minimally decorated with just the right amount of artwork placed in strategic spots. Amenities that we especially loved were the comfortable king-size bed, extra comforter and pillows in the closet, reusable water bottles (refill stations were easily located all over the property), motion-activated lights under the bed and in the bathroom, and delicious chocolates delivered during daily room cleanings.
The extra-large balcony with two large chairs was perfect for sunset and sunrise too!
But, we found ourselves at the large pool area most of the time. It was split into a family pool complete with two-story slides and a quieter adults-only pool area, which we appreciated. There were also two hot tubs, each with wonderful views.
The Park Hyatt Aviara is also home to the world-renowned Aviara Golf Course where many professional tournaments are held.
We also considered staying at the Grand Pacific Palisades Hotel and the Cassara Carlsbad Hilton.
Where To Eat
Ember & Rye
Created by Top Chef Masters winner Richard Blais, Ember & Rye is a playful restaurant that emphasizes a modern take on seafood and steak - all with beautiful plating and wonderful service.
Standout dishes that we loved:
Garlic croissant with corn creme brûlée - quite the decadent starter combo, we were surprised at how well these two items paired but we couldn’t stop eating it!
Avocado Toastada - a visual delight, the ‘egg yolk’ in this dish is actually a mango puree yolk! The coolest part was that it popped just like an egg yolk.
Squash Blossom, Espellete Honey - it’s pretty hard to not like lightly breaded and fried blossoms in a honey coating
Lobster Knuckle Sandwich - the name says it all, if you like lobster sandwiches, this one not only looks good but tastes good too!
Carrot Cake Club Sandwich - looks like a club sandwich but is actually a delicious carrot cake dessert!
We wanted to order a steak or a main fish dish, as it’s one of their specialties, but were to full by then! But if we come back, we’d definitely order either the Dry Aged Strip Steak or the Chilean Seabass!
State Street Farmers Market
Open every Wednesday at 2:30 pm, the State Street Farmers Market is full of fresh California produce and delicious food vendors.
Tomatoes were in season when we visited, so we ended up buying a whole bag of them to bring back to San Francisco.
For food, we had some delicious Indian food at Masala Cottage. Right next to them is the popular Rafikiz which serves Kenyan food, Thai Style for Thai food, and Home of Bao for great Asian dumplings.
There are plenty of other food vendors there serving up freshly baked bread, hummus, kombucha, coffee, and more.
At the far end of the market, we tasted some Lemon Ginger Green juice that was just so fantastic we ended up getting a couple of bottles to go!
Pure Project
This is by far one of the best breweries we’ve ever been to - the flavors and creativity of the beer at Pure Project are world-class.
They really emphasize sustainability with locally sourced ingredients, less waste, and recycled products.
Standout beers to try:
Valley of Abundance - You’ve never had a beer like this before - it’s a smoothie-style beer full of dragonfruit, mango, and banana! It looks like a smoothie and drinks like one too! Really mind-blowing if you ask me! This was our favorite one by far.
Tropical Mist - One of the most refreshing beers I’ve had, you can literally taste the oranges in this one.
Endless Vista - By far one of their most popular beers, this Murky IPA is easy to drink, juicy, and full of fruit flavor!