My D2 is winding up her undergraduate time in Southern California, and I am going down for a long weekend in July to help her pack and get her stuff home or shipped to grad school. We have an extra day or two in the LA area, and she said she’d like to visit a mission before leaving that part of the country. I can see which ones are near LA (we’ll be in Claremont, but with a car and over a weekend, so willing to drive a couple of hours). I looked at the websites, but wonder if anyone has a favorite for tourists to visit.
My favorite missions are Santa Barbara and La Purisma.
It’s definitely not the closest, but I like the mission in San Juan Capistrano. The mission and the adjoining Los Rios historic district are worth the trip.
There are also many art galleries and good restaurants all scattered within walking distance. Park at or near the train station, and you will be close to all the good stuff.
Top off the day by driving along the coast road through Orange County.
Given the area you’ll be in, I think my top choice would be San Juan Capistrano. My favorite missions are Carmel and San Luis Obispo but you won’t be near those. All of the missions are so different and have such great stories, you can’t go wrong.
San Diego was the first mission plus there is one in Oceanside and one in San Juan Capistrano. Have fun
I also like San Juan Capistrano, but I’ll put in a vote for Mission San Gabriel (my 'local mission when I was growing up) – it’s close to L.A. and it’s got a decent amount to look at.
You can’t go wrong with either the Santa Barbara Mission or the San Juan Capistrano Mission.
San Juan Capistrano is near Laguna Beach, which has several art festivals going on during the summer (it’s also a much, much shorter drive to San Juan Capistrano than to Santa Barbara-- according to google maps, it’s 52 minutes versus ca. 2 hours). I’ve never been to San Gabriel, so I can’t comment on that one.
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Seconding showmom858. La Purisima is the best. They have extensive grounds and demonstrations.
I love San Juan Capistrano and Santa Barbara and I really want to see La Purisima as well! Santa Barbara is a fun day trip, but so is Capistrano – Capistrano is closer to Claremont.
I used to live by San Juan Capistrano and it is a very pretty mission and tour. The church connected to the mission is also very interesting if you can stay for Mass.
While Santa Barbara is a beautiful place, it will take you more than a ‘couple of hours’ to get there and back on a weekend. The drive is lovely, the little towns along the way are nice, but lots of your friends also want to go, and the traffic is bad. I think it took us 4-5 hours to get back one Sunday afternoon.
San Juan Capistrano (famous for its Swallows) is less than an hour away from Claremont. (Unless you try to drive it during rush hour, and you might as well walk. hahahaha)
Note, that the 241/133 route has tolls, and its automated tolls. No cash.
The mission in San Diego is nice as is San Luis Rey in Oceanside, but if you have the time La Purisma is my choice.
My DD did her grade 4 report on San Juan Capistrano, we like that one, too.
On Memorial Day weekends the Santa Barbara Mission hosts a festival for Italian pastel sidewalk drawings, many of which are spectacular. Local businesses sponsor artists for the event. The drawings should still be in good condition now.
http://www.imadonnarifestival.com
My favorite is San Diego de Alcala. My uncle painted a number of paintings of this Church and the grounds.
La Purisima is also my favorite and the one my son did his 4th grade mission report on. However, it’s probably a little far to go to if you have limited time. My daughter did her report on San Juan Capistrano and it was also very nice–a beautiful place and not terribly hard to get to.
If you are in a rental car and take the toll lanes (on purpose or by accident 
) go online and pay via credit card right away as soon as you are back at your hotel. The rental companies like to charge outrageous surcharges.
And I love San Juan Capistrano as well.
Just down the street from Pasadena is the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
http://californiamissionsfoundation.org/mission-san-gabriel/
Close to that is the
I like San Luis Rey in Oceanside, It’s beautiful and nicely maintained, unlike say San Juan Capistrano which is mostly a ruin. Plus.there is a very good family-run Mexican restaurant right by the mission.