Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County and, with around 310,000 residents, its biggest city — though it is usually overshadowed in travel writing by neighbouring Anaheim (Disneyland), Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. It sits 45 km southeast of downtown Los Angeles, about 20 km inland from the Pacific. Most of the population is Mexican-American, and Santa Ana has one of the most vibrant Latino downtowns in Southern California: the restored Spanish-revival buildings of the historic Downtown Santa Ana and the parallel Latino shopping district of Calle Cuatro (4th Street) are the reason to visit.
The main cultural draw is the Bowers Museum, quietly one of the best museums in Orange County — strong collections of Native American, Pacific and Asian art, and a track record of pulling in major travelling exhibitions (Silk Road treasures, Terracotta Warriors). Combine it with the Old Orange County Courthouse (1901, Romanesque Revival) and a lunch at the 4th Street Market and you have a satisfying half-day downtown. For families, the Discovery Cube science museum and the Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park are excellent, while the Heritage Museum of Orange County preserves a slice of the region's agricultural past in 12 acres of restored citrus groves.