It´s quite certain that California is on the “to do” list for most travellers, and once you will driving around this absolutely beautiful and diverse State, you will probably wonder where to stop by for some shopping. Surprisingly, outlets´ selection is not massive in California, though the State does have few outlet villages.

My favourite stop by is in an area not too far from Silicon Valley, so quite conveniently located if you will be driving from LA to San Francisco or vice versa and for whatever reason will decide not to take the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway. Moreover, if you will be driving to see Stanford, Palo Alto and other local celebrities, you may as well make a detour for some shopping.

The place to look for is Gilroy. It is first of all- famous for a rather unglamorous garlic. Second of all- an outlet village- unoriginally called Gilroy Premium Outlets.

Do not snob the outlet because it does not offer premium brands. You will nevertheless find some really good prices on upper level high street brands, such as Abercrombie & Fitch (my favourite!), North Face, Banana Republic, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and alikes. The deals are well worth the detour to spend a few hours shopping- pretty much any time of the year.

You will also find Saks Fith Avenue Off 5^th – with some posh brands- though still quite overpriced.

The outlet itself is built in an American malls fashion- meaning it is massive and very car but not so much pedestrians friendly, but this is no different as in other malls in that part of the world.

All in all, recommended if you are around Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay area and drive.

Where: 681 Leavesley Rd, Gilroy, CA 95020, USA