Known as "The Jewel of the Missions", many consider the Mission San Juan Capistrano the most beautiful of the California missions. Padre Junipero Serra founded the picturesque Mission San Juan Capistrano on November 1, 1776.

Capistrano's Los Rios District is one of the oldest neighborhoods in all of California, including 31 historic sites and three adobe homes which date back to 1794.

San Juan Capistrano is also home to the Swallow's Day parade. The swallows migrate annually to Goya, Argentina in October, and return to their spring and summer home in San Juan Capistrano each March. The Swallows celebration began centuries ago when Mission padres observed that the birds return roughly coincided with St. Joseph's Day on the church calendar, March 19. The celebration has achieved international prominence since then.

Until the 1920's, El Camino Real, the path the padres used to travel between the missions, was the only road from LosAngeles to San Diego.