It’s no secret that San Diego is one of my all-time favorite places. ✨It is a beautiful and vibrant city✨ with amazing weather, a gorgeous and diverse natural environment, and a seemingly endless number of adventures just waiting to be had.
It’s also a place where no matter how much I write about it, there will always be more that could be said and much more to be done! This post is a BIG Travel Guide of fun things to do and attractions to see while you are visiting San Diego!
✨Have more ideas? Be sure to pop the ones I missed into the comments for your fellow San Diego travelers!
The first time I visited San Diego was when my kids were little. We took time to do all the quintessential San Diego area things: San Diego Zoo, LEGOLAND CA (technically in Carlsbad), the USS Midway Museum, and SeaWorld San Diego. We stayed with our family, who lived there at the time, and it was a blast. My kids loved it, my husband and I loved it, and since then, I have always looked forward to our return visits. It was a great place to visit with a young family and it is still a wonderful place to visit with my kids now that they’re older. It’s also a great place to spend time with just my husband. San Diego is a place where people of all ages can enjoy themselves.
The vibe is exactly what you think of when someone says the words “west coast.” Laid back, chill, and boho. The surf culture is the stand out here. It’s in everything from the streets and how they look, to the shops, and the people. I love💕 how everyone spends so much time outdoors. There are always people playing in the surf, or walking along the beautiful beaches🌊. You can find people running, listening to live music, flying a kite, or kite surfing🪁. There are some really fantastic trails in the San Diego area, or if you prefer to do your walking in town, there are plenty of amazing areas to explore in the city🌆.
I especially love to visit in February or March because the weather where I live is still terrible and frigid🥶, but the weather in San Diego is gorgeous. Warm and breezy and in the mid 60’s is typical. Bring a jacket with you for the cool mornings and evenings. The wettest month is also February, but in all the times I have been there in February, I have only encountered a couple of rain storms, and they cleared up quickly, leaving nothing but blue skies behind them.☀️
My other favorite thing about San Diego is the food. It is a foodie paradise. I have always loved venturing over to the Gaslamp Quarter to find something to eat, I have eaten at a bunch of places, all of them delicious. 🌮My husband is on a search for the Best Fish Tacos Ever, so that’s what he gets. I get whatever looks good. A taco or chilaquiles, or a gelato. The local food scene is strong in San Diego with locally sourced ingredients and plenty of really delightful, one-of-a-kind restaurants.
Well, all this talk about San Diego really makes me excited for you to visit! Let’s kick it off with the lists, shall we? I can’t wait to tell you about all of the best things to do and see in San Diego!
Here is what we will cover:
- Where to stay
- The Gaslamp Quarter
- Seaport Village
- USS Midway Museum
- Balboa Park
- Coronado Island
- Little Italy
- Old Town
- La Jolla
- Big Attractions: LEGOLAND and SeaWorld
Where to Stay:
My very, very favorite place to stay in San Diego is the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. I love it so much. I have stayed there four times now, and it is always outstanding. 🏨
First of all, always request a bayside room. The other side is the banana loading side…well, the Dole dock. It’s kind of industrial on that side but you do have a view of the Coronado Bridge, so that’s fun. The bayside views from the hotel are just breathtaking though. If you look out your window to the right, you can see all of downtown San Diego’s city skyline and the Gaslamp Quarter, if you look to the left, you can see Coronado Island and the Coronado Ferry going back and forth between Coronado Island and its dock on the bay. You can see the big military ships 🚢docked at the Naval Air Station North Island Port on Coronado Island, and in the morning you can watch the military running its exercises in the San Diego bay. The view brings me so much joy. 🦄
The Bayside Hilton offers a free shuttle to Coronado Island and there is a pedestrian bridge over the train tracks to the Gaslamp Quarter. It is situated across the street from Petco Park and is next door to the San Diego Convention Center. It is right on the Embarcadero as well, so you can step outside the hotel and walk right along the bay up to the Embarcadero Marina Park for a bite to eat at Burgers, Bait, and Beer, or catch some live music at The Rady Shell (check the performance schedule here). Or just keep following the Embarcadero up to Seaport Village.
The hotel itself has a ✨beautiful spa called Eforea, a little store for essentials, The Cannery Market where you can purchase food and drinks or even a really great pastry, a Starbucks, and a frozen yogurt shop called Sweet Things. The pool area is lovely, and I have never seen it very crowded (although I do visit in February). I love to hang out in the hot tub. There is a large seating area and bar at the pool called “The Pool Club” where you can watch a game, grab a snack, or just sit by the fire pit.🔥 It has a bar called Odysea that I haven’t been to, but every evening, it looks like it’s hopping. And it has a restaurant called Hudson and Nash that has good food.
There are a ton of beautiful downtown hotels and Airbnbs though, and each one has its list of pros and cons, but I truly do love The Bayfront.
Ok, now that you know where to stay, let’s figure out what you should do during your incredible San Diego adventure!🏖️
The Gaslamp Quarter
The Gaslamp is one of the best places to visit in San Diego. It’s touristy, yes. It’s busy and peopley – also yes. But it has a really ✨vibrant energy that is so fun and contagious. If you were down in the dumps before you got to the Gaslamp, just wait. You won’t be sad for long!😀 The Gaslamp has so many amazing gift shops, restaurants, and art galleries. There is eye candy around every corner. I have eaten at a TINY fraction of the restaurants that are in the Gaslamp, but they have all been great. My personal faves: Tacos el Gordo, La Puerta, and Gaslamp Breakfast Company.
The Gaslamp really comes to life at night.🪩 5th Ave. closes from 12 pm to 2 am to traffic for pedestrians from Broadway to K St. and all of the people come out of the woodwork. It is a people watching mecca. It’s also one of the funnest (yes, I said funnest) free things you can do in San Diego. Just window shop and wander. Or maybe after you catch a San Diego Padres game, you just head out into the Gaslamp. That sounds like the recipe for an amazing day.🤩
Seaport Village
🤓Remember earlier when I told you to wander up the Embarcadero to Seaport Village? You really really should.
It’s a lovely little shopping center that is full of surf shops, gift shops, and restaurants. It’s a popular spot to fly a kite🪁, or just have a picnic. There’s even some sand and a few Adirondack chairs to sit in and enjoy the breeze from the bay.
It is a great place to spend an afternoon and find a gift for the kids that you left at home with Grandma. There’s a Ben and Jerry’s if you need an ice cream cone🍦 for sustenance and Crack Taco Shop if you need a quick taco🌮..well… there’s usually a line, but the tacos are so tasty, you won’t mind.
USS Midway Museum
💁♀️If you are a naval history buff – or actually any type of history buff, you will love the USS Midway Museum. It is MASSIVE. The USS Midway was the longest serving aircraft carrier in the 20th century. It was deployed in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm. You can spend a good chunk of the day wandering around inside. Tour the mess hall, the engine rooms, the flight deck, the newly restored ship’s island, or even take a ride in a virtual reality F-18 flight simulator. The USS Midway website has tons of information about the museum, as well as information about parking and transportation to the museum. Be sure to give it a quick read and purchase your tickets online before you go.
Here are a few more things to do available close to the USS Midway that I haven’t done, but that look really fun. That way when your time at the Midway is at an end, you can do something else fun in the same neighborhood!
- The New Children’s Museum on Island Ave along with the Children’s Museum Park and the San Diego Children’s Park
- The Maritime Museum of San Diego – tours of restored antique ships
- See a show at Balboa Theatre
Balboa Park
Speaking of Balboa – let’s talk about the park. It’s a San Diego Icon. There are 1200 acres(!) of things to do in Balboa Park. There are trails, some of the best San Diego museums, and, of course, the San Diego Zoo.🐼 Here is a short (actually, long but incomplete) list of some of the attractions available inside Balboa Park:
- San Diego Natural History Museum
- Spanish Village Art Center
- The San Diego Museum of Art
- Japanese Friendship Garden and Museum
- San Diego Automotive Museum
- San Diego Air and Space Museum
- WorldBeat Cultural Center
- San Diego Veterans Museum
- Museum of Us
- Fleet Science Center
You could spend days just adventuring to all the places inside of Balboa Park. I haven’t done much exploring of Balboa Park, but I HAVE been to the San Diego Zoo.
It was when my kids were little and we LOVED it. We could have wandered around the zoo forever. The landscaping is gorgeous, there are so many different plants!🌿 Over 6500 different species of plants call San Diego Zoo home – I could talk about them forever, but the real reason we all go to the zoo is the animals! San Diego Zoo has the largest number of different animals of any zoo in the world. More than 800 species! The exhibits are beautiful and well done. There is a reason it’s everyone’s favorite zoo!💕
If I had to do it over though, I would spend a lot more time there. We split the day between San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld, and we should have spent the full day at the zoo. SeaWorld🐬 deserved its own day too, although I didn’t love it as much as the zoo. There are lots of places to eat and play both inside the zoo and outside the zoo in Balboa Park. I mean, you see👀 the list of museums. You could probably go every day for a month and not see it all!
LMK in the comments if you have been to a bunch of the museums in Balboa Park and which ones were your favorite!💕
Coronado Island
Next stop – Coronado Island! If you stayed at Hilton San Diego Bayfront, catch the free shuttle over to Coronado Island. If you didn’t stay there, you can grab an Uber and drive across the Coronado Bridge, or head to one of the two ferry terminals: one on Broadway Pier (north of USS Midway) or the one on 5th Ave and Convention Way (also happens to be right next door to the Bayside Hilton) and wait to catch a ride over to the island. ⌚Ferry service from San Diego starts every day at 9 am and runs every hour. It’s a quick and fun ride to the island. Here is the link to check the schedule and purchase your tickets online.
https://www.flagshipsd.com/cruises/flagship-ferry
Once you get to the island, be sure to head over to the Hotel del Coronado. It’s a historic hotel that is/has:
- Haunted – or rumored to be👻
- An old film location🎬
- The first commercial building lit by electricity💡
- One of the last of the great wooden Victorian beach resorts in the world.🌊
- Has an amazing roller rink with skate rentals🛼
- Sunday movies on the beach🎥
- Tons of dining options including Beach and Taco Shack and Eno Market and Pizzeria🍕
- Beachside marshmallow roasting🔥
- A museum🏫
- Beach cruiser bike rentals🚲
- A beautiful pool👙
- Surfing instruction🏄♀️
- The huge, beautiful Breakers Beach (check for contaminated water advisories before you swim)🏖️
- SHOPPING!🛍️
It is seriously so fun to wander around the Hotel Del. Even if you don’t stay there it is an experience.
From there head into town (on your rented beach cruiser?). Coronado Island has the cutest little beach town filled with historic buildings. It is very walkable, there is a ton of shopping and lots of restaurants. Grab some ice cream🍦 at MooTime Creamery. It’s made locally in San Diego, they have tons of fun flavors, and it is just really tasty.😋
🏠I loved just wandering around the neighborhoods by the beach at Coronado Island. It’s lovely to see the plants people plant in their front yards, and see the local architecture, and the colors that people paint their houses. I can’t help it, I am always curious about what makes a town tick. And I love to get off the beaten path and into the places where the people live. Coronado Island doesn’t disappoint. The average home price in Coronado was 2.5 million in June 2024. There are small homes and big homes, some on the beach, and some closer to town, but most of them are well taken care of. It really is a quaint and picturesque town.
Coronado Island is home to the Naval Base Coronado, a complex of eight military facilities including the Naval Air Station North Island, and the Naval Amphibious Base. It is so interesting to watch them run their exercises around the bay in the morning and peep at their GINORMOUS ships sitting in the bay. Show your support for our military by grabbing something at the Urt Urt! Shop flagship store in downtown Coronado. They have a really cool selection of t-shirts and gear, and their C4 Foundation line benefits Navy SEAL families.
After you’re done hanging out at Coronado Island for the day, jump back on the ferry🛥️ (or the Uber, or shuttle) and wave goodbye to your new, favorite little enclave in San Diego.🖐️
☀️Tomorrow you have another big day ahead of you!
Little Italy
Little Italy is the cutest neighborhood. Known for its crazy good food and drink scene (seriously, some of the best food in SD), along with its art galleries🖼️ and fantastic shopping, you do not want to let your vacation pass without spending some time here.
Centered around the Piazza della Famiglia, the cobblestone street, tiled fountain,⛲ and twinkle lights make it one of the most 💕romantic💕 spots in San Diego to share a pizza and a Diet Coke with your lover.🥤
Or head over there on a Saturday morning for the Little Italy Mercato farmers market.🥖 It runs every Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm and several streets are shut down, so it’s totally pedestrian-friendly. There are so many vendors with so many delicious and unique items. Not to mention all the cafes with patio seating just inviting you to stop and enjoy some delicious food with friends and loved ones.
Little Italy is so close to downtown that if you’re staying at the Bayfront Hilton, it’s just a pedi-cab or short Uber ride over!
Old Town
✨Next we head over to Old Town San Diego. Old Town was the beginning of San Diego, and it has some really great museums and attractions, along with plenty of events and festivals🪅. Here are some of the great historic sites and museums in Old Town:
- Mormon Battalion Historic Site Museum
- Whaley House Museum – America’s most haunted house!👻
- Old Town San Diego State Historic Park including Land of the First People Gathering Area
- Seeley Stable Museum
- Church of the Immaculate Conception
- African Diaspora Museum
- Harney Street Market (Sat and Sun 10-4 pm)
- Junipero Serra Museum (Sat and Sun 10-4 pm)
- Heritage County Park and Victorian Village
Be sure to go to Cafe Coyote and see the cute Tortilla Ladies👵 making tortillas for all of the tacos and burritos! You will be starving after your Old Town adventure and these are to die for.
La Jolla
One neighborhood you will definitely want to put on your shortlist to explore is La Jolla. La Jolla Cove is home to large colonies of seals, sea lions, and sea birds.🦭 It smells a bit… but your nose gets used to the smell and seeing the sea lions and seals playing in the ocean and sunning themselves on the beach is so fun and worth it.
Start your day with a delicious breakfast at Brockton Villa, and get some of their delectable French toast. Then head across the street and start your walk down the road to the Cove. There will be lots of people there taking photos and swimming. If you wander along the beach through Ellen Scripps Park, you can sit and watch the Pacific Ocean or visit with some of the artists who have their art stands set up along the sidewalk. It’s another great free thing to do in San Diego.
La Jolla Cove has some of the clearest water in San Diego for snorkeling and scuba diving. It is within the San Diego La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve and water visibility can sometimes be as much as 30 feet. You can find people swimming and you could do some swimming yourself, but my suggestion is to join a kayak and snorkel tour with La Jolla Kayak and take it out into the ocean.🛶 If you are there during the spring or summer, you might even see some whales migrating! La Jolla is one of the best spots for whale watching in San Diego!🐳
From La Jolla Cove head up a couple of blocks and into downtown La Jolla for lunch. My personal fave is Puesto La Jolla. Their taco fillings are nestled inside handmade blue corn tortillas, and all their food is sooo good – no but for real – for real real.
Go shopping at the numerous boutiques and fun little stores like Gracie James, an eclectic little store full of jewelry, art, clothing, and plants🪴. Hit up Warwick’s bookstore, the country’s oldest family-owned and operated bookstore, for a great new beach read.📙 Their selection of beautiful coffee table books was ahhhhmazing. I felt like I should take them all home with me.
Next take the street back down toward La Jolla Cove, only this time you are going to cut through to the left of The Cave Store and head out on La Jolla Coast Walk Trail. It’s pretty easy, has stunning scenery, and is not too long but it will get you over to La Jolla Shores where you can continue your exploration of La Jolla.
From La Jolla Shores, catch an Uber over to Birch Aquarium at Scripps. It is a beautiful aquarium that is the public outreach part of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD. Make sure to get your tickets🎟️ online ahead of time and check the website here for discounts, the schedule, and events.
Big Attractions: LEGOLAND and SeaWorld
Wow! We’ve already covered so much! But there are a few notable things I haven’t touched, except in passing; the BIG attractions! LEGOLAND and SeaWorld. These are so fun, and if you have kids, or you are a kid at heart, they are so worth visiting. I have been to both, and my family had a blast. BUT, I haven’t been in forever. I am sure things have changed (like the entrance fee!), but the fun is the same! I do remember loving the Manta roller coaster at SeaWorld, though. We rode it like 5 times.🎢
When we went, we were able to purchase our tickets from the store on base and get a military discount, but if I had to do it again, I would look at something like a GoCity Pass. If you choose their all-inclusive pass, you can visit as many attractions as you want for four days. That includes both LegoLand, and SeaWorld, plus San Diego Zoo, AND San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Plus a ton of other San Diego attractions like the USS Midway, Birch Aquarium at Scripps, Knott’s Berry Farm, Belmont Park, Whale Watching Cruises, Petco Park Tours, and more.
Or, you pick the Explorer Pass and figure out how many attractions you want to visit and have 60 days to see them. If you plan it right, you can use your GoCity Pass to save a bunch of money🤑 on the expensive attractions and then do the cheap stuff yourself.
There is also a San Diego CityPASS. The attraction list is smaller, but if the GoCity Pass isn’t on sale, it may be the less expensive option. Check both and then decide. It can save you a bunch of money if you are planning on seeing a lot of attractions with admission fees.
Other than the passes, I don’t really have great tips for these theme parks anymore since I haven’t been in so long. So I am going to link you to a few blog posts. Here are two that seem helpful for LEGOLAND:
And a couple for SeaWorld:
✨This is my last tip for the big attractions, and it’s not really for them at all. Out of all the things we did with our kids when they were little – San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, LEGOLAND, and USS Midway, their all-time favorite day of our vacation was our chill day at the beach.🏖️ We had boogie boards and sand pails, and we buried each other in soft SoCal sand, played in the water, and had an amazing time. So don’t schedule yourself too tightly. Allow some surf and chill time. And if you are old like I am, and your kids are grown, and you are in San Diego for some fun with your spouse, chill time is important then too. Wander around, hold hands, and get lost. It’s funner that way. 🩷
I think you can tell by this post that I am San Diego’s biggest fangirl. I hope I have inspired you to go if you have never been! And if you have, and you have favorites, drop them in the comments! I am always looking for new fun things to do over there!
xoxo,
Morgz
If you just want the San Diego CliffsNotes version read my post about Five Fun Things to do in San Diego in a Weekend here
You wanna know what my favorite things to have in my beach bag are? Check it out here
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