For many tourists, San Diego is simply a city and county of beaches and blue skies. Most San Diegans, however, also know the region as one also teeming with parks, cultural hubs, museums, architectural sites and research institutions.
And while there is some truth to San Diego’s sun and surf reputation, it is up to locals to give their guests a more holistic view of the region.
Here are 16 must-see places to take your guests in San Diego to give them a more comprehensive grasp of the town.
Liberty Station
Between 1923 and its closure in 1997, 1.75 million people took on basic training at the Naval Training Center in Point Loma. Today, that center is known as Liberty Station. The mixed-use development consists of restaurants, boutiques, museums and the USS Recruit — a historic exhibit and the Navy’s only commissioned ship that has never set sail. (619) 756-7992. libertystation.com
Sunset Cliffs
San Diego, known for its beaches, is also home to some jagged stretches of shoreline, and that includes Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma. The naturally chiseled cliffs are lined along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard between Adair and Ladera streets. Just south of Ladera Street lies an additional 50-acre section of the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park with more hillside space and more unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The Birch Aquarium hosts a variety of marine flora and fauna in more than 60 habitats — including a 70,000-gallon kelp forest and rocky tide pools. In addition to tours, the aquarium also organizes lectures, summer camps and tailored visits showing visitors how staff care for octopuses and seahorses. Tickets for non require advance reservation: $24.95 for adults, $22.95 for students and seniors and $19.95 for children between three to 17 years of age. Children two and under get in free of charge. 2300 Expedition Way, San Diego. (858) 534-3474. aquarium.ucsd.edu
Gaslamp Quarter
Situated squarely in downtown, the Gaslamp Quarter is often considered the historic heart of San Diego. While San Diego’s skyline may be dominated by skyscrapers, the Gaslamp Quarter remains a hub for Victorian-era architecture. In addition to the many restaurants and shops which occupy its 16 square blocks, tourists can also visit a number of museums in the neighborhood: the Gaslamp Museum and the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, along with the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art and New Children’s Museum.
Hillcrest
Hillcrest boasts blocks and blocks of restaurants, bookstores and shops — perched just north of Balboa Park. Every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., more than 175 vendors queue up on Normal Street between University and Lincoln avenues to put on the Hillcrest Farmers Market. A hub for San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community, the neighborhood also hosts one of the region’s largest civic events: the San Diego Pride Parade.
Mission Beach and Mission Bay
San Diego is not just about the beach, but these adjacent neighborhoods make for a great opportunity for tourists to check items off their San Diego to-do list: surfing, swimming, boogie boarding, kayaking and more. Adding onto the quintessential beach experience, Mission Beach houses Belmont Park, an amusement park with rides, and the Mission Beach boardwalk — a two-mile-long oceanfront path tacked by shops, restaurants and glitzy beach houses. A short distance away is SeaWorld San Diego in Mission Bay.
Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial
For more than 25 years, the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial was at the center of a legal battle: Should religious symbols occupy public property? After the issue made its rounds through federal courts, including two stints in the U.S. Supreme Court, the debacle finally concluded when the Mount Soledad Memorial Association bought the memorial and the land in 2015; no longer was the memorial’s 29-foot-tall cross under public stewardship. Though the memorial is now privately owned, the land and the memorial — along with their bird’s-eye view of the Pacific Ocean, Mission Bay and North County — are still open to the public daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. 6905 La Jolla Scenic Drive S., San Diego. (858) 384-2405, soledemorial.org
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Aside from being home to the nation’s rarest pine tree, the Torrey Pine, the 1,750-acre Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve boasts Pacific views, miles of hiking trails and bluff formations sculpted by the elements. Guided hikes are offered Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays at 10 a.m., and the reserve’s visitor center is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 12600 N. Torrey Pines Road, San Diego. (858) 755-2063, torreypine.org
Chicano Park
From above, it’s a filigree of on-ramps, off-ramps and freeways. From the ground, it’s an open-air museum. Since the 1970s, artists have embellished gray freeway pillars and concrete walls with colorful murals. Earlier in the 1960s, the construction of Interstate 5 and the San Diego-Coronado Bridge displaced thousands who lived in the area and built a sharp dividing line between Logan Heights and Barrio Logan. However, much of the murals, activist history and museum which have grown out of the concrete jungle have become symbols of Indigenous, Mexican and Chicano identity, hardship and history. (619) 994-1345. chicano-park.com
Why Chicano Park is one of San Diego’s must-see cultural landmarks
Balboa Park
San Diego’s 1,200-acre flagship park — which is larger than New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park — merits its own list of notable sites. Since its establishment in 1868, Balboa Park has amassed a wealth of attractions: the San Diego Zoo, the Centro Cultural de la Raza, the San Diego Museum of Art, a century-old fig tree and much more. Today, Balboa Park’s varied appeal brings in about 14 million visitors per year. balboapark.org
San Diego Zoo
The 100-acre San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park is home to more than 14,000 rare and endangered animals and 3,100 species of plants. The zoo’s hefty animal population also includes some many may not have heard of, such as bee-eaters, babirusas and takins. One-day es to the zoo can be purchased online, starting at $57 for children aged three to 11 and $67 for those 12 and older. 2920 Zoo Drive, San Diego. (619) 231-1515. sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Established in 1960, the namesake of polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk is a renowned hub for biological research — but with a name in the arts. Designed by architect Louis Kahn, the research facility — part of which frames a small fortune of San Diego’s Pacific coast — is widely considered a gem of Modern architecture. Visitors pre- for self-guided tours at $10 per person, docent-led tours at $20 per person and private tours on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, San Diego. (858) 453-4100. salk.edu
Coronado
Though Coronado sits on less than eight square miles of land, the peninsular city packs in the famed Hotel del Coronado, miles of beaches and a ferry landing with shops, restaurants and a clear view of the San Diego skyline. With its position across the San Diego Bay from downtown, there are multiple scenic ways to get in and out of the city — including the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, the Silver Strand and the San Diego-Coronado Ferry.
Legoland
A classic San Diego County theme park with dozens of rides and attractions, Legoland also packs an aquarium and a water park. The Carlsbad location was the first Legoland park outside of Europe and remains the only one in the Western U.S. 1 Legoland Drive, Carlsbad. (888) 690-5346. legoland.com/california
Kate Sessions Park
Kate Sessions, considered the “Mother of Balboa Park,” left her mark on San Diego planting hundreds of trees in the 19th and 20th centuries — as well as introducing jacaranda, bougainvillea and bird of paradise to the city. Since 1957, this Pacific Beach park with panoramic views of San Diego has donned her name. The 79-acre green space is perched on a hillside overlooking Mission Bay, the ocean and, in the distance, downtown. 5115 Soledad Road, San Diego.
Convoy District
Emerging from Kearny Mesa’s industrial and military roots, Convoy is considered one of the largest pan-Asian business districts in the U.S. For decades, the district has housed a number of restaurants, bakeries, venues and cafes — cementing its role as a cultural hub and culinary destination.
Welcome to Convoy: 30-foot sign coming soon to trendy San Diego neighborhood
