How to Spend 3 Days in San Diego
Are you planning a trip to sunny San Diego soon? This was my itinerary for a 3-day getaway to this SoCal city. These were the must-dos for us on the trip, with a focus on seeing the sights and enjoying San Diego’s best attractions. Read on to find out how to spend 3 days in San Diego!
This October I took my second trip to San Diego, California. The last time I’d been here was in high school with my family, and I was looking forward to experiencing this beautiful city again. Now after two trips here, I can safely say I’ve fallen in love! The perfect weather, beautiful plants, scenic coast, and charming architecture make San Diego hard to resist. I hope to be back someday soon!
3 Days in San Diego: Day 1
Coronado Island & La Jolla
On our first day in San Diego, we woke up and enjoyed coffee and breakfast at our hotel outside by the pool area. Even though it was late October, the weather was perfect: warm and sunny at 75 degrees.
We stayed at the Coronado Island Marriot Resort. Our hotel was like paradise so we didn’t feel the need to head out for breakfast, but if you would rather explore, there is no shortage of adorable cafes and brunch spots on Coronado!
The Hotel del Coronado
Around noon, we headed out to the Hotel del Coronado, a beautiful and expansive Victorian resort on the beach. This wooden beauty was built in 1888 and was once the largest resort in the world. It has hosted many notable figures from history, including Marilyn Monroe (who filmed the classic movie Some Like It Hot there). Frank L. Baum, several US presidents, Thomas Edison, and many other Hollywood stars have also been guests.
This iconic hotel sits on the beach amid beautifully landscaped gardens of tropical plants. It features an all-wooden structure and soaring red roofs.
We had lunch here (which the locals affectionately refer to as The Del), giving ourselves a little taste of Old-Hollywood luxury. We had beachside margaritas and tacos and soaked in the beautiful ocean views and sunshine.
After finishing our food and drinks, we spent a little while walking on the beach. We dipped our toes in the frigid Pacific Ocean and admired the professionally-built sandcastles and sculptures.
After walking on the beach, we explored the inside of the hotel. Only the lobby, a few shops, and inner courtyard are open to non-hotel guests, but they give you a wonderful feeling of stepping back in time to more glamorous days.
The lobby features an old-timey lift with an operator and brass cage, an opulent chandelier, and handsomely carved woodwork. The courtyard is beautifully maintained and very peaceful, and features palm trees, birds-of-paradise, bougainvillea, and buzzing hummingbirds.
Dining at Hotel del Coronado
There are several dining options available to you here, depending on what your budget is. We had margaritas from the On the Rocks food truck, which also serves high-end sandwiches, poke bowls, and salads. Our tacos were from the Beach Shack, a tiki-style bar that serves a variety of tropical cocktails and 3-4 kinds of tacos. These two are the most casual and wallet-friendly options, but if you’re looking for a bit more, there are Sheerwater and Serea restaurants as well.
Tips
I would recommend getting there by either a rideshare such as Uber or Lyft or by bike. The hotel has a mandatory valet fee which we didn’t know about and ended up paying about $30 for.
I’d definitely recommend renting a bike and doing the Bayshore/Coronado Bike Trail around the island if you have the time! It’s about 6 miles and lets you see basically the whole perimeter of the island with views of parks, beautiful neighborhoods, the San Diego skyline, and the Del. It’s pretty flat and is a paved bike trail for most of the way, although there are some segments that require crossing traffic.
La Jolla
After our leisurely lunch at the Hotel del Coronado, we hopped back in the car and headed north. The area of La Jolla is a gorgeous seaside village full of restaurants, shops, hotels, and beautiful cliff-top ocean views.
This is a wonderful spot to enjoy the end of the day and watch the sunset. We parked at Scripps Park, a lovely green space right on top of the cliffs. From there we walked up to the Cave Store, where the only sea cave that’s accessible by foot is located.
Sunny Jim Cave
Here you can pay $5 to walk down a hand-dug tunnel to the inside of Sunny Jim Cave, where you can watch sea kayakers paddle by. The cave isn’t huge, but it’s pretty cool and I can see this being especially exciting for kids. The tunnel is pretty unique and feels adventurous. The stairs down can be wet and slippery and the ceiling can be low in places, so be careful and go slowly.
La Jolla Cove
After the cave, we walked along the path above the cliffs and watched all the cormorants, brown pelicans, seals, and sea lions that crowd the cliffs. The sea lions are especially entertaining and noisy as they bicker over the best spot on the rocks.
There are steps down to a small crescent-shaped beach here that they like to gather on, so you can get pretty close. But remember that they are big animals and can be dangerous. It’s better to keep your distance and respect the wildlife.
There are also points where you can access the cliffs and rocks, but footing can be slippery so be careful when navigating them and don’t get too close to the edges. You can get great photos without risking your safety!
After watching the sunset from the cove, we headed back to Coronado for dinner. However, there are lots of local restaurants in La Jolla if you want to spend more time in this area.
There is a walking trail that takes you along the cliffs and various beaches and parks that sounds like it would be a lovely way to see a lot. The downtown of the village is also very cute and has many shops and restaurants that seem like they would be worth exploring. I guess I’ll just have to plan another trip back here to spend some more time exploring La Jolla!
3 Days in San Diego: Day 2
Balboa Park, Old Town, & Gaslamp District
On our second day, we did a tour of San Diego’s most popular areas. We settled on the Old Town Trolley tour, which allows you to hop on and off the trolley at each of the 10 stops on the route.
This may or may not be worth the money, honestly; despite the advertised “hop on, hop off,” you do spend a lot of time waiting for the trolley to arrive at each stop and if you want to spend time exploring each place, you are very likely not going to make it all the way through the route before they stop running for the day. However, it was nice to not have to worry about finding parking at each stop, and you do learn some local history on the ride from the driver.
Balboa Park
Our first stop was Balboa Park, a huge 1,200-acre urban park that hosts 16 museums, the San Diego Zoo, gardens, restaurants, and performing arts venues. There’s a lot to see and do here, so I’d recommend researching what interests you most so that you can make the most of your time.
We enjoyed looking at all of the Spanish-style architecture of the museum buildings, the Alcazar garden, the beautiful Museum of Man building, and the Botanical Building. There are also trails through a variety of different gardens, such as the Japanese Garden, the Rose Garden, and the Desert Garden. The Spanish Village is also worth a look around, for the brightly colored paving stones and artists that are based there.
Old Town
From Balboa Park, we rode on through Little Italy, which boasts a large concentration of Italian restaurants and chic shopping, and on to Old Town. Here we had a late lunch of delicious Mexican food at Cafe Coyote, which had a fun and festive open-air atmosphere, huge margaritas, and mariachis.
I found Old Town really charming, with delicious and authentic food, fun shops, and lots of history. This area is the place of California’s first settlement, originally only a mission and a fort.
We wandered around the Old Town State Historic Park, which is made up of historic Spanish-mission style buildings. Here you can watch demonstrations of blacksmithing and other old-timey activities and find shops selling old-fashioned wares and handmade goods.
As the sun went down, we watched as the locals began the Dia de los Muertos festivities. Marigolds were laid along the pavement next to chalked memorials of loved ones who have passed, Katrina-costumed patrons strolled the streets, and candles were lit at memorial altars while a guitarist sang.
Gas Lamp District
After dark, we headed to the Gaslamp District. This is the heart of San Diego’s nightlife and is a hip area of renovated historic spaces, shopping, restaurants, and bars. There are tons of places to choose from for dinner or a drink, so I’d definitely recommend heading here one evening for a night out. We were still full from our huge lunch, so we settled on just a dessert from the Ghirardelli lounge.
3 Days in San Diego: Day 3
San Diego Zoo
No visit to San Diego is complete without a day at the zoo! The San Diego Zoo is a revolutionary animal park that pioneered the open-air exhibit concept that recreated an animal’s natural habitat. This zoo houses over 3,500 animals of 650 different species and a host of exotic and unique plant species that are native to the environments that the animals inhabit.
There are many animal species in this zoo that you’ve probably never seen in real life before, like cheetahs, maned wolves, giant anteaters, California condors, okapi, koalas, and black rhinos. My personal favorite animals we saw were the okapi (like a beautiful combo of a giraffe and a zebra), maned wolves (like a red fox on stilts) and red pandas (they’re so cute!).
Be sure to get to the zoo early to avoid lines and crowds, wear comfortable walking shoes, and plan to spend a whole day to see everything. If you’re a really passionate animal lover, I would also recommend looking into the Safari Park in addition to the Zoo.
Safari Park
The Safari Park is also operated by the San Diego Zoo, but is located about 40 minutes outside the city. This park is unique and known for its open range exhibits that cover over 300 acres. Here you can take a ride on a covered, open-air tram through the African savannah. You can see animals like elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and ostriches together in their natural setting. There are also more traditional enclosures here that you can walk through to view tigers, lions, birds, and some Australian species.
We didn’t visit the Safari Park on this trip, but I went back in 2011 with my family and enjoyed it immensely! It offers an animal-viewing experience that you can’t really have anywhere else.
Extra Details
Seasons
We visited San Diego in late October/early November, and the weather was still wonderful. It never got too hot- usually like 75-80 during the day and in the 60s at night with no humidity.
I’d definitely recommend visiting in the fall if you can because the summer crowds were gone in the off-season. We never had long lines or heavy crowds anywhere we went, and it was a lovely break from the cold and cloudiness in Seattle.
The other time I went to San Diego was in June, and I remember it being surprisingly cool and cloudy then– they have what is known as the June Gloom. However, mid to late summer is probably the best time for anything involving water, because it definitely gets cold later in the year and many places stop giving kayaking or paddle-boarding tours.
Accommodations
We stayed at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort, which was absolutely wonderful. I felt like I was in paradise waking up and walking out on my patio to palm trees and the San Diego skyline. This resort is beautiful and offers amenities like a heated pool, hot tub, and poolside bar. There’s also a restaurant, spa, sports club and courts, and free bike rentals for guests.
However, it is definitely on the upper end of the price spectrum. But there are plenty of places to stay in Coronado and downtown San Diego that can accommodate a lower budget. I would definitely check out Airbnb or VRBO, especially if you’re going with a group.
Conclusion
San Diego is a beautiful city full of history, great food, and gorgeous beaches. It’s a place I hope to get back to, sooner rather than later. I hope this 3-day itinerary gives you a guide for how to spend your time on your trip.
If you’ve been before, let me know in the comments your favorite thing to do when visiting San Diego!
