San Diego is one of the most beautiful places on the West Coast. We recommend staying 2 or 3 days to be able to explore it in depth. There is a lot to see.
To stay we recommend Pacific Beach or La Jolla if you are looking for some peace.
Pacific is a residential neighborhood that reaches the sea. Lovely houses, wide streets, calm, beach...
One of the best ways to explore the neighborhood is by bike.
One must-see spot is Mission Beach! It's by Pacific Beach. It is a narrow beach that is just a few blocks wide and extends further, surrounded by water.
If you look ahead of that long street: on the right side you will find Mission Beach. With good beach vibes, little bars, music, the sea... There is an amusement park right on the shore.
And on the left side, the residential neighborhood with narrow streets and very beachy houses. If you start get into it you'll find a very quiet place that ends in a large lake with boats, the water is calm, there is no one there. It's called Carmel Point.
La Jolla is the "cool" neighborhood, and the beach chosen by surfers. It is important to know that this beach is not those with large spaces of sand like Pacific Beach, is more rather made up of large rocks. But it has its charm and is something different.
In La Jolla there is a very good little Italian restaurant called Adriano.
If you want to be more in the center you can stay in the Downtown. Or just go to explore it for the day. There is a neighborhood called the Gaslamp, which is where all the cool restaurants and bars are. On the coast you have an aircraft carrier!
You will also find a neighborhood called Little Italy with several very good Italian restaurants. Near this neighborhood, on weekends they have food fairs, we recommend checking out dates and times in advance. They are usually on the weekends from the morning to noon.
Close to Downtown is Oldtown, which is a Mexican town (because before all that was from Mexico; San Diego borders Tijuana). It is worth passing by and knowing the city origins.
From there the road trip continues through Santa Monica, which is 3 hours away; so our recommended stops on the way: San Clemente and Huntington Beach.
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