Get ready for epic sunsets, world-class attractions, and delicious eats, because I’m diving into the ultimate San Diego itinerary! This 4-day guide is packed with must-see sights, delicious restaurants, and charming places to stay, ensuring an unforgettable California adventure.

Whether you’re a beach bum, a history buff, or a foodie fanatic, San Diego has something for everyone. So, grab your swimsuit, sunscreen, and sense of adventure – here’s how to spend 4 perfect days in sunny San Diego!

Let me start off by saying San Diego was so fun this time of year, we really lucked out and had beautiful weather, always above 65F and sunny (which made it feel warmer). We went from a Wednesday to Sunday, but I could have added an additional day or two to explore more areas, and have a full on beach day.

Where we stayed:
We stayed at the Pacific Terrace Hotel, in Pacific Beach. It was such a nice hotel, friendly staff, and super close to everything that we wanted to do. I found that most thigs were about 20 minutes from our hotel. They did charge for parking, but you were able to park in a garage.

Wednesday:
We landed around 930am, and picked up our car. Highly recommend renting a car here as Ubers can get pretty expensive, the roads are all easy to navigate. There was some traffic during rush hours, but what areas don’t have that. Our first stop was seeing some friends, and stopped for lunch at In-N- Out. I got a double double with pickles and onions, protein style (without the bun for you fellow gluten free folks), then animal style fries. I like In-N-Out it tasted clean and my weakness is animal style fries.

After lunch with friends we went to La Jolla and walked around, we tried to find the La Jolla cove for awhile, and almost gave up, thankfully we didn’t because we walked a few more feet and found the entrance. It’s $10USD to enter, and it’s 145 stairs. Warning, it’s dark in there so make sure you have proper shoes, and proper eyewear. It only took a few minutes to get to the bottom, and when you do you have a little deck to take photos of the cove itself, which took a few minutes. Walking up, I realized going up is a lot harder than going down. So if you have knee issues, or asthma take it slow! It was a nice experience, but be warned it is pretty fast once you get to the deck area.

After we explored La Jolla cove, we got some gelato right down the road, and walked the town area a bit more. We then checked into our hotel, unpacked a little bit, then went to walk on Crystal Pier right near our hotel. Note when we went the pier part was closed further down the line as there were high tides. It still did look super pretty and we got some good photos. It was also cool walking by the houses that are actually on the pier.

We then met up with friends to go to Sushi Ota. We ordered so much sushi, and then a bottle of the sake. The sake was delicious, and the sushi was so fresh. So glad we got to visit there.

We went to bed pretty early this night as we walked a lot, and had a case of minor jetlag.

Thursday
We started the day off early on Thursday. We woke up around 6am, to leave the hotel at 715. We started off the day at Morning Glory. I started off the day with a Certified Lover Girl, and Gene had the Morning Wood. Don’t judge these early morning drinks, they were just so cute and also so delicious. I had the gluten free pancakes, and Gene had the Chorizo Grande. Those gluten free pancakes were a). so filling and b). probably the best gluten free pancakes I’ve had, Gene agreed. I’m still thinking about them. Gene’s Chorizo Grande was also very good and filling! It also wasn’t too spicy.

After breakfast we stopped by the Zoo which is HUGE. Two adult tickets were about $148USD so be prepared for that. Definitely recommend grabbing a map to make sure that you get to see all areas. We were at the zoo for about 4+ hours. We skipped lunch because breakfast was so filling, but did grab drinks and sat outside which was nice. I also highly recommend riding the Safari Sky (if you’re scared of heights like me, it is scary at first but by the end I thought it was so pretty, the ride overall was pretty smooth). Note, they may close the Safari Sky if it does get too windy, we tried to ride it again but it was closed.

We opted to check out the Japanese Friendship Garden. Tickets here were about $14USD. It took about 45 minutes to walk through, it was super nice and relaxing to walk around. We saw some fish, beautiful flowers, a pond, and waterfalls. There are also a lot of places to sit and relax here as well. Plan to spend about 45 minutes to 1 hour here.

We then went over to Balboa Park, and walked around to the fountain. They have a ton of museums so if you’re into that then go ahead and check them out too.

After this we went back to the hotel and ordered some fries, chips and guacamole by the pool and lounged for a bit. We then showered and got ready for drinks and dinner with friends.

We met up with our friends to go to Raised by Wolves. It is a fun speakeasy that I 100% recommend going to! They take reservations, so be sure to set one up, otherwise there may be a wait.

After drinks we drove out to La Jolla (which was about 20 minutes) and had dinner at Nine Ten. The pork belly appetizer was out of this world, so good we ordered it twice! It was soft on the inside, but also had the crunch on the outside. I got the halibut and it was super fresh. Gene had lamb and it was so tender and great. Drinks were also delicious. We sat outside and they had heat lamps so it was perfect.

Friday
This was our relax and explore day. We woke up around 7am and grabbed breakfast at Breakfast Republic, coffee at Better Buzz and brought it back to the hotel to have breakfast on our balcony. The breakfast was so good, but the coffee was just alright. It was a bit bitter. We left the hotel around 9am to go to a Harbor Cruise- this was actually super fun. We did a two hour cruise, the guide was amazing and pretty much spit out so many fun facts the whole time. We went up north and down south to and learned about all of the boats and got to even see some dolphins. We originally wanted to do Whale watching but we just missed the season. If you’re looking for a fun cruise definitely look into this! We finished the cruise around noon and just walked around the harbor area, then drive right to Coronado Island.

A lot of people actually recommended we skip the island but I am happy we got to see it! I recommend. It is such a beautiful island, we walked the town, and grabbed lunch at Lobster West (they typically have gluten free buns but were out that day- so they made mine into a salad which I still liked). We then went off to find Hotel del Coronado, we wanted a cool photo of this hotel. I have heard some haunted stories about it, and just wanted to see. Unfortunately this hotel was under construction, a lot of construction, so our photos didn’t come out the best. We then walked the beach. Our original plan was to sit at the beach here, but we forgot towels and our sandals. But the beach was so so clean. I recommend having an afternoon beach day here. So after walking the beach, we went back to our hotel to hang at Pacific Beach. I didn’t love this beach, and I am also comparing it to Coronado island, but it didn’t seem as clean and there were a lot of bugs. After hanging here for about 45 minutes we decided to hit the pool. It was getting a little chilly at this point, but we had a heated pool, so we hopped right in. The water was great but getting out was so cold!

After we hung out at the pool we went inside and got refreshed. We actually ended up at In-N-Out for dinner. Our original plan was to go bar hopping around Pacific beach- there are a ton of bars in that area, but after a day in the sun and a ton of steps the past few days, I fell asleep super early.

Saturday
We woke up early again, maybe 7amish and walked over to Trident Coffee, their coffee/matcha was so good. We also grabbed a bagel and a donut there (all gluten free!!). The donut had over 20g of protein it in. Both the bagel and donut were moist, had great flavor and overall I was super excited to have some gluten free bites!

Our friends met us by our hotel, and we drove up North. We originally wanted to do both Annie’s Canyons and Terry Pines but with our tight timing for the day we opted for Terry Pines (who had a little bit of Canyons). It’s $20USD to park for the day in the lot. We parked at the bottom lot and walked our way up. I thought this was going to be a tough hike but it actually wasn’t too bad. We did the Broken hill/beach trail loop and was about 2 hours and 3.55 miles. Views were absolutely stunning! Probably the best view hike wise I’ve ever had. Get there early because it does get crowded. We opted to walk the beach to our car which made it a bit easier. There was a small section that had the canyons which I thought was awesome. Wanring: if you’re shoes do not have a lot of grip you may be sliding a bit. I need new sneakers and my grip was fading a bit so there was one or two steps of actual rock where it was a bit slippery. There was also one section with a lot of stairs that were tiny and some were slanted so be cautious here as well. As long as your shoes have grip, you take it slow, and hold onto the rocks you should be good! Overall it was awesome to see the canyons, and again those views were stunning.

After the hike we grabbed lunch at Salt & Lime in Delmar. The tacos were big and my drink was strong! I just had two but they were just so fresh and jam packed. the atmosphere was just so cute here. After that we walked to the cliffside and got some ice cream then walked over to the beach side.

We then decided to hit a small winery. We went to Blue Door Winery right in San Diego and not too far from our hotel. The sangria was delicious and great right after the hike. After unwinding for a bit we went back to our hotel and got ready for dinner.

We all went to Born & Raised for dinner in Little Italy. Parking here was rough so be sure to give yourself time for that. The vibe here is awesome, modern, dark, romantic. They have a cool rooftop too. We sat on the first floor. We had tuna for an appetizer and each got a drink (the whiskey smash was really good), the wagyu sampler, then a ton of sides, The wagyu sampler was delicious- we had two different steaks, then American Wagyu and then Japanese Wagyu. Japanese Wagyu blew it out of the park it was so good. It was my first time having Wagyu and it was so tender, literally melted in your mouth. I didn’t even use salt for the Japanese Wagyu. It was just super flavorful itself. Our sides we had broccoli, string beans, hash browns, mashed potatoes. It was all so fresh and really recommend it. Staff was friendly and attentive. This overall was a pricey dinner, but the food was so fresh and honestly amazing. It was nice to try this spot!

After dinner we got dessert, gelato nearby and then went back to our friends place to watch a few clips. We then headed back to our hotel to pack a bit more and went to bed.

We left for the airport Sunday morning.

With its endless sunshine, stunning beaches, vibrant culture, and delicious cuisine, San Diego is a haven for travelers seeking a memorable getaway. This 4-day itinerary just scratches the surface of what this incredible city has to offer. So, pack your bags, book your flight, and get ready to experience the magic of San Diego for yourself!

Happy travels!