I recently took a ~solo~ trip to San Diego for a long weekend and had the most amazing time! Highlights included seeing the sun (Seattle friends...you know), eating my weight in tacos, riding a bike for the first time in years, and the beach (of course). The outdoor dining scene is the best I've seen and most places have built patio dining out into the street. Make sure to bring lots of layers as it was cool after the sun went down, but warm during the day.
See below for my recommendations...promise they're good.
I flew Alaska (always), direct from Seattle. The San Diego airport is conveniently located in the middle of the city. I didn't rent a car and walked/biked/Ubered everywhere. Admittedly I did spend a small fortune in Uber, but I hate the hassle of finding parking and driving. If you do want to rent a car, I recommend Turo for inexpensive options.
The bike rental place I used was AMAZING and I highly recommend. Stay Classy Bike Rentals. They offer drop-off/pick-up and texted me before each. For Thursday-Sunday it was $55 for the rental, and I rode it so much that I definitely got my money's worth. For places too far to ride to, I found that a scheduled Lyft was usually the cheapest option.
I stayed at this AirBNB. It was a super cute little place, but it felt far from all the spots I wanted to go most. Next time I would stay closer to Balboa Park or Little Italy.
Yes, this deserves it's own section. I tried somewhere new each morning, and already have a list of places I want to hit next time.
Communal Coffee. My favorite cafe I went to! Great seating options, cute gifts inside, yummy coffee and food.
Kettle and Stone. Located in the affluent neighborhood of Mission Hills, it's a nice place to take a walk and look at the beautiful homes. I got a vanilla bean oat milk latte and it was 10/10.
Better Buzz Coffee - Hillcrest. Okay this is a chain, but the Hillcrest location is the flagship store and the inside is extremely Insta worthy. I wouldn't say this is a must-have, but if you're in the Hillcrest area it might be worth a stop.
Hit next time - James Coffee Co. I walked past and it was so cute!
Ballast Point Brewing - Little Italy. Award winning local beer! Most famous is the Sculpin - I had the Aloha Sculpin and while I don't normally love IPAs, this one was really good. They have a nice outdoor seating area - I didn't get food, but they had a decent menu.
Pure Project - Balboa Park. Motto: "Beer for Good" - something I can definitely get behind. I got a flight and every single beer was amazing. Cool interior, but on a nice day you can also opt to sit across the street at their open-air beer garden.
Sunnie's. Go to the sunset at Sunset Cliffs, then go to Sunnie's. I ordered twice in the same night and ate 12 carnitas tacos. It's that good. Plentiful veggie options as well. MUST GO.
The Taco Stand. I'm a sucker for any restaurant that's been featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives and the original location in La Jolla has been. I wouldn't necessarily wait in too long of a line for these, but they were good and there's multiple locations.
Kindred. RUN DON'T WALK PEOPLE. Vegan, but you'd never know it. I went for their brunch and have been dreaming of it since. I wish I would have had time to go back for dinner/drinks. Friendly staff, super cool interior, awesome outdoor dining, food that doesn't make you feel like sh*t. What more could you want?!
Every restaurant in Little Italy (lol)
Donna Jean. Vegan spot, close to Pure Project, good reviews and looked really cute from the outside!
Nolita Hall. This place was BUZZING on the weekends, lots of young people and very cool vibe
Blue Water Seafood. I saw a line outside of this place every day and it has crazy good reviews
The Yasai. Vegan sushi, looks so yummy
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I also went to Civico 1845, The Crack Shack, Panama 66, and Salud but honestly wouldn't go back to any. Not that they were bad, just not amazing.
Coronado Island. There's a bike path around the island that was very pleasant. I recommend stopping by Hotel Coronado and just walking around. Pro tip - the bathrooms here are crazy nice and open to the public. The beach was really nice, it's quite long and has a wide spread of sand. Of course it's crowded, but it's large enough that it didn't feel overwhelming. Great spot to spend a day!
Beach (La Jolla). Specifically I went to Windansea Beach. Not sure if it was just the tide patterns while I was there, but it was hard to find a spot in the sand. It's beautiful though and it was fun to watch the surfers.
Sunset (Sunset Cliffs). Dreamy sunset location, lots of people go here but it wasn't too hard to find a spot. Bring a blanket (maybe some drinks?) and enjoy the show. As mentioned above, hitting Sunnie's for tacos afterwards is a *must*.
Balboa Park. Must see! On a Saturday this place was filled with families, young people picnicking, street performers/live music, vendors, etc. When I was there none of the museum buildings were open, but there was still plenty to see and do.
Little Italy. The neighborhood in general is full of really good bars and restaurants and there's always lots of people.
Hit Next Time: Gaslamp Quarter
Miss: Old Town - I found Old Town to be waaaay too touristy for my liking, and way too crowded as well.