It’s finally here! My San Diego City Guide! Let’s get into it.
A few weeks ago me and 3 of my friends hit the road and headed to San Diego, California! We always try to plan something during the 3-Day weekends we get as full-time employees, last year we went to Malibu / LA during Labor Day Weekend (check out that blog post here). When I travel with my friends, we always try and do as much as possible during our trips and honestly, I prefer it that way! We get to see so many things, take a ton of pictures and have lots of fun!
After driving for about 5 hours, we finally arrived to San Diego and we immediately headed to Mission Beach. We searched around for a parking spot for a bit (SD is a little crazy during a holiday weekend) but after rolling our eyes at the people holding up “$60 parking” signs, we finally found a free spot! We grabbed lunch at Cannonball and enjoyed the pretty views of the ocean right below us. The vibe of this place is super casual and it’s really cute! Shoutout to our co-worker Johnny for the recommendation.
Once we finished eating, we headed to a little ice cream stand right next to the restaurant and although I wanted an ice cream, this stand only served XL servings and since I’m lactose, ya girl had to pass. However, I did order a frozen banana with no nuts……just enjoy the photo below.
We weren’t quite ready to head back to the hotel yet and the weather was so nice, we decided to buy some towels and lay out on the beach (in our clothes) and get a nice tan for about an hour and a half. I fell asleep for a portion of time but it was extremely relaxing and I enjoyed it v much.
After our little siesta, we all piled back into the car and headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown San Diego and it was the perfect location! We checked-in, got ready and then headed to dinner. Little Italy was just around the corner from us so we were able to walk over and snagged a table for four at Buon Appetito. Lauren and I ordered a mango moscato while Mary and Taylor ordered some white & red wine! Our food was super yummy but we all really wanted ice cream or gelato or legit anything sweet so we walked around Little Italy and found a random restaurant with gelato. The popular Salt & Straw ice cream was down the street from us but the line was wrapped around the corner and we’re pretty dedicated people, but even we weren’t going to wait in that line! We headed back to the hotel and we all fell asleep around 10pm because we’re all grandmas but yolo.
We woke up around 8am on Sunday and started getting ready for a fun day ahead! This day consisted of hitting up one instagrammable place after the other! Once we checked out of our hotel we drove about 15 minutes to a brunch spot that was near all of the shops we wanted to check out! We put our names in at Breakfast Republic (there was an hour wait) and walked a few blocks to my new favorite place, Communal Coffee aka Coffee + Flowers. We had to limit our time here, but don’t worry we went back after brunch!
Once we finished eating we walked back over to Communal Coffee and spent about an hour ordering drinks, taking pictures and just appreciating this aesthetically pleasing coffee shop. We then drove around and parked near our next 3 “must-see” spots. First up, Holy Matcha. The pink and green adorable matcha shop that is taking over Instagram and trust me, it’s just as cute in person! I was so full from breakfast and coffee from Communal Coffee, I didn’t order anything but Lauren ordered a matcha latte while Taylor got some dairy free matcha ice cream thing, both tasted great and we’re cute props for pictures!
Next, Pigment. This place was my second favorite because it has so many great spots for pictures and really cute items for sale inside! This is a must see if you’re in the North Park area of San Diego. The two Instagram walls outside are perfect and I could probably take pictures there all day. After that we walked a few feet down to Shop / Good , which is a wellness boutique but it’s super cute inside! Their sign is really popular on Instagram so we definitely wanted to stop in. We then headed back to the car and started our journey to Palm Springs!
We did a ton during our short time in San Diego but I wanted to put a list together of the places we saw but also didn’t get to check out while we were there. If you’re planning a trip to San Diego this guide is perfect for you!
EAT + TREATS
Cannonball
Salt & Straw
Buon Appetito
Breakfast Republic
Breakfast Republic
COFFEE + DRINKS
Communal Coffee
Holy Matcha
Communal Coffee
Holy Matcha
PICTURES
Communal Coffee
Pigment
Holy Matcha
Shop Good
Little Italy
Balboa Park
Carlsbad Flower Fields
Old Town San Diego
Pigment
Shop / Good
I hope you enjoyed this San Diego city guide! Although LA has a special place in my heart, San Diego is such a fun city and I wish we could’ve spent more time there but I definitely want to visit more!
Stay tuned for my Palm Springs city guide, coming soon.
Thanks for reading!
