San Diego itinerary for first-timers

Little Italy is a compact grid of streets just north of downtown that grew up around the tuna-fishing families who settled here a century ago. Today India Street is lined with sidewalk cafés, small piazzas and design shops, and the neighbourhood is the usual place to start a downtown walk before heading down to the water.

• India Street and its sidewalk cafés
• Neighbourhood piazzas
• Little Italy street sign

Come early on a weekend morning if you can; the streets are quiet before the crowds arrive, and the harbour is a short walk downhill.

The Embarcadero is San Diego's harbour promenade. It runs from the lawns of Waterfront Park past the cruise-ship terminal and the harbour-tour piers to Navy Pier, where the aircraft carrier USS Midway is moored as a museum. Close by stands the giant Unconditional Surrender statue, and the old tall ship Star of India sits further south at the Maritime Museum.

• Unconditional Surrender statue
• USS Midway Museum
• Broadway Pier
• Star of India

The promenade is flat and almost shadeless; the light is softest in the morning, and the Midway is easy to spot from every point along the water.

At the southern end of the Embarcadero, Seaport Village is a low waterfront cluster of shops and eateries set among paths and lawns, looking out across San Diego Bay. Next to it, the Tuna Harbor dockside market and Ruocco Park keep the working-harbour character, and the Convention Center rises behind the marina.

• Seaport Village paths
• Tuna Harbor Dockside Market
• Ruocco Park
• Embarcadero Marina Park

Sit by the water here for a break; the walk to the Gaslamp Quarter from this end of the harbour is only a few blocks.

The Gaslamp Quarter is the Victorian heart of downtown San Diego, sixteen blocks of restored 19th-century storefronts that are now restaurants, rooftop bars and clubs. By day it is a calm grid to stroll, with the lit Gaslamp Quarter sign arching over Fifth Avenue; after dark it turns into the city's busiest nightlife district.

• Gaslamp Quarter sign on Fifth Avenue
• Victorian facades
• Petco Park nearby

Visit once in daylight to see the architecture, and again after dark if you want the nightlife; the two feel very different.

After sunset the Gaslamp Quarter fills with people heading for bars, restaurants and clubs. This night walk follows the main streets as the neon and string lights come on, which gives a good sense of the atmosphere before you decide how late you want to stay out.

• Fifth Avenue after dark
• Lit-up bars and patios
• Street entertainers and crowds

It is busiest late on Friday and Saturday nights; on weeknights it is much calmer and easier for a relaxed dinner.

Balboa Park is a huge cultural park of Spanish Colonial Revival buildings, gardens and museums, much of it left from the 1915 and 1935 expositions. The walk follows the El Prado promenade past the Botanical Building and its lily pond, the Museum of Art and the Alcázar Garden, then climbs to the California Tower, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the Japanese Friendship Garden.

• Botanical Building and lily pond
• Alcázar Garden
• California Tower and Museum of Us
• Spreckels Organ Pavilion
• Japanese Friendship Garden

Walking the park is free; allow at least two hours, and go on a weekday morning if you can, when the paths are quietest.

Old Town is where San Diego began. Its state historic park preserves adobe houses and buildings from the Mexican and early American periods around a central plaza, and the streets around it are lined with craft shops, market stalls and Mexican restaurants. The walk goes through the artisan centre, the Fiesta de Reyes courtyard, the Casa de Estudillo and the covered market.

• Old Town State Historic Park
• La Casa de Estudillo
• Fiesta de Reyes
• Old Town Market
• Immaculate Conception Church

The state park itself is free to wander; make it a relaxed lunch stop, since the surrounding streets are known for Mexican food.

Ocean Beach, or OB, is San Diego's laid-back surf neighbourhood. Newport Avenue is its main street of shops, pubs and antique stores, and it hosts a farmers' market on Wednesday afternoons. At the end of the street the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, nearly 2,000 feet long, runs out over the surf.

• Newport Avenue
• Ocean Beach Municipal Pier
• Wednesday farmers' market

Walk out to the end of the pier for a view back along the beach, and time it for late afternoon, when the sunlight is warm on the sand.

At the southern tip of Point Loma, Cabrillo National Monument looks out over the Pacific and San Diego Bay. The video walks the tidepools at low tide, then the coastal trail with its ocean views and the roof of a World War II underground searchlight shelter, finishing in golden-hour light. It is the city's best sunset outlook.

• Tidepools
• Coastal trail
• WWII searchlight shelter
• Pacific Ocean views

The tidepools are best at low tide, so check the tide table before you go; the park closes in the late afternoon, so arrive early enough to see both.

La Jolla is a seaside neighbourhood of San Diego with ocean bluffs, small beaches and expensive cliffside homes. Its best-known corner is La Jolla Cove, a sheltered marine reserve popular with snorkellers, where California sea lions rest on the rocks and cliffs, with the grassy Scripps Park running along the bluffs above.

• La Jolla Cove
• Sea lions on the rocks
• Scripps Park
• Coastal bluffs

Keep a respectful distance from the sea lions, and go in the morning when the light is clear and the cove is calmer.

Garnet Avenue is Pacific Beach's main street, running from the shops and cafés inland down to the ocean. It is the lively, youthful side of San Diego's beaches, with surf shops, taco spots and bars all within a short stroll of the sand.

• Garnet Avenue
• Surf shops and taco spots
• Mission Boulevard

Walk it in the late morning, then follow it down to the beach for lunch.

At the foot of Garnet Avenue, Crystal Pier runs out over the surf with a row of small cottages built on top of it. From here the Ocean Front Walk boardwalk follows the beach in both directions, past volleyball courts and beach bars, and Palisades Park runs along the bluff to the north.

• Crystal Pier and cottages
• Ocean Front Walk boardwalk
• Palisades Park

The boardwalk is shared with cyclists and skaters, so keep to the side.

South of Pacific Beach the boardwalk reaches Mission Beach, whose centrepiece is Belmont Park, a historic oceanfront amusement park with the wooden Giant Dipper roller coaster and The Plunge, once the largest saltwater pool in the world. The sunset walk along the boardwalk to the park is the classic way to end a San Diego beach day.

• Mission Beach boardwalk
• Belmont Park
• Giant Dipper roller coaster
• The Plunge

The boardwalk glows at sunset and fills with cyclists and skaters, so it is worth arriving about an hour early.