San Diego: an outdoor lover's city guide

San Diego runs on the best everyday climate in America, and the city knows what to do with it: seventy miles of coastline, sandstone bluffs, a giant urban park, and a culture where 8 a.m. surf checks count as commuting. This is the California city where being outside requires no planning at all. Here's how to do it anyway, properly.

Torrey Pines: the essential hike

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is San Diego's Point Lobos: sandstone bluffs carved into badlands, the rarest pine in North America clinging to the edges, and trails that all end at the Pacific. The classic loop links the Guy Fleming and Beach Trail paths (2-3 easy miles), dropping you onto Torrey Pines State Beach for the walk back below the cliffs. Go early: the lot fills by mid morning on weekends, and low tide makes the beach return possible. This is the one San Diego outing that belongs on any statewide list.

La Jolla: the coast at its most generous

La Jolla Cove has the clearest, calmest water on this coast, which is why sea lions, snorkelers, and garibaldi (the state fish, traffic cone orange) all crowd into the same small bay. Walk the Coast Walk Trail along the bluffs, watch the sea lion colony argue at Point La Jolla, and if you swim anywhere in NorCal-jacket-free comfort this year, it's here. Two coves north, La Jolla Shores offers the gentle sand version with kayak rentals into the sea caves.

Sunset Cliffs & Point Loma

The name is the itinerary: Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is where the city gathers each evening on golden sandstone above crashing water. Come 45 minutes before sunset, walk south along the bluff top, and stay for the show. Up the hill, Cabrillo National Monument adds the old lighthouse, the best panoramic view of the city and harbor, and some of California's finest tidepools at its base (check tide charts; minus tides are the jackpot).

Balboa Park: the urban day

Bigger than Central Park and stuffed with 1915 Spanish Colonial architecture, Balboa Park is the walking day: gardens (the rose garden and desert garden face each other, both free), museums when you want shade, and the famous zoo if traveling with kids. (Animal lovers: the zoo's wilder sibling, the Safari Park in Escondido, has our full guide.) It connects downtown energy with real green space, and the El Prado promenade at golden hour is the city's best free architecture show.

Coronado: the beach day

Across the bay bridge (or better, the ferry), Coronado Beach spreads silver sand in front of the Hotel del Coronado's red turrets, wide and gentle and consistently rated among America's best beaches. The flat beachfront bike loop is family perfect. And at the strand's north end sits one of the two great dog beaches; more on that below.

Plan your day

Tell the planner where you're starting from and when, and it builds a timed itinerary from this guide's stops.