Old Town
Where California started — the free state park is the point.
Start here
12 in total
Neighborhood GuidesThe 7 Best Things to Do in Old Town San Diego, Ranked7
MexicanThe 10 Best Margaritas in San Diego, Ranked10
Arts & Culture6 Haunted Places in San Diego With Documented Histories6
Date NightThe 9 Best Anniversary Restaurants in San Diego9
Sushi & JapaneseThe 8 Best Omakase in San Diego, Ranked8
Sushi & JapaneseThe 12 Best Sushi Restaurants in San Diego, Ranked12
Every list that covers Old Town
Updated as places change- 7 rankedNeighborhood GuidesThe 7 Best Things to Do in Old Town San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 27
- 10 rankedMexicanThe 10 Best Margaritas in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 24
- 6 routesArts & Culture6 Haunted Places in San Diego With Documented HistoriesUpdated Aug 2
- 9 rankedDate NightThe 9 Best Anniversary Restaurants in San DiegoUpdated Aug 2
- 8 rankedSushi & JapaneseThe 8 Best Omakase in San Diego, RankedUpdated Aug 2
- 12 rankedSushi & JapaneseThe 12 Best Sushi Restaurants in San Diego, RankedUpdated Aug 2
10 rankedThings to DoThe 10 Best Guided Tours in San DiegoUpdated Aug 2
12 rankedRestaurantsThe 12 Essential San Diego Dishes, RankedUpdated Jul 30
9 rankedBars & NightlifeThe 9 Best Sports Bars in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 27
20 rankedThings to DoThe 20 Best Things to Do in San DiegoUpdated Jul 27
12 rankedMexicanThe 12 Best Mexican Restaurants in San DiegoUpdated Jul 24
10 rankedCheap EatsThe 10 Best All-You-Can-Eat Restaurants in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 23
The neighborhood itself
17 verified places · 8 eat & drink and 4 things-to-do listsOld Town splits cleanly in two: a free, genuinely excellent state park preserving the city's 1820s–1870s core, and a strip of costumed patios outside its gates charging resort prices for combination plates. Do the free half first — the adobes, the blacksmith, the graves under the sidewalk — then spend food money where the neighborhood actually earns it: a tortilla window, a mezcal room, and a Michelin-recognized sushi counter hiding in plain sight on San Diego Avenue.
If you only do 5 things
1Old Town State Historic ParkparkKnow before you go
Parking: the free park lots cap at four hours and fill by late morning on weekends — the trolley drops you closer anyway
Transit: Old Town Transit Center is the best car-free hub in the city — Blue/Green trolley, Coaster, buses, 18 daily Amtrak stops
Holidays: park museums close Thanksgiving and Christmas; winter weekdays end at 4pm
Where they are — 17 verified places
The index
Ranked places pulled from all 12 listsSushi Tadokoro is the Old Town anniversary pick for couples who light up over the details of each piece.
They make the triple sec in house, which is why this one tastes assembled rather than poured.
Ask which tequila. The shelf here runs deep and somebody behind the bar knows it well enough to steer you, and the house build — fresh lime and a tequila you ch…
Start at the plaza and work outward. Adobe rooms open off it, and behind those sit a schoolhouse, a newspaper museum, and a stable full of transportation artifacts.
About 500 Latter-day Saints enlisted in the U.S.
One 1857 brick house held most of early San Diego's civic life at once: a county courthouse, a theater, a store, and the Whaley family's own rooms.
Look down at the sidewalk on San Diego Avenue and you will find grave markers set into the concrete outside the cemetery wall.