La Jolla to Mission Beach: A 1 Day Walking Itinerary

It’s no secret that California is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the entire USA, with the rugged coastline of San Diego’s La Jolla being one of the most spectacular stretches. During our last visit to San Diego, we set aside a day to stroll along the stunning beaches and clifftops in this area.

Whether you’re looking to watch the surfers, get your own feet wet, sample the local cuisine or enjoy a cocktail on the waterfront, this guide has got you covered. We started out day out in La Jolla and took a leisurely stroll south along the coast, passing through Pacific Beach and finishing up in Mission Beach right around sunset. As with all our itineraries, you can run this one in reverse if that suits your travel plans better. The entire route is about 7 miles long and took us the entire day, so come prepared with comfortable walking shoes and plenty of water.

1. Spot the Sea Lions at La Jolla Cove

We started our day at the beautiful La Jolla Cove, a small inlet protected by sandstone cliffs with calm waters that are popular with swimmers and divers. A coastal path follows the clifftop and offers great views along the beach and out to sea. When we visited there was a great artisanal market on, offering handmade gifts and souvenirs.

However, the main draw to this area and the reason it’s busy year round is the famous La Jolla sea lions. As long as the weather isn’t keeping them away, you’ll be able to see large colonies of both sea lions and seals in this area as well as majestic sea birds like pelicans and cormorants. Make sure you stay on the path to observe these creatures from a safe distance as heading down on to the rocks can be dangerous and also disturbs the wildelife.

Be warned, parking is at a real premium in the area so we’d suggest taking public transport or a cab.

2. Stop for Brunch at Cove House

We arrived in La Jolla mid-morning and after spending some time in the market and watching the sea lions, we were ready to eat. There are a bunch of great restaurants and cafés in the area but we’d recommend stopping by Cove House. This chic diner is just a short walk away from the coastal path and offers a cute deck with beautiful views of the ocean.

We ordered some avocado and prosciutto toast along with some fresh orange juice and iced coffee. Both dishes were exquisite and set us up perfectly for a long day of exploring.

3. Check out the Sea Life at La Jolla Tide Pools

Once we were done stuffing ourselves, we got back out on the trail heading south-west along the clifftops. After about a mile of soaking up the incredible coastal views, we reached the La Jolla Tide Pools.

If the tide is out, you’ll be able to wander across the rocks here and spot some tiny marine life hanging out in the various pools. Keep your eyes peeled for hermit crabs, anemones, sea snails, sea stars and more.

For obvious reasons, the tide pools are best accessed at low tide so make sure to plan ahead and check out the tide calendar when planning your visit. The winter months (October through March) offer the greatest amount of variety of wildlife so if you’re visiting in Summer you may wish to skip this stop as it’ll be tough to find any little critters.

4. Admire the Views from Camino De La Costa

The next stretch of the route takes you a little more inland, away from the cliffs and into a more residential area. This is no bad thing though as the streets here are lined with beautiful villas well worth an admiring glance.

You’ll pass by the small but quaint Windansea beach and may even spot some surfers out at sea before arriving at Camino De La Costa, a winding coastal road that snakes along the top of the sandy beaches below. Make sure to stop off at the vista point to snag some great snaps looking across the bay here.

5. Explore Pacific Beach

It was early afternoon for us by now and after couple more miles of walking, we fancied a change of scenery. We stopped off at Palisades Park just north of Pacific Beach to recharge our batteries and do some people watching along the beach.

Once we were ready to get moving again we headed down towards the pier on Pacific Beach to take a look around the shops. On the way we passed Oscar’s Mexican Seafood which we’d visited on our first trip to San Diego back in 2017. If you’re feeling peckish we’d recommend stopping in for some fish, shrimp or surf and turf tacos.

When you hit the pier you’ll be at the western end of Garnet avenue, the main drag running through Pacific Beach. Along here you’ll find countless bars, restaurants and shops to take your time to explore. We were in need of some sugar so we headed up the street to Donut Bar and grabbed a box to keep us going.

You can take a dip in the ocean here but if you fancy a cocktail to cool off instead, check out the Baja Beach Cafe. They have an extensive menu of burgers, tacos and sandwiches but what grabbed our attention was the huge margarita menu. We’d recommend their frozen mega margaritas but we wary of brain freeze!

6. Watch the Sunset at Mission Beach

From Pacific Beach, it’s roughly another 30 minutes walking to our final stop of the day, Mission Beach. This last stretch of coast is gorgeous, offering pristine beaches and waterfront villas.

Once you hit Mission Beach, check out the boardwalk which is always bustling with shops to peruse as well as street food and restaurants to satisfy your cravings. We spent some time in the Belmont Park arcade here but there’s a roller coaster here if you’re a bit more of a thrill seeker.

By now, the sun was starting to set, so once we finished up in the arcade we headed back over to the boardwalk to watch it dip behind the horizon.

Wrapping Up

Our day walking the coastline of La Jolla was definitely one of the highlights of our time in San Diego.  As we visited in November, the sun was setting pretty early and the walk took us the full day. If we visited in the summer months with more hours of daylight to work with, we would have stopped to relax and swim at one of the charming beaches along the way.

This route offers something for everyone, whether you want to check out the wildlife, take a dip in the ocean, do some shopping or sample the local cuisine.