Solo Travel in San Diego for the 50-plus Set

Check in at La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla — affectionately known as “The Pink Lady” — for a luxurious beachside escape. This iconic Mediterranean-style retreat has been welcoming guests since the 1920s and offers a prime location. For a quiet retreat, Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines is tucked away on a bluff near a nature preserve and famous golf course with easy access to coastal trails. The InterContinental San Diego places you right next to the Embarcadero and steps away from top attractions on San Diego Bay. Or, for a glamorous urban getaway, the Pendry San Diego blends contemporary luxury with downtown energy. 

La Jolla is one of the most popular seaside communities in California and it’s easy to see why: Wide-sand beaches lined by sandstone cliffs, picturesque coves and scenic walking paths set the tone for this coastal gem. Just to the north, La Jolla is home to one of San Diego’s most beloved natural areas — Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Torrey Pines State Beach — where hiking trails offer sweeping ocean views. Closer to town, accessible coastal paths invite visitors to explore on foot. 

Soak up the scenery with a beach day at La Jolla Shores, which is known for gentle waves. If you’d rather explore the shoreline by foot, the Coast Walk winds past La Jolla Cove, a picturesque spot perfect for photos, and through Ellen Browning Scripps Park to the Children’s Pool. 

Beyond the beaches and boutiques, La Jolla offers one of golf’s most iconic settings: the world-renowned Torrey Pines Golf Course, home of the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open. With dramatic cliffside views and championship-level holes, it promises a round of golf you won’t forget. You can book tee times at Torrey Pines and 25 other local courses here.

After a morning outdoors, head to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla for cutting-edge exhibits and stunning ocean views. Recently renovated and expanded, the La Jolla campus is a must-visit for art lovers. 

The heart of La Jolla is its upscale, walkable village, encircled by the main roads of Prospect Place and Prospect Street. Here you’ll find boutique shopping, art galleries and landmark restaurants. For dining with one of the best views in San Diego, make a reservation for dinner at George’s at the Cove, which overlooks La Jolla Cove — you can opt for alfresco seating at the rooftop terrace or a window-side table at Level2 — and enjoy chef Trey Foshee’s California cuisine. Other renowned culinary institutions well worth a visit are The Marine Room, Duke’s La Jolla and Nine-Ten.

Explore the Embarcadero, San Diego’s scenic bayfront walkway that offers a close connection to the city’s maritime past. Along this stretch, you’ll find two of the most compelling naval history attractions in the city. The USS Midway Museum invites you aboard a decommissioned aircraft carrier that served from the end of World War II to the early ‘90s, where you can explore restored military aircraft and learn what life was like for the thousands who served aboard. The Maritime Museum of San Diego features a collection of historic ships, including a Cold War-era submarine and the Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing vessel. Through the Maritime Museum, you can enhance your visit with a harbor tour that delves more into naval history: there’s a narrated excursion aboard a restored Navy patrol boat, a 45-minute sail on the historic Pilot and half-day tours on the replica ships San Salvador and Californian.  

For lunch, The Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar is near the Maritime Museum and has bay views and fresh local seafood — it’s part of a restaurant group that’s been a family operation for nearly 60 years. Or head to Seaport Village, where there’s plenty of casual and higher-end options: tacos at Mike Hess Brewing Co.; pizza at Mr. Moto; organic ingredients and vegan options at Malibu Farm; and Zytoun Gourmet Mediterranean, a new restaurant serving gyros, falafel wraps and shawarma.  

Thanks to a thriving local fishing industry and access to lots of fresh produce — San Diego County has the most small farms of any county in the entire U.S. — local chefs are able to incorporate premium ingredients in their cooking.  

One way to experience San Diego’s bounty is by booking a seat at a chef’s counter, where menus change based on what’s in season and meals are portioned perfectly for one person. Chef Drew Deckman, who has received Michelin stars for his restaurants in Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe, has a seven-course tasting menu at his North Park restaurant, Deckman’s North at 3131, that showcases ingredients and wines from both sides of the border. Fort Oak is known for live-fire cooking, and the seasonal chef’s counter dinner has a prix-fixe menu that changes weekly — the restaurant’s u-shaped bar is an elegant spot to enjoy dinner when the chef’s counter is not available. Look into a reservation at Soichi for an elevated omakase sushi experience, as it’s the only sushi restaurant in San Diego to carry a Michelin star.  

Other fine dining establishments have bar seating and dedicated menus, which is perfect for discerning solo diners. Mister A’s has been an institution for 60 years and its patio has one of the best views in the city — you can watch incoming airplanes glide over Balboa Park and land at the airport. The new pre-fixe menu at the bar offers four courses on Fridays and Saturdays, and the weekday aperitif menu features Sunday roast and lobster rolls. Juniper & Ivy is a fine-dining restaurant that helped kick off Little Italy’s transformation into a premier dining destination. It has a new experience at its remodeled bar, Juni: small plates and elevated appetizers like gnoccho frito, wagyu sliders and an exclusive cocktail list. There’s also plenty of counter seating in the main dining room, where you can get a close look at the happenings inside the kitchen.