Neighborhood 48H guide
Old Town: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, the Whaley House and tortillas at Old Town Mexican Café.
Old Town is where San Diego began. The state historic park preserves 1800s adobe and wood buildings, museums and shops, and Mexican restaurants line San Diego Avenue.
Photo gallery
Photo: Andrek02 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Ramesh lalwani · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
History and Mexican food, on the trolley line to downtown.
Who it's for: History buffs and families.
Pros
- Free historic park
- Mexican restaurants
- Trolley and Coaster station
Cons
- Touristy
- Quiet at night
- Not on the beach
48H in Old Town
Adobes, a haunted house, tortillas.
10:00 – Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Free historic buildings and museums.
13:00 – Whaley House
1857 house billed as one of America’s most haunted.
18:00 – Old Town Mexican Café
Watch tortillas being made in the window.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
Eat
Eat
Old Town Mexican Café
2489 San Diego Ave
Busy Mexican restaurant with tortillas made by hand in the window.
Official site / map →
See / do
See / do
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
4002 Wallace St
Restored buildings and museums from San Diego’s early days.
Photo: Ramesh lalwani · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →See / do
Whaley House Museum
2476 San Diego Ave
1857 brick house with famous ghost stories.
Photo: Andrek02 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
Cosmopolitan Hotel & Restaurant
2660 Calhoun St
Ten Victorian-style rooms in a restored 1870s hotel inside the historic park.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for Old Town.
The City of San Diego requires a short-term rental license, and Coronado and Del Mar have their own stricter rules. Look for the license number on the listing before you book.
Browse vacation rentals in Old Town on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in San Diego
- Gaslamp Quarter — The lit Gaslamp arch, a Padres game at Petco Park and the USS Midway on the waterfront.
- Little Italy — The Saturday Mercato, India Street’s restaurants and Waterfront Park by the bay.
- La Jolla — Sea lions and clear water at La Jolla Cove, George’s ocean terrace and the Birch Aquarium.
- Pacific Beach — Crystal Pier’s cottages, the boardwalk and breakfast at Kono’s.
- Mission Beach — The Giant Dipper at Belmont Park, the boardwalk and kayaks on Mission Bay.
- Coronado — The red-turreted Hotel del Coronado, a wide sandy beach and the ferry to downtown.
- Point Loma / Shelter Island — The Old Point Loma Lighthouse at Cabrillo, Point Loma Seafoods and skyline views from Shelter Island.
- Ocean Beach — Hodad’s burgers, Sunset Cliffs at dusk and the Wednesday farmers market on Newport Avenue.
- Del Mar — Powerhouse Park above the beach, lunch at Jake’s and the Del Mar racetrack.