La Jolla, United States: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Looking for things to do in La Jolla? This coastal community is home to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, while also offering access to San Diego’s museums, historic landmarks, and cultural attractions. Neywo has a free La Jolla audio guide with 190 narrated places, so you can explore the area while hearing the stories behind what you see.

What to See in La Jolla

Old Scripps Building

The Old Scripps Building is the historic center of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Formally known as the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory, it was built between 1909 and 1910 and remains in continuous use.

It was the first building of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and now houses administrative offices. The building is also notable for its early use of reinforced concrete and for its design by Modernist architect Irving J. Gill.

The Stuart Collection at UC San Diego

For a La Jolla self-guided walking tour focused on contemporary art, the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego brings together works placed across the campus landscape. Neywo’s walk covers 3.59 kilometres and includes 12 narrated stops.

The route includes Fallen Star, Another, Snake Path, READ/WRITE/THINK/DREAM, Trees, Two Running Violet V Forms, Same Old Paradise, Green Table, What Hath God Wrought, Standing, La Jolla Project, and Red Shoe. Together, these works turn a walk through the eucalyptus into an open-air encounter with sculpture, architecture, and ideas.

San Diego Museum of Art and Odyssey III

The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park opened in 1926 as the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego and took its current name in 1978. Its building, designed by William Templeton Johnson, draws inspiration from the Plateresque façade of the University of Salamanca.

The collection ranges from 5000 BC to 2001 AD and includes Italian, Northern European, Spanish, Latin American, Asian, Impressionist, and modern art. Spanish works by El Greco, Ribera, Murillo, Zurbarán, Francisco de Goya, and Bartolomé Bermejo are among the collection’s highlights. Outside the museum, look for Odyssey III.

Timken Museum of Art

Also in Balboa Park, the Timken Museum of Art offers a focused collection of European and American art. Opened in 1965, it was designed by Frank Hope and houses the Putnam Foundation’s paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and Russian icons.

Works by American artists such as John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Thomas Cole, and Albert Bierstadt appear alongside Italian, Spanish, and French works by artists including Veronese, Murillo, Fragonard, David, and Corot.

San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo occupies 100 acres in Balboa Park and is known for open-air settings designed to recreate natural habitats. Its collection includes more than 12,000 animals representing over 680 species and subspecies, from tigers and pandas to gorillas, birds, reptiles, and bears.

The zoo grew from animals left behind after the 1915 Panama California Exposition. Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth brought them together and established the Zoological Society of San Diego in 1916. The zoo also pioneered open-air, cage-less exhibits. Its elephant enclosure later became the setting for Me at the Zoo, the first video uploaded to YouTube, filmed by Jawed Karim.

Centro Cultural de la Raza

In Balboa Park, the Centro Cultural de la Raza is dedicated to the creative expression of the Indigenous cultures of the Americas. Its programs explore Chicano, Mexicano, Native American, and Latino art and culture through drama, music, dance, arts, crafts, films, exhibitions, performances, readings, and receptions.

The circular building contains studios, workrooms, offices, a 150-seat theater, and a 2,000-square-foot gallery. Murals around the main entrance are among its most recognizable features.

Comic-Con Museum

The Comic-Con Museum brings comics and related popular arts to life through exhibitions, programs, and events connected with San Diego Comic-Con. It is located in Balboa Park and occupies a site with a connection to the city’s sporting history: the San Diego Hall of Champions once stood here before closing in June 2017.

Santa Fe Depot

Santa Fe Depot, also known as Embarcadero Station, remains an active transportation center in downtown San Diego. Its Spanish Colonial Revival design is especially recognizable for its twin domes, a feature echoed in later buildings across downtown.

The station opened on March 8, 1915, built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace an 1887 Victorian-style station. It was originally called Santa Fe Depot and later became officially known as San Diego Union Station. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a San Diego Historic Landmark.

USS Midway Museum

At Navy Pier, the USS Midway Museum is built around the aircraft carrier USS Midway. The ship itself is the main attraction, with spaces that include the flight deck, hangar, command posts, and officers’ quarters.

Moving through these areas gives visitors a sense of both the working and living sides of life aboard a carrier.

USS Recruit

The USS Recruit is an unusual naval training ship that never went to sea. Built at two-thirds the size of a Dealey-class destroyer escort, it was created for training at the U.S. Navy Naval Training Center in San Diego’s Point Loma area.

Although stationary, it was officially commissioned on July 27, 1949, as TDE-1 and later TFFG-1. For much of its eighteen years in commission, it was the only landlocked ship holding that status in the U.S. Navy. After the training center closed, it remained empty for nearly twenty years before opening to the public as a museum ship in 2023.

Old Point Loma Lighthouse

At Cabrillo National Monument, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse stands at the mouth of San Diego Bay. Built in 1855 by the United States government, it stopped operating as a lighthouse in 1891 and is now a museum.

It is sometimes called the Old Spanish Lighthouse, but that name is incorrect: the building dates from after California became part of the United States, not from San Diego’s Spanish or Mexican periods.

Firehouse Museum

The Firehouse Museum offers a chance to explore San Diego’s firefighting history and the character of the city’s fire service. It is one of the museums included in Neywo’s wider collection of narrated places around the city.

The Lot

The Lot, also known as Building 35, is a movie theater and one of the stops to discover in San Diego. It adds a cinema landmark to an itinerary otherwise centered on art, museums, science, and maritime history.

Museums Beyond La Jolla

Several other places in the wider San Diego area offer different perspectives on regional culture and history. The Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista is a living history museum spread across 55 acres, with collections focused on gas and steam engines and traditions preserved by employees and volunteers.

In Oceanside, the California Surf Museum explores the history and culture of surfing through boards, photographs, art, equipment, magazines, memorabilia, and videos. Its permanent surfboard timeline follows the development of surfing from wooden boards of the early 1900s to modern designs. The museum also includes a display dedicated to Bethany Hamilton.

The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum presents the history and legacy of United States Marine Corps aviation. Its outdoor exhibits include 31 historic aircraft, military vehicles, and other equipment, while indoor displays use photographs, artifacts, and artwork to trace aviation from its early days to the present. The museum is currently located at Orange County Great Park in Irvine.

Explore La Jolla with Neywo

Download Neywo for a free La Jolla audio guide and explore at your own pace. The app includes one walking tour: a 3.59-kilometre route through the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, lasting 111 minutes and featuring 12 narrated stops.

Each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, making Neywo a practical way to discover La Jolla’s art and cultural landmarks independently. La Jolla is part of California, in the United States.