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San Diego Travel Guide: Places You Must See!

First trip of 2020! A road trip to San Diego! I packed my backs and headed down south! I’ve been to SD countless times but never outside of the Gaslamp District. I tried googling where to visit in SD and there was not one guide that really detailed all the amazing instagramable spots you could visit like a local, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make my own!

The amazing hotel I stayed at is The Guild Hotel. It’s location is right in the middle of Downtown and its just a few steps away from the ocean front and the Santa Fe Amtrak station (just incase you plan on taking the train into SD)

Ocean Bank
Amtrak Santa Fe Station

Each room is so gorgeous and aesthetically designed making every corner a photo op!

The Guild Hotel
The Guild Hotel

The room is both gorgeous and perfectly organized to a seamless and relaxed stay! I hung up all my clothes on this hanger racker, with a wall mirror beside it, to give you all the OOTD selfies.

@thegemruby

I was joined by my friend Ruby, who is an SD native, and she took the time to show me around and hit all the local hot spots! First thing we did was tour the hotel.

Every corner of The Guild Hotel is absolutely gorgeous.

The Guild Hotel

Literally.

Courtyard Restaurant at The Guild Hotel

Every.

Corner!

First things first, for breakfast on day 1, we visited Morning Glory. Which is a lively and popping restaurant that usually has a 1 hour wait….everyday.

If you ever want to eat at this restaurant, you must either go SUPER early in the a.m. or put your name down and just stroll around Little Italy until your name is called.

We chilled at a near by cafe called Parakeet Cafe and had some coffee to pass the time. It’s a pretty little spot with a cute neon light script on the wall + the coffee is decent.

The real food we wanted to try was the SOUFFLÉ PANCAKES at Morning Glory, so we decided to starve until they called our name loll.

Morning Glory Restaurant

The restaurant is vibrant and full of energy. Also, the bathrooms are to die for. Yep, you heard right, the best spot is definitely the bathroom. Major IG spot!

The food itself was delicious. Each dish was beautifully done and had big portions! The soufflé’s pancakes were so delicious. I’d highly recommend sharing them because they big and thick and easy to get full off of just 1.

Another spot to visit is the matcha cafe, HOLY MATCHA! The decor in this place is pink, refreshing, and easy on the eyes.

Holy Matcha

This place is a pink heaven and they have this absolute delicious Strawberry Matcha drink that is just so good. They add a strawberry mixed syrup to the bottom of your matcha drink and I could drink a whole cup filled with it. It’s. That. Delicious.

Next, Balboa Park! This park is massive, filled with pockets of mini museum buildings, performers, musicians, and a ton of people just roaming around this gorgeous park. I’ve never seen so much energy and excitement in one area! 

There are little buildings throughout the park that have pockets of museums that carry gorgeous paintings inside them. When I visited it was raining, so we spent our time inside these building just admiring the art and keeping dry. I love the set up of this park because there’s so many attractions in just 1 place.

You can see my IG post from outside this building here!

Balboa Museum

A few other places that I hit while being there are here:

  • Herb & Wood: The Chai Lattes here are AMAZING. It’s a cute double leveled cafe with delicious food + coffee options. Must see!
  • Luca (The Guild Courtyard Restaurant): The courtyard restaurant that’s always popping for dinner!
  • Civico 1845: Italian!!!! So good. We were soo stuffed from the pastas we ordered!
  • Rosewood Oceanside Restaurant: The food here is SO GOOD! We were so surprised. We were randomly looking for somewhere to eat and found this place on yelp. Everything was finger licking good. The customer service is on another level. It’s family owned and cooked with family recipes. Deff going back next time.
  • Jeune et Jolie: I’d say go here for drinks and tapas before heading out to your main dinner plans. The absence and decor is absolutely gorgeous, all pink and plush, and worth the stop. The plates are small so not many food options but still yummy to try.
Jeune et Jolie
Jeune et Jolie

Such a fun city to explore and I’m so glad I had such an amazing tour guide lolll. I hope this guide helps and you hit some of these amazing hotspots in SD! Until next time, xx!

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