The Best Free Things To Do in San Diego

San Diego is an expensive city – everyone who lives here knows this – but there are plenty of things to do for free here that are just as worthwhile, if not more worthwhile, as spending an arm, a leg, and half your monthly paycheck on. For starters, San Diego has an abundance of free outdoor activities because nobody has figured out how to charge for the mountains or the ocean or fresh air… yet.

And there is plenty to see in the city – public parks, beautiful walks, free museums, open access art installations, farmers markets, beaches, hikes, and more that are one hundred percent cost free, except for the effort go get there.

Below find our list of things to do in San Diego without spending a dime, updated regularly with new activities. Want even more ideas? Check out our massive guide to things to do in San Diego.

The Free Things To Do

Balboa Park Botanical Building

A stroll through the Botanical Building in Balboa Park is surely one of the best free things you can do in San Diego. The building, located in the heart of Balboa Park, was just renovated for over three years and is now back open and as stunning as ever. Walk slowly passed the Palladian windows and see the sunlight creep in from seemingly every angle. Feel the subtle moisture coming off the tropical ferns. Soak in the quiet awe that other visitors are feeling as they stroll with you. This place is always worth a visit if you are in the park.

Barrio Logan Art Crawl Guide

The Barrio Logan Art Crawl happens every second Saturday of the month, technically from noon to 8pm. This is not necessarily a planned or official event with signs guiding the way, but more a date each month in which various galleries in Barrio Logan open and stay open late, pop up vendors tend to show up in the streets, and the neighborhood can showcase its food, art, and culture.

Bread & Salt Gallery

Bread and Salt is the name of the sprawling complex (located in a former bakery, hence the name) on Julian Ave that holds several gallery spaces and event spaces fronting a labyrinth of studios, tenants, and artists in residency. They tend to have several exhibitions at a time and routinely host events, from quiet intimate concerts to Saturday night Art Crawl gatherings. They focus on experimental art and the art typically has a cross-border feel to it (like the neighborhood in which it is located). At the time of writing, their current artist in residence is Marisa Raygoza, an experimental artist from Tijuana who uses found objects and textiles to create elaborate geometric discursive pieces. This place consistently features some of the best art we have seen in San Diego and they attract some of the best artists in the region.

Chicano Park Murals

Chicano Park, in Barrio Logan, is the largest collections of outdoor murals in the United States. Painted on the pillars of the overpass the city installed to, literally, pass over and dissect this historic Mexican neighborhood, the murals of Chicano Park are filled with colorful Aztec and Latino imagery that pay homage to an overlooked population in San Diego. And California. And the United States.

Coronado Beach

Coronado Beach is a wide, white sand beach with plenty of room to find a place for the day, making it one of the better beaches in San Diego for sunbathing and other beach activities. There are restrooms and outdoor showers at two locations on the beach and lifeguards on duty all summer. The views from Coronado Beach are lovely with Point Loma to the west and Hotel Del Coronado to the east.

City Farmers Nursery

City Farmers Nursery is by far the best plant nursery in San Diego. In fact, it was recently voted the best plant nursery in the country. City Farmers is a sprawling plant nursery and gardening store in the heart of the city of San Diego, in the neighborhood City Heights, that feels more like a walk through a biodiverse paradise, mixed with a farm, mixed with a petting zoo. They have every species of plant you can think of – from fruit trees to succulents, native pollinators to fancy imported indoor plants. The staff at City Farmers are incredibly knowledgeable and eager to help, whether you have the most basic gardening question or are looking to take your already advanced garden to the next level.

Windansea Beach

Windansea Beach is a rocky coastline in La Jolla (with some sandy beach at low tide) that is most famous as being an early surf break when SoCal surf culture, and therefore mainland American surf culture, was in its infancy. Windansea is a lovely stretch of picturesque rocks (not a wide sandy beach) that is perfect for a picnic or watching sunset.

Kate Sessions Park

There are many, many lovely green areas in San Diego and many, many places with beautiful views, but Kate Sessions Park in Pacific Beach combines both, which makes it probably the best place to have a picnic in all of San Diego County. Bring a blanket or chairs, pack your own food or bring a portable grill to cook out (it is legal, just try not to set your fellow park-goers on fire), and find a spot at the top of the hill. The view is spectacular – you will see all of Mission Bay, downtown San Diego, Coronado, and on a clear day south all the way to Mexico.

La Jolla Cove

La Jolla Cove is a very popular place during the day, as people come from around the world to the tiny beach to watch seals sleep and fart at each other, but it is, in our opinion, much better at night. For one, the smell of pelican poop has taken a damper, possibly from not baking in the sun anymore, but the best part is there are no crowds anymore. There are still floodlights on the beach so you can see the seals and this is the time the seals are more active anyway, frolicking in the waves down below.

Little Italy Art Galleries

Little Italy has a few independent art galleries, and a couple of cute furniture stores, all along India Street and Kettner Boulevard, all within walking distance of each other. You can start south and walk north – visit Stefanie Bales Fine Art, Adelman Gallery, Mee Shim, and then farther up on Kettner Boulevard are three galleries in the same building – Blue Azul, Jacqueline Lavenu, and Meyer Fine Art.

Little Italy Farmer’s Market

Among all the farmers markets in San Diego, the Little Italy Farmers Market (aka the Little Italy Mercato) is the biggest and the best. So does that make it the best farmers market in the country? That’s not for us to decide. Stroll down the six blocks of stalls and peruse what’s on offer. We can’t list everything they have, but we’d say JR Organics for fruits and vegetables, Ruth’s No. 5 Salsa is hands down the best salsa we’ve ever had in our lives, Masala Cottage has delicious and filling samosas, and E&P Boulangeries makes damn good cookies and pastries. There used to be an entertaining little dog that drove around in a remote control car, but he must have died?

Ocean Beach Bonfire

Having a beach bonfire is one of the best free things you can do in San Diego. Fires on the beach are legal in San Diego County, but must be in a designated city fire pit. You can have a propane-fueled device, similar to the parks, but this does not really provide the atmosphere you want for a nighttime bonfire, so buy some wood from one of the local convenient stores (they all have it) and pit it up. Ocean Beach has several fire pits just south of Lifeguard Tower 5. You can park in the Dog Beach parking lot and the pits are straight out by the water, past the volleyball courts. Once the sun begins to set, start the fire and watch the twinkling lights of La Jolla brighten the hillside just up the coast to the north.

Sunset Cliffs

Sunset Cliffs is a stretch of coastline south of Ocean Beach that offers some of the most stunning views in all of San Diego County. The cliffs start around Adair Boulevard in OB and run south all the way to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. The shorefront and cliffs continue south of that all the way to Cabrillo National Monument on the southernmost tip of Point Loma, but the land south of Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is private (military, college). It is great for a casual walk with the family or the dog, or a solo walk alone to contemplate life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

San Diego City Canyons

You don’t have to leave the city to find great hiking in San Diego because spread throughout the city itself is a network of beautiful canyons filled with trails, trees, creeks, and wildlife habitats. San Diego’s canyons offer a chance to explore a natural, undeveloped landscape right in your own backyard. There are nearly 3,200 acres of open space canyons within the city. Some are more well-maintained than others, but most are accessible for anyone to do a light hike, trail running, and even mountain biking on certain trails. Open all year round and good to explore any time, we recommend the winter and spring months when the rain brings a lush, green landscape with fresh new foliage and beautiful wildflowers. The canyons are critical habitat for many of the amazing species in San Diego including great horned owls, great blue herons, rattlesnakes, hawks, parrots (yes, red Amazon parrots), humming birds, frogs, lizards, coyotes, and rabbits. If you’re really lucky, you might even see a squirrel.

Piazza Della Famiglia In Little Italy

Piazza Della Famiglia has as close to a town square vibe as you will get in San Diego and if you squint it almost feels like you are in a rustic Italian piazza. The piazza almost always has something going on, from pop-up performers to scheduled live music to art walks. Couples can sit and enjoy a drink and people watch. Kids can run around the square and play on the fountain or try to trick a mime into moving. Old people can play dominos with each other.

Trolley Barn Park

Located at the northern border of University Heights, Trolley Barn Park is a lovely open grassy park and playground. In the 1930s, this was the site of a massive trolley depot for the San Diego trolley system, hence the name. Trolley Barn Park is a great spot for hosting birthday parties, playing games in the field, bringing the kids to the jungle gym, or just resting in the grass with a book.

Pacific Beach Boardwalk

Running along the sand parallel to the ocean in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach is a three mile long boardwalk, the Pacific Beach Boardwalk, and cruising this strip is one of the best things to do in the summer in San Diego. Come to the Pacific Beach boardwalk for a stroll, or a bike ride, or a roller blade, or a skateboard, or ride your unicycle, or your hoverboard, or your tandem bicycle with a clown horn on the front. The whole strip is straight and wide and flat and always has a lot of eclectic human activity happening along it.

Tree San Diego Tree Treks

Tree Treks are a family-friendly, community event hosted by Tree San Diego, a local non-profit dedicated to improving the urban tree canopy. Held each month, each Tree Trek takes you on a walk through different parks or neighborhoods with a professional arborist to teach you about the trees of San Diego and their benefits to the community, public health, and the environment. A map is provided to all attendees with pre-selected trees that will be included on the walk, usually about 8-12 trees. (You also get a cool neon vest for safety when crossing streets). At each tree, a certified arborists will talk about how to identify the tree, its unique traits, and the influence it has on the surrounding environment.

Old Town State Historic Park

Old Town in San Diego is free to visit and is worth a walk through at least once. It is kind of like if Colonial Williamsburg was Mexican and slightly more fun. There is usually a mariachi band playing somewhere and the place turns up for Cinco de Mayo and Dia de los Muertos. You can shop for Mexican cultural gifts or you can eat at one of their festive restaurants. It is a cool place to get some “ancient” history about a city who in the grand scheme of things feels like it is in its infancy (in a good way).

Torrey Pines State Reserve

Torrey Pines State Preserve should be on everyone’s list to visit in San Diego, whether you are in town for a day or you have lived here your whole life. There are two ways to hike through Torrey Pines – on the beach below the cliffs or up in the cliffs themselves. We recommend the latter, starting up at the Torrey Pines Reserve Lodge and Visitor Center. Parking in the main lot by the visitor center is usually open, though it can fill up on weekends and sunset. There is overflow parking at the bottom of the hill by the beach.

Father Junipero Serra Trail

The Father Junipero Serra Trail is one of the best walks you can do in San Diego County. The trail is actually a paved road that cuts through Mission Trails Regional Park and it follows along the path of the San Diego River as it winds down from the eastern mountains toward the ocean. On the west side of the trail sits South Fortuna and on the east side Kwaay Paay Peak. The steep mountains on either side make you feel like you are miles and miles from any urban areas, even though the park sits right in the middle of San Diego.

South Fortuna Trail At Mission Trails

Located in Mission Trails Regional Park, South Fortuna Trail is one of the best hikes in San Diego County for catching a sunset. Or a sunrise. The South Fortuna Trail starts from the West Fortuna Staging Area and is a challenging hike that takes you through hills, meadows, riparian forest, and up a steep mountain climb. The hike can be done as a loop (6 miles), or as an out-and-back hike (4 miles), and is mostly exposed to the elements. From the top of South Fortuna you get a beautiful view – you can look west to the ocean and downtown San Diego in the distance or east out toward Mt Laguna and the desert beyond.

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