United States · California · San Diego
La Jolla, San Diego — Area Guide & Where to Stay
La Jolla is a coastal neighbourhood of San Diego on the Pacific Ocean, known for its coves, Scripps Park, and the brutalist Salk Institute.
About La Jolla
Where to stay in La Jolla
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
La Jolla is one of San Diego's beach neighbourhoods, and it keeps hotels near the water. Beds cluster along Prospect Place and the coast above the coves. Stay here for the Pacific Ocean shoreline and the sands around Scripps Park, an easy walk from the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Rooms fill fast in summer. If you want a base by the sea rather than downtown, this stretch of coast delivers it.
About La Jolla
What are the main landmarks in La Jolla?
La Jolla's landmarks gather along the coast and the streets above it. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego holds the seafront edge, while the Geisel Library and the Salk Institute stand inland as notable works of brutalist architecture. Scripps Park opens onto the Pacific Ocean.
Two seaside churches, Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church and the Congregational Church of La Jolla, anchor its older core.
What is the history of La Jolla?
La Jolla grew from a scatter of beach cottages on the San Diego coast into a community of churches and research halls. The Red Rest and Red Roost Cottages survive from those early seaside days. Its congregations built the Congregational Church of La Jolla and Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church as the settlement took hold.
The Salk Institute and UCSD later rose on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. The sea shaped all of it.
Where is La Jolla?
La Jolla runs along the Pacific Ocean coastline of San Diego, its coves and bluffs set below the streets around Prospect Place.
Good for
Updated July 2026