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.
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Where to stay in La Jolla
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
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.
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Things to do in and around San Diego
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
2- Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
- Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (La Jolla branch)
Churches & Religious Sites
3- Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church
- St. James By-The-Sea Episcopal Church
- Congregational Church of La Jolla
Stadiums & Sports
1- La Jolla High School sports field
Landmarks & Notable Places
7- Martha Kinsey House Heritage
- Red Rest and Red Roost Cottages Heritage
- 1049 Coast Boulevard Heritage
- Carey Crest/El Paradon Seacliffe House Heritage
- Dolly's House Heritage
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- George Kautz House Heritage
- Josephine Seaman Rental Cottage Heritage
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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.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in La Jolla?
La Jolla: beachfront stays by the coves.
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Updated October 2026