Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Gaslamp Quarter is a historic district of about 16 blocks in downtown San Diego, California, lined with restored Victorian-era commercial buildings. It grew from the city's rough late-1800s waterfront streets into its best-known area for dining and nightlife, and it is the easiest place in San Diego to see the city's 19th-century architecture on foot.

The story behind it

San Diego's downtown took shape in 1867, when the developer Alonzo Horton laid out a new town closer to the bay than the original settlement at Old Town. The streets that now make up the Gaslamp Quarter filled with hotels, shops, saloons and gambling halls. The area was known as the Stingaree, a name tied to its reputation for vice, and the lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp is said to have run gambling businesses in San Diego during the 1880s.

As the city's centre of gravity moved north, the old blocks declined for decades. Preservation efforts in the 1970s and 1980s saved many of the buildings, and the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The name comes from the gas lamps of the era, which are echoed in the street lighting today.

What to look for

• The large Gaslamp Quarter arch over Fifth Avenue, which marks the heart of the district and is a favourite spot for photos.
• The upper floors of the brick and stone buildings, where cornices, arched windows and carved details survive above the modern shopfronts.
• The William Heath Davis House on Island Avenue, a small wooden house that was prefabricated elsewhere and shipped to San Diego, and is one of the oldest buildings in the district.
• The street lamps and old hotel signs along Fifth Avenue, which give the evening streets their glow.

Tips for your visit

• The district is made up of public streets, so walking through it costs nothing. Individual restaurants, bars and museums set their own rules, so check current opening hours.
• Come in the late morning or afternoon to study the architecture without the crowds, then return after dark to see the lamps and lit signs.
• Allow about an hour for a relaxed stroll along Fifth Avenue and the side streets, and longer if you plan to stop for a meal.
• Petco Park, the Convention Center and the waterfront are all close by, so the quarter fits easily into a wider day of downtown sightseeing.

See it on a quest

The quest Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego takes you through the district on foot, with the Gaslamp Quarter as part of a longer route through these streets. The app tells you about each place as you reach it and sets a puzzle in what is right in front of you, so you look up at the buildings instead of just walking past them. You can start whenever suits you, with no guide and no group to join. One ticket covers the whole group.