Walking Tours
Guided Walking Tours
Join us for historic walking tours of La Jolla and experience its unique history, architecture, landscape and more with LJHS Historian, Carol Olten.
Walking tours are NOT held weekly - check out our schedule below for upcoming dates!
Comfortable shoes, sunscreen, hats and sunglasses are encouraged.
$20 per person | $10 for LJHS members
Upcoming Guided Events and Tours
Programs in the New Year
Walking Tour of the Scripps-Gill Cultural Zone
Walking tour in the La Jolla village area focuses on the architectural collaborations of the early 20th century between philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps and pioneering modern architect Irving Gill in the design and construction of buildings such as the La Jolla Woman’s Club and La Jolla Recreation Center that are historical landmarks in today’s Scripps/Gill complex.
Sunday, January 11, 2026 @ 2:00 PM
Wisteria Cottage Campus
780 prospect street
Tickets Coming Soon!
Poetry Reading
The 19th century abounded with nature poets celebrating trees, mountains, and oceans, and La Jolla’s dramatic land and seascapes offered rich inspiration. Rugged shorelines, sage-covered hillsides, and radiant sunsets stirred both amateur and accomplished writers. La Jolla Historical Society historian Carol Olten highlights two early local poets, Rose Hartwick Thorpe and Ellen Mills, sharing selections of their vivid odes to the natural world.
Sunday, January 25, 2026 @ 2:00 PM
Wisteria Cottage Campus
780 prospect street
Free!
Green Tiger Story Hour
La Jolla Historical Society historian Carol Olten, Tigers, Unicorns & Puppy Dog Tales exhibition curator, brings this world alive once again in a special holiday story hour.
Sunday, December 14 @ 2:00 PM
Wisteria Cottage Campus
780 prospect street
Free!
Adults and Children Welcome!
Self-Guided Tours
Want to explore the charm of La Jolla at your own pace? Choose from our themed self-guided tours. Learn about the unique history, architecture and landscape of our beautiful coastal region. Put on your walking shoes and let the adventure begin!
La Valencia Hotel
A Walking Tour of La Jolla Village
This hour-long tour of La Jolla focuses on significant landmarks and is designed to provide insight into the past century of community growth and development. Included are examples of early beach cottages, European architectural styles that developed starting in the 1920s, as well as modern buildings.
Historic Beach Cottages of La Jolla
Before paved streets, running water, and grand hotels, La Jolla was a village of small cottages that clung to the cliffs and nestled in the canyons along the rising topography of the coastline. Craftsman-style beach cottages were the vernacular architecture of the late-19th century and early-20th century. Of basic design and simple wood construction, the cottages on this driving tour remain a window into early La Jolla.
WT MacDonald House, Architect Richard Requa 1933, photomontage by Nick Agelidis
Jazz Age La Jolla: Architecture of the 1920s
In 1920s La Jolla, the automobile and electric streetcar encouraged residential developments such as the Barber Tract, Hermosa, Muirlands, and the Shores. Beach cottages gave way to the work of architects who adapted historic styles to modern sensibilities. These early subdivisions built on the outskirts of the Village continue to define neighborhoods, street patterns, and historic architecture.
Mid-Century Modern Architecture
The 1950s and 1960s were decades of a remarkably rich creative culture in La Jolla, and a group of modernist architects emerged to spearhead new, influential, and enduring ideas in building design. This driving tour highlights residential, commercial, and academic buildings designed in the modern style and reflecting influences ranging from the Bauhaus to Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wheeler Bailey Apartment, La Jolla, 1932, Architect Irving J Gill, Collection of the San Diego History Center
Irving Gill’s San Diego
The Arts and Crafts movement was becoming popular when Irving Gill (1870-1936) arrived in San Diego in 1893, and his early designs reflect this aesthetic. By 1908, his mature style characteristic of early modernism was beginning, and he became known for the design of clean facades devoid of ornamentation. Gill is now regarded as a pioneer in the early modern movement in architecture. This extensive tour of Gill’s designs cover three decades of his work, and ranges from Coronado to Oceanside, La Jolla to Hillcrest and Bankers Hill.
The tour maps above are the intellectual property of the La Jolla Historical Society and are provided for personal use only. All rights reserved, including but not limited to reproduction, distribution or sale, display or performance, and/or the creation of derivative works.
Behind the Scenes Member Series
Visit behind-the-scenes places in La Jolla and experience readings and programs on some of the community’s unusual artists and writers who have lived and visited here in a new members-only series coordinated by historian Carol Olten.