Our San Clemente Guide
A quick guide to some of our favorite spots around town to help you make the most of your stay. If you need anything else or have questions, just ask us.
A quick guide to some of our favorite spots around town to help you make the most of your stay. If you need anything else or have questions, just ask us.
One of our favorite things about staying here is that you can leave the car in the garage all week. The city runs a free trolley, the Green Line stop is practically at our front door, and we use it ourselves to get up to Del Mar for dinner.
| Monday to Friday | Noon to 10pm |
|---|---|
| Saturday | 10am to 10pm |
| Sunday | 10am to 8pm |
| Summer (May 22 to Sep 30) | Green and Red lines both run daily. Green is the one you want from our door. |
| Rest of the year | Red Line only, Friday through Sunday. |
Free to ride, and one comes by every 15 to 25 minutes.
Green Line
1 min walk about 0.04 mi
Down the coast to San Clemente State Beach, the campground, and the south end of the beach trail, then back up El Camino Real past Antoine's and the Del Mar shops. Summer only.
DirectionsRed Line
6 min walk about 0.32 mi
Up the hill to downtown Avenida Del Mar for dinner and shopping, on to the Metrolink station, and out to the Outlets at San Clemente. The one that runs all year.
DirectionsLive vehicle positions from Passio GO, the tracker the city runs. If the map does not load, open it in a new tab.
Live trolley tracker · Route map (PDF) · City trolley page
The platform is right at the pier and the Surfliner runs south to San Diego or north to Los Angeles. Two warnings from experience: only a handful of trains actually stop here, so check the timetable first, and there is no ticket window, so buy in the app before you walk down.
| Station | San Clemente Pier Station |
|---|---|
| Address | 615 Avenida Victoria, San Clemente |
| Route | Pacific Surfliner, San Diego to Los Angeles and beyond |
| Plan the trip | Check the timetable · Station details · Directions from the inn |
Four stretches of sand within a walk of the door, and one flat trail connecting all of them. Here is where we would send you and why.
3-minute walk Directions
The one at the bottom of our hill, and the reason people fall for this town. Walk out to the end for the view back at the hills, or stop halfway for chowder. It breaks on both sides of the pilings, so there are always surfers below you.
10-minute walk north on the trail Directions
The widest, calmest sand in town and the easiest with small kids, with a park, restrooms, and a playground behind it. North Beach at the far end has the old railroad station and a trolley stop, so you can ride back if legs give out.
12-minute walk south on the trail Directions
Our pick if you are only going to one beach that is not the pier. The best surf in town, sandy bottom and forgiving enough to learn on, lifeguarded through summer, and West Toast is right there on the sand for a breakfast burrito.
25-minute walk, or a 6-minute drive Directions
The south end of the state beach, where the trail runs out. Quieter than everywhere above it and worth the extra walk on a busy weekend, especially near sunset.
Everything above is strung along the same path: 2.3 flat miles of packed trail and boardwalk running between the sand and the old railroad line, from North Beach down to Calafia. You join it at the bottom of our hill, and it is the best hour you can spend here without a car. No shade to speak of, so early or late is kinder in summer.
Just a heads up: e-bikes are not allowed on the Beach Trail. Regular bikes are welcome, and they yield to people on foot. City trail rules
Down Monterey and onto the sand. Two to three minutes, and a ramp rather than stairs, so the wagon rolls the whole way.
OpenLow tide nearly doubles the width of the beach and opens the rocks south of the pier. Worth a glance before a long walk.
OpenThe city's camera at the pier. We check it most mornings to see whether the marine layer has burned off yet.
OpenSurfline for the pier: swell, wind, and tide, plus a forecast if you are planning a session.
OpenEvery unit comes stocked for the beach, so there is no need to pack or buy any of it.
If you need something we have not thought of, or you are not sure where to find it in the unit, just get in touch and we will sort it out.
On the pier, a few steps off the sand 4-minute walk Directions
Surfboards, boogie boards, and beach odds and ends without leaving the Pier Bowl. The easiest stop if somebody decides at breakfast that today is the day they learn to surf.
1900 N El Camino Real, in the old North Beach railroad station 10-minute drive, or the Red Line to North Beach Directions
They rent out of the old railroad station and sit right on the trail, so you are riding within a minute. Cruisers by the hour, plus tandems, kid bikes, and kid seats. Walk-ins are fine, but call ahead for a group or a tandem on a weekend.
Places we love and think you should try. Everything here is a walk from the door except where noted, and if you are after something specific, a birthday dinner, somewhere the kids can be kids, the best taco within walking distance, just ask us. We are always glad to point you somewhere good.
618 1/2 Avenida Victoria, across from the pier 4-minute walk Directions
Our morning coffee, and the closest one to your door. They open at 6am, which matters if the kids have you up anyway.
218 S El Camino Real 10-minute walk uphill Directions
This one is the family go-to. Great sit-down breakfast, open since 1991, and if you only eat one meal out with us, we would tell you to make it this one.
339 W Paseo De Cristobal, at T-Street beach 12-minute walk down the trail Directions
Breakfast burritos in the old T-Street snack bar, right on the sand. Walk down the trail, eat with your feet in the sand, walk back. We do it most weekends.
626 Avenida Victoria 4-minute walk Directions
Right across from the pier. This is our answer on the night nobody wants to cook and everybody is sunburned.
110 N El Camino Real 10-minute walk, or the Green Line to Del Mar Directions
The sit-down Mexican place we send people to, from the same family as Nick's down the street. Order the fish tacos and a margarita and take your time.
641 Camino De Los Mares (a short drive north) 8-minute drive Directions
A local institution, and the fish tacos hold up. The one place on our list you will want the car for, so save it for a day you are already driving.
611 Avenida Victoria, on the pier 4-minute walk Directions
Out on the pier, so you are eating chowder over the water. It is the view we send every guest to see at least once. The happy hour below is the good way in.
213 Avenida Del Mar 8-minute walk uphill, or the Green Line to Del Mar Directions
Where we go when we want a real dinner out. Comfort food, proper cocktails, and a bar worth sitting at.
610 Avenida Victoria 4-minute walk Directions
Steps from the sand, seafood, and a view. Good for a long lunch when you cannot be bothered to go far.
611 Avenida Victoria, on the pier
204 Avenida Del Mar
226 Avenida Del Mar
610 Avenida Victoria
123 Avenida Del Mar
213 Avenida Del Mar
Six blocks of boutiques, antiques, and coffee, about a six-minute walk uphill. Give yourself an afternoon, it is the nicest part of town. Shops turn over faster than we can keep up with, so the directory has the current full list.
101 Avenida Del Mar Directions
Women's apparel and accessories, heavy on the beachy-chic end of things.
216 Avenida Del Mar, Suite A Directions
Clothing, accessories, and custom airbrush work in the middle of the village.
Thirty dealers under one roof: vintage furniture, estate jewelry, and decor.
Open since 1978. Furniture, lamps, mirrors, prints, and custom silk florals.
Accessories and gifts, with proceeds supporting women and children abroad.
Full downtown business directory · Directions from the inn
Sixty-plus stores on the hillside above the freeway, ten minutes up the road, and the Red Line stops there in summer. Worth an afternoon if the weather turns, and the discounts are real.
| Address | 101 W Avenida Vista Hermosa, San Clemente |
|---|---|
| Hours | Daily, 10am to 8pm |
| Phone | 949-535-2323 |
| Food | Panera Bread, Starbucks, and Ruby's Diner are on site, along with the movie theater. |
The town cinema, attached to the outlet center, IMAX and all. This is our rainy-afternoon plan, or the one for the day everybody has had enough sun.
| Theater | MetroLux Theatres + IMAX |
|---|---|
| Address | 101 W Avenida Vista Hermosa, at the Outlets at San Clemente |
Live sources rather than a forecast we would have to keep updating by hand. The first one is the city's camera at the pier, and it is the one we check ourselves.
The city's own camera at the pier. We check it most mornings before deciding anything.
OpenNOAA tide predictions for the pier. Worth a look before a tidepool walk, and low tide is when the beach is widest.
OpenSurfline for San Clemente Pier: swell, wind, tide, and a 16-day forecast.
OpenThe city's lifeguard report, tides, buoy data, and camera feeds in one place.
OpenOC Health Care Agency posts current water quality for every San Clemente beach.
OpenThis whole town was one man's idea, and most of what you walk past downtown is still built to his rules. Once you know the story you cannot unsee it.
In 1925 Ole Hanson, a former mayor of Seattle, bought 2,000 acres here and drew up one of the first master-planned towns in California: white walls, red tile roofs, and an ocean view from as many of them as possible. The city incorporated in 1928. The rulebook he wrote is why downtown still looks the way it does.
415 Avenida Granada Directions
Hanson's own house on the bluff above the pier, now a cultural center with gardens and a view straight down the coast. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. A ten-minute walk uphill from the Pier Bowl.
Photo archives, walking-tour material, and the longer version of the story if you want it.
If you would rather not plan anything, this is roughly how we spend a good day when we are down here ourselves. Take the bits you like and ignore the rest.
| 7:30am | Coffee at Bear Coast while the marine layer is still in. Four minutes on foot, and they are open at six if the kids had other plans for you. |
|---|---|
| 9am | Load the wagon and go down Monterey to the sand. Set up near a staffed tower and put the umbrella up before you need it. |
| Noon | Lunch out on the pier at Fisherman's, or a slice from Cosentino's eaten on the wall across the road. |
| 2pm | Pick up a cruiser at North Beach and ride the trail south. It is flat the whole way to Calafia and back, and it is the ride we talk everybody into. |
| 4pm | Happy hour. Fisherman's starts at four on weekdays and the sunset plates are the reason to be early rather than late. |
| 6pm | Back down with the chairs, or up to Del Mar for dinner on the Green Line if you have had enough sand. |
| Sunset | Stay out for it. The pier lights come on afterwards, and the walk home is uphill but short. |