Plaza del Pasado, Old Town State Historical Park Review

Always enjoyable to walk around Old Town...lots of things to see and do...many restaurant choices...good for the whole family.

Fun experience, great for families and to hang out with a delicious margarita

I can never say enough about this place. I love love it. Love the shops . Love the restaurants. Do yourself a favor and go. If you love Mexican food and or margaritas they have them here. Very good

Always a fun place to wander around and explore. I have spent many years going here.

Fun little open market with cute local shops and restaurants.

Lovely people, lovely place with lots of history to learn and never a lack if things to do.

I love old town. So many nice shops and restaurant. Such a historical place

This is a lovely place to spend an evening especially in the summer. Lots of great choices for Mexican food we like Barra Barra. Transit station is very convenient when you don t want to deal with downtown traffic or getting up to North County train stations. I love the liveliness, courtyards, the history, great theater here as well. Take the family spend an afternoon and enjoy!

Great way to kill a lazy sunday! margaritas and old school shops.

Our family had a really fun day at the shops and museums.

Must visit everytime we visit the San Diego area. Restaurants and shops are great. Be sure to check out the Whaley House.

Its getting overcrowded....don't go on the weekends!

Check out the old fashion and activities in old Town is the must.

It was quaint, free and had a few interesting exhibits. The court house, church and stagecoach exhibit was the most interesting portions for me.

This place is magical.I loved the history and historic items in each of the museums.Always an excellent choice when visiting San Diego.Most of the really good restaurants had lines over an hour long!

I enjoyed walking around looking at the old buildings and going into the shops. One I really enjoyed was the Jerry &Root Beer shop. We got some exotic jerky, alligator and ostrich, etc. Also got some South Carolina Pepper Jerky which is supposed to be extremely hot.

A lot of good Mexican food a lot of shops and some history old Western history

Worth visiting if in the area. Nice museums and shops.

Had a great time... For food and and churos and. and much more..

A great place to visit after 7 PM. You can experience the old culture here with their songs, dance and buildings. It has it's own parking. If you are not driving, it's right next to train station. It has a lot of Mexican places to dine in.

Old Town may be my favorite area of San Diego. It's the original location of the California Settlement and is the original Downtown SD before the downtown we know now. It's historical and very touristy but wow is it cool! They have the most haunted house in America The Whaley House and it also has a Hotel and Restaurant that used to be a brothel and poker hall called The Cosmopolitan. Countless shops and Mexican Restaurants a plenty! Other choices of restaurants but, the dozens of times I've been here I only go to Mexican restaurants. They have plenty of historical locations for the history buffs out there and truly is a tourist MUST SEE! As a local I still enjoy spending time in Old Town. You can just feel the history in the air and there is so much to learn with displays all around and plenty of tours if you want to dig deeper into California's history.

Very cosy and has really nice vibes, specially where the restaurants are and the music.. great atmosphere

A must see for anyone! It closes rather early but that's my only complaint. It's a step back in time if you visit the historical park. My kids loved it and they are teenagers so to have them say it was fun is saying something. They have lots of shops and they are not to expensive to grab a souvenir. There is also the 100 year old Church Our Lady of Immaculate Conception is a good place to stop by

What can I say old San Diego so worth a visit. Try to visit the less beaten path as well, you will be surprised by what you find

Love this historical town. I love his Spanish vibe and all the restaurants, shopping, historical culture museums, the haunted Whaley House, and of course the old cemetery.

Many historic buildings. Good food and shops. Love this place!

Always worth a visit. Lots of interesting things to see, great souvenir shopping and Mexican food at some of the restaurants but not do good at some of the other restaurants. There's Olive oil tasting, wine tasting and chocolate tasting too.

Really interesting place, early history of California, suggest taking a guided tour of the area (meets at the visitor center)

I love Old Town. So many cool shops and things to see. One of the least expensive ways to spend a day in SD.

Marvelous San Diego.CA old town. Enjoy walking and sitting in various parts of the town. You can even stop and get a magritia and think, I am in Mexico.

Great place to see historic buildings in San Diego. Due to Covid the museums are closed but many of the shops are open with limitations.

Love all the shopping and resteraunts. Parking sucks.

Visited Heritage houses also got bite to eat at El Cayote. Very good.

It's a must attraction. Give you an opportunity to explore and learn the origins of San Diego history. Also, enjoy the local authentic Mexican restaurants within Old Town. Wear comfortable shoes when walking around to the different attractions within the city of Old Town San Diego. Some of the museums are free and some you must pay to enter, but it's a nice place to visit and learn a little history along the way.

Food is fabulous very good stores are great fun family friendly great weekend experience for date night

What a great place to learn about San Diego and California history. Many of the buildings have been reconstructed, but several original adobe buildings remain. Took the free hour long guided tour, the guide was excellent. I knew little about the history of the area before, but I probably know as much as many residents now.

Hard to find parking, but definitely lots to see, eat, and do.

A great area just to walk around and relax and take advantage of the tours of san Diego

I have been here more times than i can count. Easy parking, if you get here early in the day. Lots of stores and displays of San Diego when it was a small town in the dirt. Many historic buildings to tour. Definitely check out the working Blacksmith Shop and watch iron being forged.

A lot of really neat stuff to see tryed the Comic Con to crowded. Jumped back on the Trolly. Old Town , what the kids like the most other than the candy store was watching three older guys play in mud rebuilding something old fashion style. Making they're own big bricks. Didn't even fire them like for real. Like the old days.

Old feel of this town ....and it's historic history wonderful time

Great place to kill some time in SD. Most of the restaurants are very good.

Loved walking around here. Very cool restaurants and shops. It's pretty big. You could spend a whole afternoon here if you saw everything.

Lots of great restaurants and bars and little souvenir shops to wander in and out of very cute.

This place was super cool, all centered around this mexican themed village with lots of shops, plenty of food with an outdoor sitting area. I had the chicken and shrimp fajitas, 4 shrimp and three small peices of chicken. Kind of chincy on the portions for the price. As always with fajitas you get way to many onions and carrots. Waitress was friendly and attentive.

If you love delicious food, quaint shops and history... You'll enjoy Old Town!

As a San Diego native, I've had plenty of opportunities to explore this wonderful spot over the years. YES, it does have a touristy vibe during peak travel seasons - but don't let that detract you from all this place has to offer.

Food and drink abound, and you can definitely find a fun souvenir or trinket at any of the shops here. There's even a tiny cemetery you can visit - along with The Whaley House, one of San Diego's famed haunted houses.

Parking can be tricky here during peak hours but trust me - it is worth the wait.

Mexican dining and lots of small shops and museums. Great daytime family environment and good night time drinking spots.

Went here during the winter break. They is going to be a lot of people trying to sell you something. Most of the stuff is similar. Beware of your own cash and don`t impulse buy. You can always come back.

Finding parking is going to be a challenging. What I did was I parked outside on the street and walked in. It only took like 3 minutes extra but saved me like 5dollars.

Great historical buildings. I enjoy seeing some of San Diego's history. Many of the shops have good souvenirs. Just wish more local artist were featured and supported by tourists. It's disappointing some of the junk shops sell.

Absolutely visit here if you're in the area or even make a detour so you can visit! Old San Diego has shops, historical sites, live music, and awesome food. There's a place to go that serves free chocolate samples that you have to check out and you're sure to find a cute trinket at any of the gift shops. They also have free parking nearby!

It's a nice place to see, but the prices are crazy.

As an adult, this was just an okay visit, but it may be better for kids. There are several souvenir shops, restaurants, and a couple nice historical buildings. At one point, I walked past a blacksmith shop with men at work. Adjacent to the shop, there's a building with some old stagecoaches. The official ranch house in the center of the area is also nice, and there were friendly guides in historical costumes, and signage describing the history and family that lived in the house. After this, I walked through a couple more tourist stores on the back side of the property, and came to realize "this is it". If you have never seen anything like this, I would recommend Old Town for a visit.

Fantastic way to experience authentic buildings - it's not a museum but actually real life streets and businesses and museums. Touristy but great.

Cute little buildings, lots of good places to take pictures. Loved reading the history of each building and who used to live in them.

Nice to walk through, good restaurants. Very much a tourist spot so it's nice for out of town friends and family visiting.

Beautiful place. Great restaurants with great food and drinks. Museums and artisan shops.

Such a great, historical place to go. I love getting the warm, fresh tortillas outside the restaurant. Taste of old town is the most fun event to go to too! Make sure to take Uber though, tons of tequila.

It's a great place to walk around, window shop and get some good food/drinks with Mexican influence.

Lots to see, artwork, vendors, food carts and lots of restaurants in the area.

Old town is a great place to visit and see alot of San Diego history. And the smells from the restaurants are so overwhelming that it's hard to make up your mind where to eat. Not only can you see history and take some nice photos and shop at all the little areas. But you can get exercise by all the walking you will do. Such a good time. A must see.

great place to visit. Approx 1/2 day is enough. the nearby italian restaurant is fantastic.

Thought I was back in the old south west. Lots to see lots to do. Great leather shop. Just had to take my mask off so l could smell the leather. Don't tell.

Very nice tourist attraction that is free. Parking is free too if you can find some. Plenty of stores, restaurants and of course historic buildings.

cute from afar, but essentially a tourist trap with not enough food options (and their hours are ridiculous... why open so late and close so early?)

Fun place to see, great shops and food. Great for three whole family

Love this place. So much to see and do. Great for families or a date.

Loved this little town. Lots of food choices. Cute little shops. Free Museums.

A fun day with lots of displays and a commemoration of the 171st year arrival of the Mormon Battalion. Fun for the family and most museums are free. Great food in the area.

While this is a nice part of town, it felt too much like a tourist trap for my liking. If you like those sorts of things, this is the place for you and your family.

For a slower pace fun time with the kids, this is an excellent place to visit. Steeped in history and lore, the shops and attractions are always fun for the grown ups or the kids.