Things To Do In San Luis Obispo, California

8 min readJul 15, 2018

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Things To Do in San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo is a little college town with a flair for Renaissance, with its Celtic font street signs and quirky downtown. This town is different in that instead of shuttering the downtown storefronts when they all were forced to close down due to big box competition, the city made the big stores move into the vacated downtown storefronts. It makes finding a parking spot tricky and parking isn’t free, but it is an interesting move that we haven’t seen in other towns. There is a retail plaza just south of town with several stores and restaurants, but oddly enough, many of those stores have gone out of business and several buildings were being demolished.

North of town is Morro Bay and south of town is Pismo Beach, both happening little towns with lots to do. You can rent dune buggies and head out to the sand dunes south of Pismo Beach or kayak into the sea caves at low tide. You can go on a whale watching cruise at Morro Bay or enjoy the sunset. Those are all wonderful experiences. But there are a few places to go and things to do in the area that are pretty unique to this area, so be sure to check them out.

Hearst Castle
Elephant Seals
Margarita Adventures
Bonus: Dinosaur Caves Park
Petra Mediterranean Grill
SLO Donut Company
Mr. Pickles Sandwiches
Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab

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Hearst Castle

Pretend you’re a King or Queen for the day at Hearst Castle.

Cost: Varies based on tour type.

About 41 miles north of San Luis Obispo on Highway 1 — the world-famous Pacific Coast Highway — is Hearst Castle. This magnificent residence sits atop a 1,600 foot hill with spectacular views of the rolling hills — all of which belong to the Hearst family — down to the Pacific Ocean. Spend a few hours exploring this Mediterranean style mansion and enjoying the views. There are a variety of tour options as well as the ability to browse many artifacts at the Visitor Center for free. Read our full review here.

Elephant Seal Viewing Beach

Witness nature at its finest as elephant seals frolick on the beach.

Cost: FREE

When you’re done being wowed at Hearst Castle, head 4 miles north on Highway 1 to the elephant seal viewing area. The elephant seals can be seen in this cove year-round, although more are there through the winter and fewer in the summer. This cove is where they mate, give birth, raise their young, and relax. Parking is free and there is a raised boardwalk that will allow you to view and photograph the elephant seals up close and personal without being in any danger. A little further north is the Piedras Blancas lighthouse.

Margarita Adventures

Fly over world-class vineyards on Margarita Adventures’ ziplines.

Cost: Adults 18+, $109; Children 17-, $79

About 15 miles north of San Luis Obispo, off Highway 101 exit 211, is the sleepy, tiny town of Santa Margarita. The entire town is surrounded by the Margarita Ranch, which contains over 900 acres of vineyards, and is home to Margarita Adventures. They offer wildlife tours, wine tasting, kayak tours, and zipline tours. Any of these would be a blast, but we did the zipline tour. The zipline course consists of 6 ziplines varying in height, length, and speed. The entire course takes about 1.5 hours to complete, and will leave you wanting to do it again. Read our full review here.

Bonus: Dinosaur Caves Park

Cost: FREE

Little kids will love Dinosaur Caves Park in Shell Beach, just north of Pismo Beach. This well-maintained park has sea-inspired climbing features that will keep little hands and feet busy for hours. If you’re there from July into winter, keep an eye on the ocean. If you see little puffy mist-looking clouds coming from the water, it’s the migrating humpback whales. You may even see them breaching and playing.

Places To Eat

There are lots of locally-owned restaurants in San Luis Obispo, all of which look great. I wish we could’ve tried them all, but my diet and bank account agree that wouldn’t be a good idea. We did try a few places, though, and were not disappointed at all. The only thing I would complain about was how expensive it was to feed our family of 4 (well, 5, but our 1-year-old really doesn’t eat much so he just mooches off of us).

Petra Mediterranean Grill & Pizza

Our boys were wanting pizza and I figured Mediterranean food would be about the best I’d find for my low-carb diet (hey, I’ve lost 15 pounds so far and I don’t want to lose that momentum). So, we tried Petra Mediterranean Grill & Pizza. The boys enjoyed their pizza. I got the Cauliflower, which was unbreaded and fried with grilled onions. It was delicious, probably my favorite of it all. I also got the chicken kebab, just one was plenty, especially since it came with rice, yogurt, hummas, and pita bread. So much for my diet! So, the cauliflower appetizer, garlic knots, three personal pizzas, and my single chicken kebab platter, with 4 drinks was just over $62! Yummy but yikes!

SLO Donut Company (SloDoCo)

I’m always looking for a local cupcake shop, but instead I found the San Luis Obispo Donut Company, better known as SloDoCo. Hands down, best donut shop ever. They are open 24/7, keep their donuts stocked around the clock, and are always fresh tasting. They have at least 40 varieties to choose from and they all look so yummy that I almost got one of each. We tried a few different kinds, even the build-your-own where you get a glazed (or any kind) donut and turn around to find a “bar” of icings, sprinkles, and toppings that you can put on yourself. We all agree that the galaxy donuts — their signature donut — were the prettiest and best-tasting. We made a stop here almost every day. A dozen donuts will cost you around $13, but the galaxy donuts are a lot more — half-dozen for $15, dozen for just over $28.

Mr Pickles Sandwiches — Photo courtesy of mrpickles.com

Mr. Pickles Soups, Salads, & Sandwiches

There are a few Mr. Pickles in the surrounding area, and the pictures we saw on TV looked so good we had to give it a try. It reminded us of Jimmy Johns in that a staff member will take your order and fix your sandwich right there. If you have more than one sandwich, multiple staff members may help you. They’ll bring your food to your table if it’s not ready by the time you pay. There are a few tables inside and a few bistro style tables outside. All of our food was really good. The cashier also gave us individually packaged cookies, which was a nice touch. We ordered 3 whole sandwiches, a wrap, 2 bags of chips, and 4 drinks and our bill was just over $49, a bit high for sandwiches.

Don Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab

There is a Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab in San Luis Obispo and one in Pismo Beach. The one is San Luis Obispo is downtown and is absolutely gorgeous inside. Unfortunately, there was no one there making ice cream while we were there. It would’ve been fun to watch them making ice cream through the window. There were at least 2 dozen flavors to choose from and they all looked yummy. We got 3 single-scoop cups and our total was around $13, they were $3.99 each plus tax. I think that’s about average of what you’ll pay at, say, a Baskin Robbins, but it’s pretty expensive for a single scoop of ice cream.

Bonus: Bubble Gum Alley

While you’re downtown and already paid for parking, don’t forget to walk through Bubble Gum Alley. You might want to do it before getting ice cream, though, so you don’t lose your appetite and waste that $4 single scoop.

San Luis Obispo is a charming city with lots to do in the city and the surrounding area. Have you ever been to San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, or Morro Bay? What would you add to this list?

Disclosure: A huge thanks to Hearst Castle and Margarita Adventures for hosting our visit and making it possible to share this with you.

All opinions are our own and photos (unless otherwise cited) are the property of The Globe Trekker Family.

Money Saving Tip: Remember to always check Groupon or Living Social for seasonal or limited time deals on all attractions featured on this blog as well as local entertainment, spa services, restaurants, or gift ideas for all occasions in your local area. You can find out the various ways we save money while traveling here.

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