Best Neighborhoods in Encinitas, CA

German settlers started a farming colony on these hills in the 1890s and named it for an olive grove, and Olivenhain still feels like a country district attached to the east side of Encinitas. Rancho Santa Fe begins right where it ends on the east, and Rancho Santa Fe Road serves as the main way in and out. ... See Full Page

Cardiff-by-the-Sea is the southern end of Encinitas, a coastal village wedged between San Elijo Lagoon and the ocean, with Solana Beach just over the lagoon to the south. Its streets carry British city names like Aberdeen and Liverpool, and a second batch north of Birmingham Drive is named for composers. ... See Full Page

Leucadia stretches along the north end of Encinitas, from the bluffs above the surf up to Batiquitos Lagoon and the Carlsbad line, and its unofficial motto is Keep Leucadia Funky. North Coast Highway 101 is the spine, lined with surf shops, galleries, taco counters and small patios that each look a little different from the one next door. ... See Full Page

Over the coastal ridge and east of Interstate 5, New Encinitas is the planned, suburban half of Encinitas, built out in stages as the city grew inland. El Camino Real runs down its middle, and the neighborhoods on either side trade the beach-cottage look of the coast for cul-de-sacs, sidewalks and homeowner association pools. ... See Full Page

The golden domes of the Self-Realization Fellowship temple mark the south end of Old Encinitas, the original village core of the city and still the place where Encinitas does its socializing. The historic downtown runs along South Coast Highway 101 between the beach and a low coastal ridge that separates this side of town from New Encinitas. ... See Full Page