We're planning a trip to CA next month to visit family, and want to take at least a day or two to visit San Diego as a side trip. Any suggestions on places to stay, things to do, restaurants, etc?
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Check out the Hotel Del and Coronado, beautiful area! Also Old town is a good place for Mexican food.
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Old Town Mexican cafe!! omg so good!
The SD zoo is fantastic if you don't have a good one near you.
Seeing the seals on the beach is fun for kids too (and free, except maybe for parking).
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@Mrs.Someone: @yoursilverlining: thanks ladies!
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Yes, the SD Zoo is great-- it was expensive, but a really nice zoo if you like them and don't have a good one near home. One of the very few zoos in the US with giant pandas! (I just love pandas, don't know why).
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Definitely check out the San Diego Trolley Tour! You ride a little trolley car to various tourist locations and it's hop-on-hop-off. I would take all out of town friends and family on it. I highly recommend it!
http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/
There's also a seal tour from the same company, it's a little slower paced, but my DH seemed to like it.
I also recommend a dinner or brunch cruise on the Hornblower. It's a little pricey, but it's worth it. http://www.hornblower.com/port/category/sd+diningcruises
Alternatively, you can take a water taxi from downtown to Coronado just to see the bay. http://www.sdhe.com/water-taxi
Other points of interest are:
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
http://www.balboapark.org/
http://www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com/
http://www.seaportvillage.com/
http://www.hoteldel.com/
*All of which are covered by the Trolley Tour, BTW. -
If you're going soon, you can catch the Fair!
http://www.sdfair.com/My favorite places are pretty much what I linked above. If you study the tour map, you can plan out your day in advance and cover a whole lot of sightseeing with time for shopping and eating along the way. For instance, if you park at Old Town (one of the areas to start the tour), you can eat there first. Although I highly recommend Cafe Cayote, it's usually always voted as the best Mexican restaurant in town. Plus, they have excellent margaritas!
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If you are at all a foodie and/or beer person, you should check out Stone World Bistro ... it's Stone Brewery's head quarters but also a yummy restauraunt with a large outdoor garden area that's super kid friendly. It's really pretty
It's in North SD county ... but close to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which is a fun alternative to the actual Zoo too -
I also second @Crumbs with Café Coyote ... Old Town is super cute
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Oh, we just got back from a vacay there last week (I want to go back already!). We did the zoo, toured the Midway, the beaches and Coronado (cute shops in their downtown!). Lots of yummy yummy food in Hillcrest, too.
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So fun to see how tourists view San Diego! I live here so ask me anything you want.
My top choices would be:
The Zoo or the Safari Park - the safari park is affiliated but on a different area. It's more like natural habitat, large spaces.
Sea World - always my favorite as a kid
Balboa Park - lots of museums, park space and old buildings including The Old Globe Theater. Catch a play if you have a night without kids.
Lego land - I haven't been there but it's unique and popular.Where you stay depends on what you want to spend, but there are tons of places that are central, but you really need a car rental.
In Old Town I like Cafe Coyote or La Piñata (piñata a everywhere in a little old house!). But there are tons of other good restaurants. I'll let you know my favorites if you tell me what you're looking for.
You might want to check out concerts too. There are a ton of venues on the bay that have summer concert series.
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