San Diego vacation ideas

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am planning to gift my adult son with a trip since he doesn’t seem to want anything tangible for Christmas. He likes the idea of going to San Diego, and there are inexpensive direct flights from Reno. That’s his closest airport, although he could go from Vegas as well. He would like to go during his spring break, which will be at the very end of March, early April. And, he will be bringing his girlfriend.</p>

<p>So my question is, what are the must see sights that would be of interest to 20/30 somethings? Are the beaches pleasant at that time of year? What part of the area would be best as far as hotels and proximity to attractions? I’m wondering if he should plan to take cabs everywhere or get a rental car. Would a side trip to Santa Catalina or Tijuana be worthwhile?</p>

<p>I’m hoping some of you parents can help me put together a special trip. I’m assuming it will be about 5 days in town. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I love San Diego and have been there many, many times including when I was in my 20s and 30s. For nice but reasonably priced hotels look at hotel circle. If you don’t mind spending more get a hotel near the harbor - there is an Embassy Suites I have stayed in that was very nicely located. A rental car is a must. Skip Tijuana unless he wants to get really depressed, it’s quite horrible. Catalina is really nice but the ports are not really near San Diego so I’m not sure why that would be included in a trip to San Diego but if he wants to go to Catalina it’s worth going - but in March it may be freezing and not much open. It’s more of a summer destination.</p>

<p>But the harbor in San Diego is always nice - year round. He could go to one of the amusement parks if that is interesting to him. The shopping malls are awesome. There is art to be found - public art and private. There’s a sports stadium if he’s into that.</p>

3

<p>Agree with skipping both Catalina and Tijuana.
The San Diego Zoo is the best zoo that I’ve ever been to, and is really interesting, even for adults. Other families love Sea World, but we always seem to go when it’s too crowded.</p>

4

<p>I love San Diego and hope to eventually relocate there. A few more details would help with our recommendations - what does the couple enjoy doing, i.e., museums, hiking, biking, dining, water sports, etc.? That will allow the local experts to give you some ideas tailored to their preferences. I agree with renting a car, skipping Tijuana and Catalina, and trying to stay somewhere near the waterfront, although not necessarily downtown. It will probably be too cool for swimming but not for hanging out and walking the beach. The hotels near Liberty Station are very convenient to all sights - we’ve stayed at the Homewood Suites.</p>

<p>I am most familiar with attractions for my age group rather than twenty-somethings, but here’s the first ideas to pop into my head:</p>

<p>Coronado - great beach, great classic hotel (Hotel del Coronado), great biking and maybe a Segway tour</p>

<p>Balboa Park - so many possibilities, the zoo, tons of museums, gardens, and more.</p>

<p>La Jolla - the cove is beautiful and La Jolla Shores beach is really nice.</p>

<p>Ocean Beach - funky and old school hippie - eat at Hodads and walk the pier.</p>

<p>Cabrillo Point - fantastic views of downtown, whale watching, trails.</p>

<p>USS Midway - self guided tour of the aircraft carrier, fascinating even if you didn’t think you were interested in aircraft carriers.</p>

<p>Get out on the water - whale watching tours are OK but not great; we did this with a Groupon and loved it [San</a> Diego Boat Tours | Things to do in San Diego | Harbor Cruise San Diego](<a href=“http://speedboatadventures.com/]San”>http://speedboatadventures.com/).</p>

<p>Torrey Pines - great hiking and ocean views.</p>

<p>Gliderport - just south of Torrey Pines, absolutely fascinating to watch even if not brave enough to try.</p>

5

<p>Check VRBO for condos; I just stayed in one 1 block from the convention center, convenient to Gaslamp district and Seaport Village, less $ than a hotel and they have full kitchens and often W/Ds.</p>

6

<p>(I’m tagging on to the above - also make sure you find ‘coureur’s’ list of San Diego stuff he posted recently)</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Skip TJ</p></li>
<li><p>Skip Catalina (worth seeing but maybe not worth a day away from SD unless they really want to do it)</p></li>
<li><p>Rent a car if not for the whole time then for parts of it to see North County. For areas more downtown, Old Town, etc. they can take the Trolley to get around. If they plan out what they want to do they might be able to rent a car for only half the time. If it was me I’d probably rent it the whole time on a weekly rate so I can be as mobile as I’d like. Some of it will depend on where the hotel is. The Harbor area would be nice but there are lots of other nice areas including Mission Bay (a place like Paradise Point resort), La Jolla, Coronado, and others (lots of nice areas in San Diego). </p></li>
<li><p>The weather will probably be decent but in the middle of winter like that it’s possible there could be some rain and colder temps. </p></li>
<li><p>I’d probably skip Ocean Beach (relatively not very upscale IMO - to be nice about it)</p></li>
<li><p>La Jolla Cove is a must - very scenic. </p></li>
<li><p>The ocean will be too cold to go in without a wetsuit but they could probably rent wetsuits and go in if they want.</p></li>
<li><p>They could rent a small sailboat in Mission Bay and sail around. They could also take some sailing lessons from one of the outfits that do this on San Diego Bay.</p></li>
<li><p>If they’re in SD around Christmas time they could watch the ‘parade of lights’ where sailboats are all lit up and cruising around the bay</p></li>
<li><p>Normal attractions are the Zoo, the Zoo Safari Park (formerly Wild Animal Park - about 30 miles north of the Zoo - this is a more natural setting rather than typical zoo enclosures), Sea World, various museums in Balboa Park (where the zoo is).</p></li>
<li><p>They could rent bikes and go biking in lots of areas including beach areas, mt biking, road biking.</p></li>
<li><p>Lots of hiking opportunities.</p></li>
<li><p>Just walking along the beach and going to tidepools (Pt Loma, La Jolla, others) is free fun.</p></li>
<li><p>San Diego Bay cruise - either a regular day one or a nightime dinner cruise.</p></li>
<li><p>Whale watching or day ocean fishing excursion.</p></li>
<li><p>Lots of restaurants everywhere including many Mexican places. The Old Town area has a lot of choices for Mexican restaurants.</p></li>
<li><p>I won’t repeat all the other suggestions since they’re indicated elsewhere. I think a key focus is where to stay, which depends largely on budget and specific locale depending on their desires.</p></li>
</ul>

7

<p>Thanks for the replies! My son loves golf, but I don’t think the gf plays. I think the zoo is a good idea. They are both low paid teachers, so I’m not sure how much shopping they will want to do. She would probably love it, though, because they live in the middle of nowhere. Seriously.</p>

<p>Could someone explain what the Gaslight district is? Sounds interesting. Touring the Midway appeals to me, and a trip to the beach is a treat. I’ll mention Coronado beach to him.</p>

8

<p>Gaslight might be the Gaslamp District.</p>

<p>[Home</a> - Gaslamp Quarter Association](<a href=“http://www.gaslamp.org/]Home”>http://www.gaslamp.org/)</p>

<p>Click the links to death. :)</p>

<p>San Diego’s Gaslamp District draws visitors to its shops, restaurants and night clubs. While San Diegans may not heap the same disdain on it that San Franciscans do on Fisherman’s Wharf, there are similarities - and it seems fewer and fewer residents find their way to the area. You’ll find boutique shops offer interesting wares alongside t-shirt shops and souvenir-sellers and Horton Plaza is the local shopping center.</p>

<p>And here are more general overviews
<a href=“http://www.sandiego.org/[/url]”>http://www.sandiego.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For my personal taste, I’d consider 4-5 days in SD to be a tad too long, and would explore the region the LA-San Diego corridor, and spend more time driving as opposed to be stuck in San Diego. It is a beautiful place but it gets old quickly.</p>

9

<p>Might they enjoy one of the great farmer’s markets? We’re from the midwest and were blown away by the California markets. On the average they are 1/3 farmers, 1/3 prepared foods, and 1/3 vendor booths. Lots of fun just to wander and get free samples. Some of the best are in Hillcrest on Sundays, and Little Italy and La Jolla on Saturdays. Also Ocean Beach on Wednesday late afternoons and yes, OB is definitely downscale. But the pier is great, right? And the fries and shakes at Hodads (another branch is downtown).</p>

<p>If they go to the zoo, a fun place to window shop is the Spanish Village art studios, very close by: [Spanish</a> Village Art Center - San Diego’s Largest Collection of Artist Studios](<a href=“http://www.spanishvillageart.com/]Spanish”>http://www.spanishvillageart.com/). Big enough for the GF to enjoy herself; small enough for your son to not be bored ;).</p>

<p>We spent two months last winter in SD and never got bored so don’t think five days is too many. It takes a lot of time out of your visit to drive up the coast, although the beach towns north of Camp Pendleton are great.</p>

10

<p>If they have a car and want to spend a day doing something else, they could go to Disneyland - it’s only about 1.5 hours away and can be done in a day trip. It’s still fun for 20/30 y/o.</p>

11

<p>Wow, I have a lot of places to look up now. Thanks!</p>

12

<p>Why not give him the nights at a hotel and a car rental, and let him choose his excursions?</p>

<p>We did the trolley from downtown San Diego into Tijuana for the afternoon. It is worth a short visit. Actually, when we went there we didn’t even have a car, we took public transportation all over town, and it was fun.</p>

<p>As far as places to stay, I would highly recommend Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn on Shelter Island. It’s a bit out of the way, but the setting is gorgeous and romantic.</p>

13

<p>Repeating my earlier post about my recommendations for San Diego:</p>

<p>San Diego is Calfornia’s second-largest city. Many people assume San Francisco is second since it is so famous. But San Franciso is actually only 4th-largest. San Diego is also California’s oldest city. Juan Cabrillo was the first European here. He sailed into San Diego bay in 1542, only 50 years after the first voyage of Columbus.</p>

<p>Places to Stay</p>

<ol>
<li>The Hotel Del Coronado (called “The Hotel Del” by the locals) which is on Coronado Island (actually a peninsula). It’s a fabulous old hotel and supposedly the largest wooden structure in the US. Several movies have been filmed there.</li>
<li>The Grand Colonial Hotel. 910 Prospect Street in La Jolla. An old hotel in downtown La Jolla that has been completely refurbished up to modern standards. Great location next to the beach and great ocean views. Terrific gourmet restaurant on the premises. Good location for touring and shopping in trendy downtown La Jolla.</li>
<li>Beyond that there is the usual selection of Hyatts, Marriotts, etc and of course the vacation motels too.</li>
</ol>

<p>Places to Eat</p>

<p>Italian
Lorna’s – My favorite place. 3945 Governor. Moderately priced. It’s a caf</p>

14

<p>We sometimes get rain at that time of year. Pack a poncho just in case.
I’m a native san diegan as is my hubbie. Do suggestions above and . . . . . . .
I say spend the money on the hotel so that you can get a great sleep because you have lots to do. If you have them stay downtown, they will hear the train. Mission Valley hears the highway. Try the Islandia Hyatt.
THINGS TO DO:
If the weather holds, hike up Cowles mtn.
Make sure they take their ipods with great music and water bottles. Great view!
Tour the Julian area. Eat in Little Italy, but you Really have to do Rubio’s fish tacos! Kobey’s swap meet is a fun kitschy thing to do (Friday, Saturday, Sunday); there might be an online coupon.</p>

15

<p>There might be some good deals on some of the nicer hotels/resorts at that time of year so look for specials. While ‘Hotel Circle’ (along I-8 in Mission Valley) is pretty close to everything and may be less expensive, if it were me, I’d rather stay at a waterfront hotel whether it’s the ocean, San Diego Bay or Mission Bay. It feels more like ‘vacation’.</p>

16

<p>One more vote for touring the USS Midway. I went reluctantly because we had guests with us who were passionate about military history. Everyone in our whole group found it fascinating, even the teen girls.</p>

17

<p>One really fun place I’ve stayed is the Crystal Pier Hotel. It is a series of little cottages on a pier out over the water. It wouldn’t be the cheapest option but it would be memorable.</p>

18

<p>I definitely prefer hotels on the water to Hotel Circle. I like The Dana, The Catamaran, of course the Hotel Del, The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla Shores, etc…</p>

<p>If they go during baseball season Petco Park is really fun and right next to the Gaslamp Quarter. We like to eat at Hodad’s which is a burger and fries type of place featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. There is one in Ocean Beach and a new location downtown. Balboa Park and the zoo are great. Sea World is fun.</p>