San Diego, California — Where to Go
San Diego Sightseeing Overview
The city’s beach areas (La Jolla, home of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps and a famed scuba diving area, and the seaside towns of Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach) provide all the sunbathing and swimming that visitors could need.
Coronado (the tip of a long land spit just west of Downtown) also has several famous beaches, including the Silver Strand State Beach. The historic Hotel Del Coronado, north of the Strand, has been a favorite filming location for many years and is worth a visit.
The Downtown area is home to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, with wildly popular bars and restaurants in 19th-century Victorian mansions and saloons.
The lush Balboa Park a few blocks north of Downtown is home to more than 15 museums and the world-famous San Diego Zoo. Old Town, California’s 18th-century birthplace, is located just north of Downtown and contains the majestic Presidio (Fort), which overlooks San Diego Bay amid spacious manicured lawns.
Some visitors consider SeaWorld, in San Diego’s popular Mission Bay area, to be one of the city’s key attractions, thanks to its heavily promoted orca shows, nightly fireworks and amusement rides.
Northeast of Downtown is the Wild Animal Park, a larger, unique version of the San Diego Zoo. Outlying parks like the Mission Trails Regional Park (again northeast of Downtown) are a nature-lover’s paradise.
South of Downtown is Mexico, with the quirky curio shops and classic border town ambience of Tijuana.
San Diego Tourist Information
InternationalVisitorInformationCenter
1040 1/3 West Broadway (at Harbor Drive)
Tel: (619) 236 1212.
Website: www.sandiego.org
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700 (Jun-Aug), Thurs-Tues 0900-1600 (Sep-May).
San Diego Sightseeing
The Southern California Value Pass allows admission to both SeaWorld San Diego and Universal Studios Hollywood, within a 14-day period. You can buy the pass at either attraction or on their websites.
The Two-Park Ticket includes a ‘deluxe’ admission to San Diego Zoo (with a narrated bus tour and aerial tram tour) and a Wild Animal Park general admission. The ticket, which is available for purchase at either establishment, must be used within five days.
The San Diego 3-for-1 Ticket entitles holders to five consecutive days at San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and SeaWorld San Diego. It can be bought at any of these attractions or on their websites.
The Passport to Balboa Park Pass provides access to 13 of the museums within Balboa Park. The pass lasts seven days and can be purchased from the House of Hospitality, within the park.
San Diego Sightseeing
The Southern California Value Pass allows admission to both SeaWorld San Diego and Universal Studios Hollywood, within a 14-day period. You can buy the pass at either attraction or on their websites.
The Two-Park Ticket includes a ‘deluxe’ admission to San Diego Zoo (with a narrated bus tour and aerial tram tour) and a Wild Animal Park general admission. The ticket, which is available for purchase at either establishment, must be used within five days.
The San Diego 3-for-1 Ticket entitles holders to five consecutive days at San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and SeaWorld San Diego. It can be bought at any of these attractions or on their websites.
The Passport to Balboa Park Pass provides access to 13 of the museums within Balboa Park. The pass lasts seven days and can be purchased from the House of Hospitality, within the park.
Key Attractions in San Diego, California
SeaWorld
This marine park is one of California’s most popular attractions, giving visitors an ‘up close and personal’ encounter with fish and marine animals in tidepools filled with sea urchins and starfish and walk-through tanks housing sharks.
The park is best known for its killer whale (orcas) shows starring Shamu. Amusement rides include ’Journey to Atlantis’ a six-minute, wet and wild thrill ride that includes a 18m (60ft) plunge, and the ‘Wild Arctic’ simulated flight to the world of the walrus, polar bear and beluga whale.
New in 2008 is the Sesame Street Bay of Play, an amusement park starring Big Bird, Elmo and friends and the ’Cirque de la Mer’ circus-like show.
500 SeaWorld Drive
Tel: 1 800 257 4268/SHAMU.
Website: www.seaworld.com
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (basic hours); hours vary according to season and day of month/week - longest peak hours 0900-2300 (summer).
Admission charge.
Balboa Park
The largest urban cultural park in the US, this 485-hectare (1200-acre) park is located just north of Downtown San Diego and is a favorite landmark for locals and visitors alike. Local developers set aside the land in the early 1900s and commissioned some of the country’s finest architects to create exhibit spaces for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal. Several buildings with ornate colonial-style architecture, high archways and tiled walkways have been meticulously preserved through the years and house excellent museums.
The main street in the park is El Prado, leading past museums, a lily pond and botanical building and several gardens. Walkways lead from El Prado to the park’s other areas, including an outdoor organ pavilion and the San Diego Zoo (see below).
Among the park’s 15 museums is the Reuben H Fleet Science Center, with a planetarium, IMAX wide-screen theater and hands-on science exhibits. Some of the other most celebrated museums include the Automotive Museum (featuring over 80 classic models of car and motorbike), the Museum of Man (exceptional exhibits on anthropology and archaeology), the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the Museum of Art (regularly featuring artists from around the world).
Art lovers will find a wide range of topics, artists and mediums to explore throughout the park’s many art museums, such as the Museum of Photographic Arts, the Timken Art Gallery and the Mingei International Museum featuring folk art from around the world. The Centro Cultural de la Raza provides resources for Mexican, Chicano and indigenous art and culture.
Other attractions include Japanese Friendship Garden, San Diego Hall of Champions, San Diego Historical Society Museum, San Diego Model Railroad Museum, San Diego Natural History Museum, The Globe Theaters, and the Veteran’s Memorial Center Museum.
Central entrances are at Sixth Avenue and El Prado, and Park Avenue and Village Place
Tel: (619) 239 0512 (House of Hospitality Visitor Center).
Website: www.balboapark.org
Reuben H Fleet Science Center
1875 El Prado
Tel: (619) 238 1233.
Website: www.rhfleet.org
Opening hours: Daily 0930-2000.
Admission charge.
Automotive Museum
2080 Pan American Plaza
Tel: (619) 231 2886.
Website: www.sdautomuseum.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700.
Admission charge.
Museum of Man
1350 El Prado
Tel: (619) 239 2001.
Website: www.museumofman.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1630.
Admission charge.
San Diego Air & Space Museum
2001 Pan American Plaza
Tel: (619) 234 8291.
Website: www.sandiegoairandspace.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1630 (regular hours); daily 1000-1730 (summer).
Admission charge.
Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Tel: (619) 232 7931.
Website: www.sdmart.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800; Thurs 1000-2100.
Admission charge.
Museum of Photographic Arts
1649 El Prado
Tel: (619) 238 7559.
Website: www.mopa.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700; Thurs 1000-2100.
Admission charge.
Timken Art Gallery
1500 El Prado
Tel: (619) 239 5548.
Website: www.timkenmuseum.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1630; Sun 1330-1630.
Free admission.
San Diego Zoo
Known for its conservation efforts, the San Diego Zoo maintains several endangered species exhibits and works with conservation groups worldwide to encourage protection of threatened wildlife. The enormous reserve has rambling scenic walkways and narrated bus tours.
’Monkey Trails’ at the heart of the zoo includes Asian and African forests with more than 30 species of exotic birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. At ’Tiger River’, misty trails wind amid waterfalls in a tropical forest of more than 5,000 types of exotic plants and tigers, Burmese pythons and Malaysian tapirs. The most popular exhibit is the Pacific Bell Giant Panda Research Station, where several endangered pandas have given birth. The baby pandas are a big hit and long lines often form at the enclosure. The zoo hosts several ‘after dark’ events, including live music performances and up-close animal encounters.
2920 Zoo Drive
Tel: (619) 234 1515.
Website: www.sandiegozoo.org
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1600 (basic opening hours); varies according to season.
Admission charge.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Scripps Institute of Oceanography is one of the pioneers in oceanographic studies. Visitors can get a glimpse of some of the institute’s more unique projects at its Birch Aquarium. Public presentations and displays include lectures, whale-watching expeditions, tide-pooling trips for families and live cam demonstrations of the institute’s current research programs.
Among its more impressive exhibits is the Kelp Forest, a giant live exhibit of one of nature’s more impressive habitats. It is home to thousands of different kinds of sea life, from leopard sharks to the minuscule kelp fish that survive in camouflage along the leaves of the tall plant. A video camera provides a close-up view of many of the aquarium’s inhabitants. The aquarium’s Jelly Tanks are home to some of the more beautiful and exotic types of jellyfish in the world, such as moon jellies, the lion mane jellies and the purple-striped jellies.
2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla
Tel: (858) 534 3474/FISH.
Website: www.aquarium.ucsd.edu
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.
Admission charge.
Old Town State Park
San Diego’s Old Town is where California’s Spanish history first began. The area is home to the famous Presidio (Spanish for fort), situated on the grassy knolls above San Diego Bay. The Presidio commands a stunning view of the city, Old Town proper and the Californian coastline. Visitors can wander the Presidio’s immaculately sculpted gardens or visit the historical museum.
The Old Town State Park includes a number of residential and commercial buildings down the hill from the Presidio in the main part of Old Town. The old school house and blacksmith’s building, both of which were constructed of adobe in the early 1800s, are some of Old Town’s last remaining pioneer structures. Early San Diego hacienda-style homes house restaurants and shops and art galleries and folk-art stores and cafes are scattered throughout the neighborhood.
San Diego Avenue and Twiggs Street
Tel: (619) 220 5422.
Website: www.parks.ca.gov
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800 (some shops and cafes are open until 2100).
USS Midway Museum
In 2004 the longest-serving aircraft carrier in history was turned into a museum. The venerable USS Midway was commissioned in 1945 and served as a flagship during Desert Storm as late as 1992. More than 225,000 Americans served on her. The vessel is now a highly popular attraction offering a self-guided audio tour, a wide range of exhibits and displays, access to the mess deck, berthing spaces, hangar deck, flight deck and island superstructure, Mach Combat F-8 and F-4 phantom flight simulators and flight stations, flight avionics motion simulators and 15 restored aircraft, among other things.
910 North Harbor Drive
Tel: (619) 544 9600.
Website: www.midway.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700.
Admission charge.
Further Distractions
MissionTrailsRegionalPark
This 2300-hectare (5750-acre) park on the east side of San Diego is a naturalist’s paradise. On any given day, you can see animals indigenous to this semi-arid landscape, including coyotes, fox, hummingbirds and the small gecko lizard. The park hosts ecology and guided interpretive walks year round. It is also possible to camp in the park during the summer (Thursday through Sunday), as there are 46 fairly primitive campsites accessible to vehicles. Reservations may only be made through the website.
1 Father Junipero Serra Trail, off Highway-8 East
Tel: (619) 668 3281.
Website: www.mtrp.org
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.
Free admission (park and interpretive center); charge for camping.
SeaportVillage
Named for its historic waterfront setting on the shores of San Diego Bay, Seaport Village is one of the city’s more unusual ‘malls’. Located at the southern edge of the city’s old Embarcadero wharf area, the village is primarily a shopping and eating district with paths, ponds and lakes providing scenic views of the waterfront.
849 West Harbor Drive
Tel: (619) 235 4014.
Website: www.seaportvillage.com
Opening hours: Shops open daily 1000-2100 (until 2200 in summer).
Free admission.
