SanDiego

Staying at BW Bayside for a few days No car. What’s best way to check out La Jolla and Coranado.

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Staying at BW Bayside for a few days No car. What’s best way to check out La Jolla and Coranado.

 

 

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I'm sorry ... I am not being flippant ... but you need a car in CA. Coronado is on the other side of a BIG LONG bridge. Hotel Del is a nice spot to grab a bite and people watch.

Not sure if there is a stop near your hotel but there is a hop on/off trolley tour you can take which does have a stop at the Del hotel in Coronado.

https://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego

Or just take Uber to bet to the Coronado.

When we were in the Port last year good friends just took a Taxi over there and enjoyed a pleasant time including lunch.

Keith

I'd go with the hop on / hop off bus. It's a great way to get to see some of the cities high lights. Keep the ticket & if you go to another city that has a HO/HO bus it will give you I believe a 10% discount. Enjoy San Diego.

Allan

Thank you all for input. Appreciate it ! We were planning on touring Midway, going on Harbor cruise and going to Zoo. Our hotel includes transfers from the airport and also to the cruise ship , and is convenient to the locations we want to check out as well as gaslamp and Little Italy.

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Also at the Harbor Cruise terminal, there is a ferry that will take you over to Coronado. It stops on the other side of the island from the Del, but you can rent bikes to get to the De Coronado Hotel or take an Uber. There may be a trolley on Coronado but not sure.

Take the ferry over to Coronado. If you want to go to the Del it's a pretty good walk up a slight incline, but do able. La Jolla you can get close via the Coaster or Amtrak. Check out their www sites. A fun way to spend a few hours in the Gas Lamp is do the "Brothels, Bites and Booze" walking tour. The main zoo is fun. But we just did the Zoo Safari Park and it was was awesome. However, it's pretty far and I am not sure there's an easy way to get there without a car. If you are going during summer the Hornblower cruises does a "Happy Hour" bay cruise that's really fun.

Jamesr3939. Thank you. Will look into ferry

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You can walk to the ferry which goes to Coronado.

At the ferry landing you can take a bus, rent a bike , or use uber/lyft to get to the Hotel del Coronado.

San Diego native here...I would do the hop on\hop off. Quite frankly, Coronado is nothing to write home about. Big expensive homes, grumpy old folks who don't like tourists, and the Hotel Del is okay. The only thing neat to see at the Del is the exterior and the main entry way. I would skip it. Beyond that, there is some shopping that offers the normal tourist knicknacks and some decent food. The beach is nice but it's just a beach.

Same for La Jolla. Not sure what you've read or seen but La Jolla is just a super rich beach community. The main shopping "district" and I say that very losely, is just a few high end art galleries and clothing boutiques.

I would say do the hop on\hop off because you can visit Old Town (some neat history of San Diego there and nice dining options), the marina district (Seaport village, Midway navy museum) which includes the San Diego Maritime Museum (if you saw the movie Master and Commander with Russel Crow, the actual ship from the movie is there), and then head up to Balboa Park where you can spend hours at any number of amazing museums or just stroll through the wonderfully kept gardens and botanical gardens. There is good dining at Balboa Park at Panama 66 or Prado restaurants. The Air and Space museum has a nice cafe as well.

I believe the Hop on\hop off goes to Cabrillo National Monument as well.

I tend to agree with "pc". There are much better places to see in/around downtown SD than La Jolla and Coronado. The ferry trip over to Coronado is nice and there are some decent places to eat at The Landing. If the Hop on/off goes out there just take that and don't bother getting off. La Jolla is exactly as described by PC. If you in to high end art galleries and clothing stores then it's worth it. I would much rather spend time at Balboa Park, Midway, and do a more in depth bay cruise.

I can rent a car of the day for about $35. Want to see Balboa Park and the gas light district. Is a rental care the way to go? Please advise

I can rent a car of the day for about $35. Want to see Balboa Park and the gas light district. Is a rental care the way to go? Please advise

Gas lamp district is not an easy place to park a car. There are parking lots but you have to pay. Gas lamp, the Midway, harbor cruises, ferry to Coronado and hop on hop off bus are all in the same area. Your hotel is only a couple of miles from downtown. You could Uber it or take the local bus.

Rental car would be OK and as pointed out parking can be expensive, but pretty easy to find. There are plenty of off street parking lots. It just depends on how far you want to walk. You can also park in a lot and take the trolley all over, even all the way to the Mexican border.

We are in port from 8am-6pm. I thought a rental car would be most flexible but ...perhaps I wouldn't want to enjoy a glass of wine and then drive in a strange city.

From port I would take the trolley over to the Gaslamp district if that is what you want to do. If you want Balboa park take an Uber.

From port I would take the trolley over to the Gaslamp district if that is what you want to do.

There's also a bunch of pedi-cabs waiting in front of the cruise terminal that will take you to the Gaslamp. Little more expensive than the trolley, but easier to figure out than the trolley fare system.

How far is Gaslight from cruise port?

About 1.5 miles depending on which way you walk. Down the waterfront and cut across near the convention center is my preference.

I thought we might do Balboa Park, but if the weather is beautiful I don't want to spend it indoors in Museams. May just go walk along the coast/harbor and over to Gaslamp for lunch.

If the weather is nice I might recommend visiting the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum next to the ship dock then walking along the coast to Seaport Village and then you will eventually get to the Gaslamp. An Uber would not be expensive to take you back. If you like ice cream/sweets there is a Ghiradelli Chocolate Store in the Gaslamp. You may want to eat at one of the restaurants at Seaport Village or the Headquarters for a nice Ocean View. There is also the Fish Market right along the way. Downstairs is more casual and less expensive then upstairs.

If you like ice cream/sweets there is a Ghiradelli Chocolate Store in the Gaslamp.

Ghiradelli's is closed for remodeling. No ETA as to when it will reopen.

Lots of good suggestions here. I would not discount Balboa Park. Balboa Park is a lot more than just museums. There are acres and acres of manicured gardens as well as the free Botanical gardens housing plants from around the world. You also have the Spanish Village which is an art district in Balboa Park which features a wide range of art from local artists that are selling their wares in the spanish village style buildings. Get a coffee at Daniels Coffee cart and look around at the more than two dozen artists featured there.

Tons of free art to see around the main courtyard area as well as excellent music performers daily in the park. Prado restaurant is excellent to eat at as is Panama 66. You can spend a nice few hours here and marvel at the early 20th century buildings and structures. Waaaaaayyyyyy nicer than plodding around downtown which will have you dodging homeless people.

I would avoid the down stairs dining at "The Fish Market". Entirely forgettable. The top is a more formal experience but you would be fine in casual wear. There is a Claim Jumpers right across from the cruise ship terminal and if you sit on the patio, you'll be in for some great people watching. It's a chain restaurant but still pretty good value for your money. Otherwise, I would walk down the Embarcadero (sidewalk that leads north\south on the waterfront) and go to Sally's where they have excellent food and nice outside dining. But there is also the excellent Puesto mexican-fusion restaurant in the old police "Headquarters" shopping area. There is also Cheesecake Factory there and three other very nice places to eat at.

Thank you for the suggestions. I like the idea of the Spanish Village art district with artists selling their work.

What types of creations do they sell?

There is a little bit of everything in the Spanish Village:jewelry, glass,wood carving ,paintings etc.

Balboa Park is a lovely place to walk without going inside any museums. There are gardens for desert plants, roses, an indoor botanical building with orchids and a Japanese garden too.

There are also walking trails if you have energy and several restaurants and live theater that sends plays to Broadway.