San Diego residents, please help!

[zebra]

If you had just one day in San Diego what would you do? What are the must see's? Many thanks for your input.

[wrp96]

If you haven't been to the San Diego Zoo, I highly recommend a visit.

[kenelmom]

I grew up in San Diego and I, 2nd the San Diego Zoo it is the best in the world.

[Bruin Steve]

Okay...The Zoo is a great one...if you love Zoos...or if you have the little kids with you...

 

But there are other alternatives as well...

 

Old Town San Diego--a couple of blocks of traditional Mexican Restaurants, shops, historical sites...

 

Harbor Cruise tours...

Seaport Village

 

A good idea--the hop-on-hop-off trolley...You can buy a ticket anywhere along the route, including at the pier...and it will take you to most of the sites...

 

Maybe go up to the Zoo for the morning, then zoom over to Old Town for a Mexican lunch, then down to the harbor for a harbor cruise, then head into the Gaslamp and Horton Plaza, walk around and shop and find a restaurant for dinner--that would be a full day...

 

Have fun...

[zebra]

Great....thanks Steve - is there public transport to the Zoo, or does one have to take a taxi?

[Bruin Steve]

Great....thanks Steve - is there public transport to the Zoo, or does one have to take a taxi?

San Diego has all sorts of public transportation, but some of it might be hard for a tourist to navigate...The trolley (the mass transit, not the tourist bus) won't take you to the zoo/Balboa Park. Here's the map for that:

 

http://www.sdcommute.com/Rider_Information/trolley/trolleymap.asp

 

If you do the hop-on/off trolley tour, they stop at the Zoo...and they even sell trolley/zoo packages...Navigate around this site:

 

http://shophta.com/acb/stores/15/product1.asp?SID=15&Product_ID=12

 

Otherwise, you may be looking at taxis...

 

Have fun...

[Splinter]

As a San Diego native, I would also say the Zoo, and if you have time, some of the museums in Balboa Park. The zoo is not just for kids....I am a middle-aged single women, and a zoo member, and I go there all the time by myself and take other adults with me often.

 

You can get there on the bus in less than 30 minutes if you don't want to take a cab.

 

I would not recommend trying to take the Old Town Trolley, which is a commercial bus tour (NOT the San Diego Trolley, which is light rail and does not go anywhere near the Zoo) if you also want to go to the Zoo. The Zoo is an all-day trip if you have never been there so you would waste the costs of the Trolley Tour. A cab would be cheaper than that.

 

Personally I no longer go to Old Town. They have ruined it with the new vendor since they "fired" Diane Powers and closed the Bazaar del Mundo. It is boring and the best restaurants have closed or been replaced with boring food (except for the Old Town Mexican Cafe which is outside the State Park).

[wrp96]

As a San Diego native, I would also say the Zoo, and if you have time, some of the museums in Balboa Park. The zoo is not just for kids....I am a middle-aged single women, and a zoo member, and I go there all the time by myself and take other adults with me often.

 

My older brother is also a member. Whenever I visit San Diego (once or twice a year) he takes me on a guest pass to the zoo. I could go back again and again.

[emma2u]

As a San Diego native, I would also say the Zoo, and if you have time, some of the museums in Balboa Park. The zoo is not just for kids....I am a middle-aged single women, and a zoo member, and I go there all the time by myself and take other adults with me often.

 

You can get there on the bus in less than 30 minutes if you don't want to take a cab.

 

I would not recommend trying to take the Old Town Trolley, which is a commercial bus tour (NOT the San Diego Trolley, which is light rail and does not go anywhere near the Zoo) if you also want to go to the Zoo. The Zoo is an all-day trip if you have never been there so you would waste the costs of the Trolley Tour. A cab would be cheaper than that.

 

Personally I no longer go to Old Town. They have ruined it with the new vendor since they "fired" Diane Powers and closed the Bazaar del Mundo. It is boring and the best restaurants have closed or been replaced with boring food (except for the Old Town Mexican Cafe which is outside the State Park).

 

I am also a San Diego native!

I totally agree with what she said. The Zoo is great and Sea World is pretty neat.

[zebra]

Thanks guys....the Zoo it is!!!!!

[SuzMate]

I also vote for the zoo. We are members and go almost every week. We "walk" it for the exercise.

 

I too would not recommend Old Town. It's not like it used to be.

 

The other thing I would suggest, if you're not interested in the zoo, would be to take the ferry over to Coronado Island, then take the Coronado Trolley (or rent bikes at the pier) and cross the island to the Hotel Del. It's a beautiful grand old hotel. You could have lunch there and then take a stroll on the beach or through the shops. Or, if you're here on the weekend there's a great garage band that plays out on the back deck each Saturday and Sunday afternoon. It's a prefect setting - the Del at your back, an ocean view, good fun music, and a couple of margaritas - life isn't much better than that!!

[MICHIGAN MAMA]

The zoo sounds great for people who can get around ok, but is it easy to see for seniors who don't walk easily? Do they have any trains or buses inside the zoo that we can use?

[Splinter]

You have several options. For first-timers, I always recommend taking the 35 minute bus tour first. You can get a combination ticket that includes this as well as the Skyfari (cable) ride. Take the bus trip, then decide what to walk back to. Your bus ticket tour also entitles you to a ride on the Express Bus, which is not a tour, but allows you to hop on and off at 5 scheduled stops.

 

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/tours.html

 

Check the map carefully. There are certain areas of the canyons that are deep and quite a walk out, but most have a moving side-walk (up direction only) that you can use to get back up if needed. Some paths (Tiger River for example) are steeper than others. The reptile house, Wedgeford Bowl shows, Children's Zoo (good for adults too), new Monkey Trails, koalas, elephants, gorillas, chimps, giraffes and merkeets are all on the upper (mesa) level and easy to get to get to from the entrance and the bus area. The pandas, hippos, and "Dogs and Cats" are in canyons. You can take the Skyfari ride (not wheelchair accessible) to see the polar bears (one of my favorite exhibits) and also get a great view of the entire zoo and Balboa Park.

 

Zoo employees are very helpful. Ask them for advice about specific exhibits or sights in the park. If you have a mobility disability and use a cane, wheelchair or other mobility device, they also have a shuttle that will take you and your party to the more inaccessible areas (it is free). You also can bring an assistant into the zoo for free if you need assistance for pushing a wheelchair or with your personal care. Just keep in mind that the moving sidewalks are NOT wheelchair accessible.

 

http://www.sandiegozoo.com/zoo/disabled_info.html

 

There are wheelchairs for rent at the zoo if you want to use one.

[zebra]

Thanks Splinter - very useful info.

[MICHIGAN MAMA]

Thank you Splinter, you have given us some optimistic information. We were looking forward to the SD zoo, but didn't think we could see much if we couldn't get around well. Now we just might try it!

[Mary Jane 711]

I just spent the weekend in San Diego. I was there on business, so I only had one day to see the sights. I took the Old town trolley tour. It takes you all over town, and you can get off at any stop and spend time at that particular place. It goes from Old Town to the water front, Seaport village, to downtown, the Gaslamp district, the zoo and Balboa Park. It was $30, but I don't think that's unreasonable. I could have spent a whole day at Balboa Park, as there are a lot of museums there. I went to the Imax theatre and saw a one hour Imax movie. There is really so much to do, you will just have to narrow down y our interests. If you get on the Esplanade at the waterfront, try Anthony's fish. I had the best fish and chips there. It is all I can think about, it was so good.

[Splinter]

Anthony's is a family owned chain of restaurants in San Diego. They are right next to the cruise ship pier. No reservations, and you may have to wait a bit (esp. on the weekends) but they serve straight forward honest seafood in the Grotto. Their Star of the Sea room (next door) is much more upscale and expensive. There is also a small take-out area with a much more limited menu, but if you are in a hurry, you can get the fish & chips there.

 

They have been in business since 1948: http://www.gofishanthonys.com/

 

If you plan to take the Old Town Trolley, purchase tickets on-line for a savings. You can catch the trolley right at the cruise ship pier.

[OTRlady]

We live in Wisconsin, and have visited all 50 states. San Diego is our favorite city to visit; we've been there 7 times--only once for a cruise departure. It's a great city with much to do and see in the area.

 

With everyone else on this site, I would highly recommend the San Diego Zoo. DH is totally blind, and most zoos are boring, but even he likes this one. We usually spend one full day just on that.

 

For our other day or two--that's all we usually have--we've been to various places that were nice visits: Seaport Village and the gas lamp district, harbor tour, Balboa Park museums (especially the Ruben Fleet science museum), Seaworld, Scripps Aquarium, Coronado, Torrey Pines park, San Diego Wild Animal Park, a botanical garden (name escapes me right now), Bates Nut Farm, San Diego Winery (now called Orfila Vineyards), and the Museum of Making Music to name a few. We will be back in December, and will go to the zoo one day. There's now an aircraft carrier at the harbor that we saw last time we were there in 2004; that's probably our second objective.

 

Have a wonderful day in San Diego. It's a fabulous town.

[Splinter]

Yes, the Midway is now open for tours. It is just a few steps from the cruise ship pier. I am going to a reception here on Sunday for the national convention of the Paralyzed Veteran's of America (most of the ship is wheelchair accessible). You can get more inforamtion about the ship and museum here:

 

http://www.midway.org

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are going on the Monarch 4 day in April. Hubby usually lets me pick and plan our cruises & excursions, but when he found out that we were going to San Diego, he was adamant about going to see the Midway & the Maritime Museum. I love casual shopping and "quaint" areas. After a short search it looks to me that we could get off the ship and walk to the Midway. After a couple of hours there we could walk to Seaport Village, have lunch, shop and be back to the ship to relax before dinner. Does that sound doable? Any other suggestions? :)

 

Does anyone have alink to a simple map that would show me how to get to each of these places from the ship? It doesn't take much to get me wandering aimlessly in circles in full view of my destination!:rolleyes:

[wrp96]

We are going on the Monarch 4 day in April. Hubby usually lets me pick and plan our cruises & excursions, but when he found out that we were going to San Diego, he was adamant about going to see the Midway & the Maritime Museum. I love casual shopping and "quaint" areas. After a short search it looks to me that we could get off the ship and walk to the Midway. After a couple of hours there we could walk to Seaport Village, have lunch, shop and be back to the ship to relax before dinner. Does that sound doable? Any other suggestions? :)

 

Definitely doable. Pay for me to go on the cruise with you and I'll come be your tour guide.;)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Definitely doable. Pay for me to go on the cruise with you and I'll come be your tour guide.;)

I'd LOVE to have a tour guide. I'll give you a hollar right after I pick up my winning lottery ticket!:D

 

Thanks for the info, btw.:)

[wrp96]

Even the most directionally challenged person should have no problem getting from the Ship to the Midway to Seaport Village and back. We've done a few harbor cruises in San Diego (it hurts to be getting on one of those small boats when a cruise ship is at the next pier over), followed by wandering around SeaPort Village. It is a walk but not hard to get there as you are basically following the seafront to get to all the places. Definitely beautiful though.

[Splinter]

You can see the Midway from your cruise ship...it is an AIRCRAFT CARRIER, after all (HUGE)!! It is about 100 yards walk from the cruise ship pier, south on Harbor Drive. When you leave there, turn right again on Harbor Drive and you can walk about 1/4 mile to Seaport Village, or catch one of the Pedicab that frequent the area.

 

Use Google Maps. The best resource on the internet for getting maps in the USA. http://www.google.com

[IluvMaya]

As a recent transplant here I suggest you take the Old Town trolley tour - it gives a great overview to different areas of the city and the drivers/guides are very knowledgeable - stay on for the whole tour.

Next I would do the San Diego Bay cruise - it is very scenic and informative and distinctly makes San diego unique.

Both these last approx. 2 hours giving you plently of time for a leisurely lunch.