I recently moved to Oceanside California, a suburb of San Diego, and this holiday season we had an opportunity to look at San Diego like tourists. Southern California is a tourists paradise. In Orange County you have Disneyland and Knottsberry farm. Go to the coast and you have world famous beaches Newport and Long beach. In this post, I want to focus on San Diego. San Diego is packed with some of the most popular activities.
Foreigners who think they want to visit Los Angeles when they come to the US would do well to come south a few hours to San Diego area. After seeing a little bit of Hollywood or Disney, you’ll have a lot better time
1. San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park – The world famous San Diego Zoo
Most of my life this was THE zoo. San Diego, California housing over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies. Some of the highlights from my most recent visit were the baby panda who has been really growing, the baby gorilla. The lion was awesome.
Baby Panda eating Bamboo
Baby Gorilla right up against the glass…. so cute!
The Male Lion vocalizing… Serious Yawn! Amazing King of the Jungle.
After spending time at the San Diego, it made me wonder what are the best zoos. My favorite are the real animal parks in South Africa and Botswana, but when you can’t have that the Wild Animal Park in San Diego and the San Diego Zoo are really tops.
World’s Top 10 Zoos according to TripAdvisor
1. Henry Doorly Zoo (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. San Diego Zoo (San Diego)
3. Loro Parque (Puerto de la Cruz, Spain)
4. St. Louis Zoo (St. Louis)
5. Singapore Zoo (Singapore)
2. La Jolla – The Cove
My favorite place to relax in San Diego is in La Jolla. The beaches, the calm seas, the birds, the seals… I’ve done some snorkeling at the underwater park. What a wonderful place.
The Cove, Seals, Kayaks
This water arch is accessible by Kayak rental
Sunset at La Jolla Shores, bon fires along the beach
Don’t miss the seals!
3. Legoland California + water park in Carlsbad and Aquarium
Kids love legoland. Rides, and entire cities and cityscapes including life sized Star Wars figures
Really… This Chewbacca is totally out of legos!
4. San Diego Harbor Cruise, Speed boat or Whale Watching
The San Diego skyline with a cruise ship. The harbor cruise, whale cruises, and even jet boats and duck boats are available for a ride out in the bay.
Battleships and navy battalions, the USS Midway is on the dock available for a self guided tour
5. Balboa Park – Science Museum
Balboa Park is a San Diego must-see, just minutes from downtown, and ranked as one of the Best Parks in the World. The Park is home to 15 major museums, several performing arts venues, lovely gardens and many other cultural and recreational attractions, including the San Diego Zoo. With a variety of cultural institutions laid out among its 1,200 beautiful and lushly planted acres, Balboa Park is the nation’s largest urban cultural park. Yes it is huge… and bigger than even central park in NYC.
The tower and the Museum of Man were designed by Bertram Goodhue, who was inspired by the churches of Mexico and Spain. Even though the tower and museum resemble a church, they’ve never been used as one. They’ve always housed exhibits, except when used as a Navy hospital during World War II.
Balboa park is definitely something to see. A huge collection of museums right off from the zoo which house great collections of science, natural history, and culture.
As a public service, Balboa Park organizations offer free admission on a rotating basis on the first four Tuesdays of the month to San Diego City & County residents (with ID), active military & their dependents.
Please note: Some museums may offer complimentary admission to their permanent collections only and charge admission to special exhibitions or films.
Also note: Some museums may require ID for minors
First Tuesday
- Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
- Centro Cultural de la Raza
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum
- San Diego Natural History Museum (Not valid for 3-D films)
Second Tuesday
- Museum of Photographic Arts
- San Diego History Center
- Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center
Third Tuesday
- San Diego Art Institute
- Mingei International Museum
- San Diego Museum of Art
- San Diego Museum of Man
- Japanese Friendship Garden
Fourth Tuesday
- San Diego Air & Space Museum (Not valid for special exhibitions)
- San Diego Automotive Museum (Last admission 3:45 PM)
- San Diego Hall of Champions
- Select House of Pacific Relations International Cottages
Museum Month: Half-Off Admission 2/1/15 – 2/28/15
The Timken Museum of Art is always free.
Due to large crowds and for visitor safety some museums may restrict entrance to strollers.
For more information visit http://www.balboapark.org/visit/tuesdays
6. Oh yeah, there’s Sea World… or Tons of Beaches to explore (be a whale?)
Sure go see Shamu or whoever, or why not go to some of the best beaches on the planet. You could even catch a whale cruise. (The 3 day Go San Diego pass offers discounts to Sea World) See bottom.
- Coronado (more below)
- Ocean Beach
- La Jolla
- Mission Beach
- Torrey Pines
- Oceanside
- Del Mar
- Solana Beach
- Moonlight Beach
- …. So many choices!
Check out the list of Top 10 Beaches in San Diego
7. Old Town San Diego
Credits: SanDiego.org
San Diego Historical Society: Old Town State Historic Park
Old town San Diego is a favorite. Very easy walking to historic churches, homes, great authentic Mexican food, and markets, shops and fascinating history. I recommend the Mormon Batallion. I have an ancestor that made that longest march in US history from Missouri to San Diego for the Mexican American War. The visitors center has an 3D style interactive movie that puts you back in those times.
8. Day Trip to TJ
As a global traveler I can’t resist going to Tijuana for a day trip. My favorite excursion is the drive to Ensenada and the Blow hole south of the city by another 15 minutes to El Bufadorra, but most would want to spend the weekend in Ensanada and a little more planning. The day trip to walk along Revolution street complete with street tacos and a visit to one of the many markets and lots of cheap souvenirs. This last trip we caught a cab after walking across the border and took us to the cultural museum and walked back to the border. We got some street tacos, churros, and I got a very cheap TJ Harley Davidson pullover Mexican style hoodie. The border crossings can be a pain, but really you only have to wait coming back. The way to Mexico is just a turn style. Make sure you have your passports to get back!
Cultural Museum of the Americas in Tijuana
Fresh and Cheap Pomegrantes… just across the border!
And who doesn’t love all of your favorite characters made up into Piñatas! Yes that is Anna, Elsa and Olaf and a couple minions.. for the right price
The Famous Jai Alai stadium at one end of the Avenue Revolution
The Arch at the other end of the Avenue
I could do a whole post on TJ, and probably should. There are so many people who visit Tijuana the wrong way, and as well there are so many people who are afraid of the border for the wrong reasons.
9. Hotel and Beach Coronado – Mystery surrounds the Hotel Coronado
Coronado’s famous beaches are known for their fine white sand that sparkles in the sun thanks to the mineral mica
- Parents Magazine named Coronado Beach one of the Best Beach in the U.S. for Families
- A stroll through the historic Hotel del Coronado, a truly enchanting experience.
“Coronado is home to the famous Hotel del Coronado, built in 1888 and long considered one of the world’s top resorts. It is listed as a National Historic Landmark and appeared in films such as Some Like It Hot and The Stunt Man.” Read more about the Historic Hotel Coronado and Beach… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronado,_California
If you decide to go for a drive swing by the Mission in San Diego or follow the beaches north to Oceanside to the mission there. Best time to stop by is during the Day of the Dead where over 5000 people come to celebrate the dead!
I’m loving it here. I have to wonder if it has the best weather in the world…? Incredible number of days that are simply just right, but I don’t want to convince everyone to move here…. just that it’s a great destination, but apparently you probably already know that.
Even though I’m not getting a dime for this, let me see if I can save you some money. There is a Go San Diego Card that allows you to get into multiple places at once for a fixed price. I used the groupon San Diego deal to save even more. We did the two day and just bought the adult one ($97 for All Inclusive 2 day pass) and used the Legoland kids get in free coupon with full fared paid adult… We had to find someone who was paying full price to let our kid in with them from a $ perspective… It worked. Worked out wonderfully. We saved $50-60 on each day. Combining the activities into a string of events in a day is exhausting, but we had a great time!
Your world for us to travel in….
This is amazing^^