San Diego in a day?

june@imsarc.com

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 6, 2000
Planing to do San Diego in a day.

Hubby and boys want to do USS Midway in the morning. My daughter and I want to do Old Town San Diego. We will then meet for lunch, and do San Diego Zoo in the afternoon and early evening. Finally, we will end up at Sunset Cliffs to watch the sunset.

Does this seem do-able?
Is there enough to do in Old Town San Diego for about 3-4 hours?
Any other better ideas?

Thx!
 
If you really like shopping, you can probably last in Old Town that long.

You might like the museums in Balboa Park as an alternative or addition.
 
SO and I did a 45 minute bus tour of the Gas Lamp district, a 2 hour Hornblower North shore cruise, a 20 minute tour that ended at Old town, (where we went through the whole LDS Missourri mission tour) as well as visited the shops and museums, had a meal and a drink, and was back to the hotel (Manchester Grande Hyatt) by 4:30 (with a $20 taxi fare)
and we walked slow cause we were killing time.

Your plan should be doable.
 
Planing to do San Diego in a day.

Hubby and boys want to do USS Midway in the morning. My daughter and I want to do Old Town San Diego. We will then meet for lunch, and do San Diego Zoo in the afternoon and early evening. Finally, we will end up at Sunset Cliffs to watch the sunset.

Does this seem do-able?
Is there enough to do in Old Town San Diego for about 3-4 hours?
Any other better ideas?

Thx!

As far as the USS MIdway, you might be able to get through that in an hour or two. They do offer walking tours but really, I don't see how you could spend more than an hour there but some people really like museums so I guess that depends on the person.

Old Town is cool but I don't think you'll want to spend 3-4 hours there. It has some cool restaurants and margarita bars and some interesting little shops but if you want to do the museum, zoo, and Sunset Cliffs, I would say that you'll probably be able to skip Old Town. I'd focus on the zoo and of your time because if you want to watch the sunset, you'll obviously need to get out of there before sunset and depending on which day you're planning on doing this, traffic could be a factor.
 


As far as the USS MIdway, you might be able to get through that in an hour or two. They do offer walking tours but really, I don't see how you could spend more than an hour there but some people really like museums so I guess that depends on the person.

Old Town is cool but I don't think you'll want to spend 3-4 hours there. It has some cool restaurants and margarita bars and some interesting little shops but if you want to do the museum, zoo, and Sunset Cliffs, I would say that you'll probably be able to skip Old Town. I'd focus on the zoo and of your time because if you want to watch the sunset, you'll obviously need to get out of there before sunset and depending on which day you're planning on doing this, traffic could be a factor.

If they are history buffs, they will want longer. We were there at least four hours. We left because we were starving and didn't really want to eat there. Plus, my youngest was ready. We did the audio tour - very informative. I am not a history buff, but I enjoyed it.

I think we only spent about 2 hours in Old Town.
 
The San Diego Zoo is huge! Not the typical zoo where 3 hours is more than enough. Theres plenty to see and do for a full day.

If you are planning on arriving after lunch that would mean 2pm? That might work since sun doesn't go down till 8ish if they're open that late on the day you go. Weekdays are preferred as lines for the bus tour, panda exhibits and sky tram can get quite lengthy by afternoon on weekends otherwise crowds are not a problem.

Plan on meeting up at Old Town for lunch after you and daughter are done shopping. Theres a few very good Mexican restaurants there.
 


We were at the zoo from 9:30 until it closed the day we were there and still didn't see everything. I wouldn't want to pay for just a few hours.
 
SD in a day? I would say the zoo. visit beaches (La Jolla or Coronado) second stop. Not sure you can do more than these in a day. :confused3 I am sure you want to take a breath and shovel in some sunshine.
 
We're heading there in late Sept...best friend is having a wedding party...about 2 months after the actual wedding!! Anyway, we arrive on a Wednesday and leave the following Monday. Have to go to the party on Sat night and a brunch on Sunday...so have lots of free time. We're planning on doing SeaWorld and San Diego Zoo. We'll be staying very close to SW since the party is over in the Mission Bay area..beach cottage. Figure on a full day for each of those two things. Then, maybe hit Old Town on Sunday afternoon. Just don't want to try to squeeze in too much. No way would I plan on less than a full day for either SW or the Zoo..way too much to see and do at each one.
 
We just spent 3 days in San Diego... if you are going to attempt the zoo in a few hours - do the guided bus tour. We did and it gave us a really good start. Then you can walk to see what the tour misses.

On a separate day we did the red and green trolley tour. That lets you hop on and off all day. It stops at several of the places you mentioned... might be an option. It worked well for us. Old Town Trolley Tours, I think.

Have a great time.
 

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