DL to San Diego

[sarha]

We are going to LA in August and We'll be spending 4 days at a hotel near Disneyland.
We'd like to go down to San Diego one of those days; how far a drive is it?
Do you think we can go up and back in a day or should we skip it?

 

[HydroGuy]

We are going to LA in August and We'll be spending 4 days at a hotel near Disneyland.
We'd like to go down to San Diego one of those days; how far a drive is it?
Do you think we can go up and back in a day or should we skip it?

It's not the distance that matters, it's the traffic. The answer also depends on where in San Diego.

If you can go when traffic is minimal, from DL to San Diego is roughly 90 minutes. I used to live in various places around SoCal, including San Diego, and made day trips to DL. If you go to North San Diego (Ocenside/Carlsbad) it will be closer to 60 minutes - with minimal traffic.

If you go at the wrong time, add 60+ minutes to the drive. When is the "wrong" time? Well weekdays. If you drive down in the morning and come back in the evening on a weekday, you are asking for trouble. If you really want to do it weekday, best bet is to leave DL at 5:00-5:30AM and leave SD before 3PM (3PM is stretching it) or after 7PM.

If you do not have anything planned in SD, consider going to La Jolla. There is a nice beach (La Jolla Shores), nice areas to walk and explore (by La Jolla Cove) and some nice restaurants and shops.

 

[LovesHauntedMansion]

This is so unusual, but I am on these boards this afternoon in order to get info on doing just the opposite as you. I will be in San Diego for 4 days and I'm thinking of renting a car & drive to DL for the day. This trip came up on the spur of the moment so I'm trying to gather up info on San Diego & DL as fast as possible.

 

[craig]

We're flying into San Diego & staying there two nights. We wanted to see part of the CA coast without driving so we're taking AMTRAK to Anaheim. It's about 2 hours. No worries about traffic.
One-way adult fare for this trip is $23 & kids travel at half price. Applebee's in CA is offering an AMTRAK (companion travels for free) coupon with any purchase.
The Anaheim train station is close to DL. A quick taxi & we're there.

After six nights at DL we'll fly out of LAX.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Are you going to San Diego just to see the area, or will you be going to the Zoo, Seaworld, etc? I would strongly urge you to stay overnight if you can as it would be a really long day if you tried to do an attraction, then drive back. And, as mentioned previously, you really need to avoid rush hour times or your commute could double or triple in length.