Drive from DL to San Diego Zoo. Scenic?

[Rob_b]

We wanted to do some sight seeing while at DisneyLand.

If we go to the San Diego ZOO, can we drive along the coast and is it Scenic? Is it worth the drive for just a day trip or will I be stuck in traffic the whole time?

Thanks Rob

 

[iceskatejen]

A fair portion of the I-5 is along the coast (from San Onofre-Oceanside) and is pretty scenic. If you're going on a weekend, the traffic shouldn't be too bad. I'm not sure how it is on weekdays.

 

[grumpyvet]

Maybe it is because I drive this stretch fairly often. (Live in San Diego, in-laws live in L.A.), but I don't find it all that scenic. Perhaps I am jaded. There are a few stretches along I-5 (or, The 5 as Californians say) that are along the coast and you can see the ocean, but mostly it is suburban sprawl and a lot of highway lanes. Traffic can be awful, or it can just be steady. We make the trip to DL from mid-SD in the early morning (read before 7) in about 1 hour 15 minutes. If we leave later...8AM..takes 1/2 an hour longer.This is on a Sunday. The trip home takes 1 1/2 to 3 hours....all depends. I don't know how it is going the other way however, although last weekend on Sunday returning from Legoland which is at Carlsbad, the North bound side was a parking lot!!!
Trick is--leave early!!

 

[ScooterL]

We wanted to do some sight seeing while at DisneyLand.

If we go to the San Diego ZOO, can we drive along the coast and is it Scenic? Is it worth the drive for just a day trip or will I be stuck in traffic the whole time?

Thanks Rob

I agree with Grumpy that it's not especially scenic. In the areas where you are closest to the coast you're driving through Camp Pendleton (a Marine Corps base) and are surrounded by miles of scrub brush, though you can see the ocean in the distance.

As for traffic - depends on what day and what time. On weekdays, if you're driving north/south during non-commute hours it's not too bad (e.g. after 9:00 in the morning and before 2:00 in the afternoon). On weekends, you do NOT want to be going south after about 10:00 in the morning - it can be bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way from Orange County. And on Sunday you do NOT want to be going north after about noon. But if you leave early (and if you're doing a day trip to San Diego you'd want to leave early, just to have plenty of time here) then traffic on weekends isn't bad.

 

[3Biegelboys]

We thought that the drive was very pretty. I do live in Indiana and don't see much except corn fields!! We stopped at a rest area when we were on our way to san diego and there was a great photo spot and took the picture we used in our christmas cards this year!

 

[3Biegelboys]

I just read what I wrote. No it was not a picture of the rest room or anything like that. They has a nice spot behind the building and you could see the ocean and beach in the background

 

[birkner]

We wanted to do some sight seeing while at DisneyLand.

If we go to the San Diego ZOO, can we drive along the coast and is it Scenic? Is it worth the drive for just a day trip or will I be stuck in traffic the whole time?

Thanks Rob

I agree with previous posters that the road is not especially scenic. Traffic can be dicey on weekdays so leave early. If go to the zoo, you might want to lunch at Prado.

To help you plan further, here are two websites, one about the zoo and one about Balboa Park where Prado is located:

http://www.sandiegozoo.com/
http://www.balboapark.com/

 

[M4travels]

If go to the zoo, you might want to lunch at Prado.

EXCELLENT suggestion! I've only had dinner there (and only once) but it was wonderful! We have relatives who live across the canyon from the zoo and Balboa Park and we are definitely heading back to Prado!

Michael

 

[Grendel]

oh..thats kind of a bummer.

we are planning on driving down from long beach to SD and wanted a scenic drive...

if we take rt 1 for a stretch...will that be scenic? or will it be to slow driving down?

also we are driving down on a saturday...so earlier is better i take it?

after a few days in SD we are driving up to DL on a Tuesday...i never considered commuting traffic...what are the worst times to be on the road north on a weekday?

thanks!

 

[ScooterL]

also we are driving down on a saturday...so earlier is better i take it?

after a few days in SD we are driving up to DL on a Tuesday...i never considered commuting traffic...what are the worst times to be on the road north on a weekday?

thanks!

Re: driving down on a Saturday - yes, earlier is better. Not sure where you are staying, but if you leave Anaheim by 10:00 you should be fine.

As far as going back north on a Tuesday...if you leave San Diego after 8:00 a.m. you should be ok - you may hit some slow traffic on I5 around Del Mar, and maybe around Tustin, but the worst of the morning commute will be over. If you're planning to leave in the afternoon...by all means leave before 2:00. Even leaving at 2:00 you'll still hit traffic in North County, and I5 from Tustin to the 57 interchange will be slow. DO NOT LEAVE SAN DIEGO BETWEEN 3:00 AND 6:00!!!! You'll have slow traffic for MILES - first in the northern part of San Diego County, and then in Orange County.

 

[Grendel]

Re: driving down on a Saturday - yes, earlier is better. Not sure where you are staying, but if you leave Anaheim by 10:00 you should be fine.

As far as going back north on a Tuesday...if you leave San Diego after 8:00 a.m. you should be ok - you may hit some slow traffic on I5 around Del Mar, and maybe around Tustin, but the worst of the morning commute will be over. If you're planning to leave in the afternoon...by all means leave before 2:00. Even leaving at 2:00 you'll still hit traffic in North County, and I5 from Tustin to the 57 interchange will be slow. DO NOT LEAVE SAN DIEGO BETWEEN 3:00 AND 6:00!!!! You'll have slow traffic for MILES - first in the northern part of San Diego County, and then in Orange County.

ok...we are leaving in the morning....because were going to DL that day...but it sounds like we should leave before 8am?

also if were staying in either Del Mar...or 7 or 8 miles north of san diego...do we have to worry about alot of traffice if were going back and forth between the animal park or zoo?

what is sunday like in SD....can we get in out of the city no problem?

 

[ScooterL]

The height of San Diego's morning commute goes until about 8:00 in the morning - that's why I recommended leaving San Diego after 8:00. But if you're staying in Del Mar you'll be north of the worst of the commute traffic, so if you leave earlier than that you shouldn't really hit any slowdowns until you get to Orange County, and even those should be relatively minor.

Some of the worst traffic in San Diego is the northbound lanes of I5 from about four miles south of Del Mar and just past Del Mar because there are two major freeways that merge, and so you have 8 lanes of traffic that merge down to 4 lanes in just a couple of miles. It's really awful between about 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Southbound in the morning from Del Mar should be pretty clear - you might hit traffic once you get to downtown San Diego...and I would recommend staying on I5 rather than taking 163 to get to Balboa Park - 163 is only two lanes going through the park. It's really pretty, but it can be pretty slow-going.

Getting around San Diego during the day is really not too bad - the freeways are generally clear. You shouldn't have any traffic to/from the Wild Animal Park, but for the Zoo, if you leave the Zoo after 2:00 on a weekday, you'll get stuck in the merge traffic for a while - though since you're staying in Del Mar anyway, it should only add maybe 15 minutes to your drive.

Sunday, if you're going back up I5 towards LA/Orange County, I recommend that you leave by noon - there seem to be an awful lot of people who come down to San Diego (or Mexico) for the weekend, and then head back up to LA on Sunday afternoon/evening, and the traffic can be at a crawl for *miles*.

 

[woody73]

There are some portions along the coast that are quite scenic.

Woody

 

[yupikgal]

I don't know if it's still relevant, since this was last year, but I wanted to keep this thread alive!