OT: need help planning San Diego vacation itinerary (long)

[disneyberry]

we'll be going to San Diego in mid-Sept (it's 1mo away and i'm starting to panic from not having finalized plans yet!).

for any San Diego locals, or anyone who knows San Diego well:

first, can you please rank the following attractions in order from 1-"MUST see!" to 11-"maybe skip this" priority?

we were thinking about spending 2 to 4 full days in San Diego. (after which we'll either go to Vegas and then Disneyland, or go directly to Disneyland for the rest of our west coast trip)
after reading a few guidebooks, i've narrowed down the list, but still having trouble deciding on a set of attractions that will fit comfortably in a few days.
all of them sound pretty interesting, but i'm having the hardest time prioritizing them.

some background to help you figure out what we might like to do:
dbf and i are in our mid-20s. (not married... so no kids)
we're from NYC, and have travelled quite a bit around the world and to major U.S. cities. (we've been to L.A. and San Fran before, but didn't get the chance to see San Diego.)
anyway i did try my best to narrow down the list to things that seem to be more unique to San Diego.

i'm hoping we can fit as much into our itinerary as possible, so we will probably rent a car while in San Diego. (although after living in NYC, it's still so hard to comprehend not having a great public transportation system for getting around *sigh*)
the thing is, i don't want to go all crazy commando and get burned out either. but, dbf has a short attention span, so we probably won't be doing any lying around the beach all day kind of thing either.


The Attractions:
----------------

La Jolla - sightseeing around town + La Jolla Cove

Balboa Park + San Diego Zoo

Torrey Pines State Reserve hiking + Beach

Torrey Pines Gliderport - watching hangliders

Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma

Ferry to Coronado Island, and Coronado Island sightseeing

Oceanfront Walk - Mission Beach to Pacific Beach

? Sea World ?

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute

Downtown - Gaslamp Quarter, Horton Plaza, ? Seaport Village ?

Old Town stroll and Mexican Food



second, after you've ranked these things to do, do you have advice on what sights can be combined on one day?
i.e. is it possible to see Coronado and Cabrillo Monument all on one day? etc. and other combinations of the sights?

also, i purposefully left off Wild Animal Park and Legoland off my list 'cause we're not really interested in seeing those as much, and they're far from San Diego proper.
although, i was vaguely interested in Mission San Juan Capistrano.

anyway TIA for your help.

 

[jordanyosh]

I can't rank them as I really don't know your personal preferences.....but I can tell you about some of them...

La Jolla area--you will be able to do this in 2-3 hours tops unless you were planning on laying out on the small, very small beach at La Jolla Cove. Nice town....

Old Town and mexican food....another 3-4 hours tops, probably alot less...Good mexican at The Old Town Mexican Cafe or Bandinis. The locals eat at these two places, the tourists everywhere else. If you eat at Old Town MC, order some freshly made tortillas....

Downtown is fine if you are going there on a weekend night. Gaslamp is usually hopping Fri/Sat night--Thursdays may be okay too. Some good restaurants in the area depending on your tastes...

The walk from Mission to PB is more than a few miles with not a ton to see except houses and the ocean. It's good exercise and I have done the walk more than a few times..

Horton Plaza and Seaport basically just shopping areas..nothing special.

I lived in SD for a few years and just moved in 2002 back to OC.
I love sports so if I am in another city and there's an opportunity to check out another stadium, I usually go for it.

I would do Old Town, La Jolla, Gaslamp, either a Padres or Chargers game if they are in town, the beach walk, Coronado.....

If you haven't been to Vegas, gotta go. If you go Sun-Thurs night, it's definitely cheaper.....

If you have any more questions, let me know....where are you staying in SD?

 

[msteddom]

San Diego native to the rescue!

I'm also in my mid-20's, no kids, so I hope we have the same perspective on things! Here it goes!

La Jolla - sightseeing around town + La Jolla Cove- 8, very enjoyable!

Balboa Park + San Diego Zoo- 11 (this is a must!)

Torrey Pines State Reserve hiking + Beach- I've never done it, but I've heard good things

Torrey Pines Gliderport - watching hangliders-never done it

Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma- 6, there's some very interesting local hisroty here, but I think you'd have to be a history buff to really enjoy it. IT is also very tricky to get to if you don't have a car.


Ferry to Coronado Island, and Coronado Island sightseeing- 9 you must check out the Hotel Del!!!!!!!!

Oceanfront Walk - Mission Beach to Pacific Beach-5 pleasant, but I much prefer the more upscale atmosphere of La Jolla

? Sea World ?- not sure how to rate this one. I really enjoy it, but if you've been to other Sea Worlds you can probably skip it

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute-3 skip it. It's a decent local aquarium, but it is very small. If you have been to the Monteray Bay aqarium you will be very dissapointed.

Downtown - Gaslamp Quarter, Horton Plaza, ? Seaport Village ?- 10 you'll have a great day! Skip Horton Plaza, it's just a shopping mall. Probably nothing you can't see at home. Afterall a Gap is a Gap. But the rest is quite fun.\, and do see Seaport Village, it's quite charming.

Old Town stroll and Mexican Food-9 save this for the evening you tour downtown, just hop on the trolly and you're there in 5 minutes. I highly reccomend Casa de Pico if you like a good margarita.


So those are my reccomendations. I think the things that you MUST do in order to really feel lilke you've experienced San Diego are the Zoo/Balboa Park one full day, and sightseeing Downtown then head to Old Town in the evening on day two. Some of the other activities you have listed are very worthwhile, but only if you have time. I think third on my list if you have an extra day would be Coronado. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I'll be in WDW all next week, but I'll be back in plenty of time to answer questions the week after.

Melissa

 

[disneyberry]

thanks to both of you for the advice.
i had trouble eliminating any of the things on my list. so i came up w/ the following SD itinerary possibilities:

DayA = SD Zoo start 8am, quick lunch somewhere? finish Zoo or stroll around Balboa Park until 4pm. Ferry to Coronado + bike/stroll around + dinner there.

DayB = breakfast at Pacific Beach, Oceanfront Walk + Giant Dipper, head to Old Town for lunch + walk around, head to Gaslamp Quarter to walk around + dinner somewhere

DayC = breakfast in La Jolla, Torrey Pines short hike, La Jolla lunch + walk around, head to Cabrillo Monument if there's time? + dinner somewhere

we could mix + match the order of the days. it might be too commando. what do you think?

as for where we're staying in SD, we haven't decided yet.
we have a backup ressie at Doubletree Mission Valley, but we really ideally want to stay in a neighborhood where we can stroll around at night before we turn in, and stroll around in the morning w/ great breakfast spots nearby.

so, we were thinking Pacific Beach (Best Western Blue Sea?) or La Jolla (Best Western Inn by the Sea? or Empress?).
having a hard time deciding between those two areas.
Pacific Beach seems to be more central, especially if we want to see all those sights which are spread out everywhere North/South in SD.

but La Jolla sounds sooo nice. but we're worried about it's location in the far north, that it'll be too far a drive to the downtown sights. actually we'd consider staying in Coronado too, except i heard it also takes a while to drive across the bridge? would you say Coronado and La Jolla are very similar in terms of atmosphere?

then a fourth option would be to stay downtown near Seaport Village or near Gaslamp quarter. but then we're getting really confused if we try to choose between all 4 of these options. (PB vs. La Jolla vs. Coronado vs. Downtown)

so, any advice regarding that would be helpful too!

btw, we also had thought about possibly relocating to San Diego at some point. is there a particular neighborhood where young 20-something couples or singles tend to live in San Diego? i was thinking maybe we should check it out... not just do touristy things, but also see the "real" San Diego from a local's perpective. that's just a random thing i thought of. i don't know how much time we have to do all this.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>I don't live in SD, but go there often to visit my x-SIL and her family. They live in Santee, near the Grossmont College, and I really like that neighborhood. It's a little hilly, and in the morning I often see people out walking their dogs, or just walking.

There are other neighborhoods in this area that are nice, with the Spanish styled homes, etc.

An easy way to get to this area would be to take the 8 to 125 and go north, then get off on Navajo and explore.

 

[sgtdilbert]

You already have received some great advice. Let me add just a few things:

* The San Diego Zoo is tiring, even for 20 year olds. Just a heads up that there are some serious hills in that place, although they try to allevate problems with moving walkways and such.

* On my last trip down to the Wild Animal Park a couple months ago, they were very concerned with the West Nile virus. So, much so, that any interactivity with the animals was canceled (e.g. butterfly walk-through, parts of the bird show). Just want you to set your expectations.

* Gaslamp is perfect for a night on the town! Great bars and restaurants! Have fun!

* Made a last minute trip to San Diego last month. I used priceline.com and received a 4 star hotel for $80 a night. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Of course, the whole priceline.com thing forces payment up front, but 4 star really is 4 star. The hotel was within walking distance of Horton Plaza and the gaslamp and we actually got around by hopping on a bicycle taxi. Very fun and romantic.

San Diego is a great town! I wish I could live down there. They just need to do a beter job at getting their job market going and I'd be there in a heartbeat!

s.

 

[Elly]

We just returned from a few days in San Diego so I will report on those things we did.

Balboa Park + San Diego Zoo: The zoo alone is a full day activity. Balboa Park is packed with tons of other museums which could add another day of activities. There is a pass available which allows admission to all the museums as well as the zoo if you don't want to do the zoo all day. The buildings are beautiful to walk around even if they are closed! I would rate these highly.

Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma: If you have a car this is a nice scenic overlook. There is a small visitor center there as well. It is only open until about 6:00 so don't plan to go there too late. It doesn't take that long though, so you can combine it with something else. I would only do this if it works out, not a priority.

Ferry to Coronado Island, and Coronado Island sightseeing: Coronado Beach is one of the nicest and the hotel is also great to walk through. You might enjoy a lunch there or a beverage. I would definately do this.

Oceanfront Walk - Mission Beach to Pacific Beach: Mission Beach is very crowded and kind of tacky. The shops are mostly beachwear (of course). There are some carnival type rides including a roller coaster, but nothing to write home about. I would skip this unless you are really into boardwalk type stuff.

? Sea World ?: Personally, I really like Seaworld, but it is a whole day for sure. If you have never been, I would recommend it.

Downtown - Gaslamp Quarter, Horton Plaza: The Gaslamp Quarter and Horton Plaza are adjacent to each other. Our hotel was the Westin Horton Plaza (we got it on Hotwire for about $90 a night). It was very, very convenient in that we could walk over to the Plaza for quick meals at the food court or the Starbucks for breakfast. We also went to the Gaslamp quarter for dinner one night. The Gaslamp quarter is mainly just restaurants, so I would only go there if you want to go out to dinner. You can cover this in one evening. I was very happy with a downtown hotel because we could easily get to all the destinations we wanted from there.

Old Town stroll and Mexican Food: We really enjoyed the Old Town area (although we got really lost trying to find it! Get directions!). There are lots of cool Mexican type things like an open air market, as well as historical displays. We had lunch at the Agave restaurant which was kind of pricey, but very delicious and not your standard Tex-Mex fare. I would definately recommend this area. It would take one afternoon.

We also visited the San Diego Wild Animal Park which you might do on your way in or out of town since it is outside the city. The disease they are worried about isn't West Nile Virus, it is Newcastle's Disease which only affects birds. They do restict contact with the birds to protect them but it does not detract from your visit. I highly recommend this if you have an extra day to devote to it.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Hi!
I actually live in Orange County but go to San Diego pretty often just for kicks! Just my 2 cents worth here..............It is only about a 10 min. drive between Coronado and Downtown S.D. via the bridge. Very quick and easy.

And, a fun, kind of touristy thing to do, in the evening, is the "Ghosts and Gravestones" haunted tour" of S.D. Whether you are into that kind of thing or not, it is an entertaining way to learn a lot about the history of S.D.