Plan the perfect 4 day San Diego vacation

[Chocolate Cake]

Where to stay? (Willing to switch hotels mid stay)

Where to eat?

Where to tour/visit?

What not to miss?

Rent a car or Uber all around?

All adults on this vacation.

Thank you.

 

[fly girl]

I have been there several times, but I'm definitely not an expert. I would suggest going to California and the West part of the DL forums. They had great advice for me when I went a few years ago.

The last time I went I was with a child, so my suggestions may not be too helpful. We stayed on Coronado, at the Glorietta Bay. It was very nice stay in the mansion. Would've loved the Hotel Coronado, but the prices were INSANE!

Definitely would recommend the zoo or the safari. We also took a small speedboat tour (dh drove) and it was a lot of fun. (speedboatadventures.com)

If you want to venture away from SD, Disneyland is about 1.5-2 hour drive.

We rented a car. Albeit we didn't stay downtown, so I am not certain that would be the way to go if you were there. But our hotel had free parking.

Hopefully you'll get some good tips. San Diego is a beautiful place!

 

[Kitty 34]

My son was in San Diego earlier this summer for work. I remember him raving about Little Italy (I think that's what he called it) He used Uber. Ironically he's in real Italy right now or I'd ask him more info for you.

 

[mamamary]

We just spent 2 days in San Diego after our Disneyland trip. Some things we did were: LaJolla (to see Seals and Sea Lions), Coronado Beach ( to see the beach and famous hotel there), Old Town San Diego, USS Midway, the Seaport area (maybe called the embarcadaro), Balboa Park and last but not least the San Diego Zoo. We got a lot done. We rented a car and stayed at a Hampton Inn about 15 minutes from all these attractions.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

People on the CA boards are in love with the Hotel del Coronado, but I stayed there in February and we brought home BED BUGS! Took us months to exterminate them! Also our check-in process was horrible - they tried to "upgrade" us to the Ocean Tower. Not knowing any better, we accepted our "upgrade" only to find out it was in a building that was added in the 80s (not the original historic hotel) and under construction! There was clear plastic lining the carpets and in the room adjacent to us, there was this very loud fan running... we peeked inside and saw that our neighboring room was completely gutted with no finishes! It took us two return visits to the front desk to finally get them to switch us to the room that we had originally booked in the historic part of the hotel (that room was lovely.... but apparently had bed bugs).

Where to Eat: The Cottage in La Jolla. La Jolla is a very lovely part of San Diego - go up and spend a day there. Many art shops to browse through and a gorgeous beach.

Where to Stay: Gaslamp District is the happening part of town. I would suggest staying there, as you can walk to many restaurants and sights.

Rent or Uber: Be aware that most of the hotels in San Diego have horrendous $50/night parking fees.... you'll probably fare better with Ubers and walking.

 

[scottmel]

We always get a private tour guide for a day in new city. It is so worth it! No worries on parking. Great history! Just a lot of fun. We had a private tour with tours by Julie...

 

[piglet too]

Go to the zoo, it’s worth it.

Check out the beach near Hotel Del Coronado, softest sand anywhere.

Eat at Hungry’s Kitchen & Tap near Old Town, the food is incredible and their thyme fries are amazing.

Walk around Old Town, lots of great shops.

Clayton’s Coffee Shop serves an delicious breakfast if you are on Coronado.

I love going to see the lighthouse and tide pools at Point Loma. Check out the Cabrillo National Monument website, they have links to the tide times.

Walking along the path at Seaport Village is nice, and if you enjoy that sort of thing, the USS Midway is great.

 

[skyblue17]

Not sure what time of year you are going, but I love catching baseball games at Petco Park. It's one of the best MLB ballparks, imo!

Sunset Cliffs is a gorgeous place to visit. You can pull over and just enjoy the view for awhile.

As a Don Winslow fan, I went to Ocean Beach Pier and got lobster tacos at the cafe, they were fantastic! But it was particularly awesome for me because the cafe is featured in my favorite book, The Winter of Frankie Machine.

 

[lorenae]

I stayed a few nights in North Park, for the nightlife and breweries (I'm a huge beer nerd), and a few nights in Little Italy for the atmosphere and food (and brewery). I went to Coronado, great beach to walk on even if you're not swimming. I visited the Torrey Pines reserve (awesome walking place on bluffs as well as the beach), La Jolla to see the sea lions (and well, a brewery or two.....), and I also enjoyed the Stone Bistro which is a brewpub with great food and atmosphere.
Most of the additional things I did were also very beer-centric, like visiting Miramar and special little places.
San Diego is one of my favorite places to find great food, awesome breweries, and great walking/hiking adventures.
I also have a friend there with a boat, so we went out fishing one day. The fishing was meh, but the wildlife and sights were great!

 

[wvjules]

Was just in SD last month. If you go during baseball season I definitely recommend going to a Padres game. I am a lover of baseball and the Padres fans were the most fun I've ever encountered. And I agree with sky above, it is a great ballpark! Also, second the SD Zoo. It was amazing! Old Town was cool too. We went to Coronado Beach but only went inside the hotel to pee.

 

[RamblingMad]

I’d get a boat for the bay or find a dining cruise.

 

[scottmel]

We did zookeepr for a day at San Diego Zoo Crazy expensive but we still talk about it to this day! It is the 5 hour long zookeeper to yourself thing. We did it 3 years ago and still a family favorite memory. We split our trip between Hotel Del and Hyatt Manchester. I did my city stuff while at Manchester - Tour Guide I mentioned earlier, Old Town, Zoo, Trolley Tour and then beach time at Hotel Del for 3 nights. Perfect split of a trip!

 

[lovesmurfs]

We were at the Hotel Del Coronado for a week (business conference that I added onto) -- Spend some time on TripAdvisor as you plan.

DH was on his own a bunch through the week. He loved the USS Midway Museum (he's a history buff). He also played golf 2 days (while I was in session). He also enjoyed the Air and Space Museum.

We took a whale watching cruise on a sailboat -- included admission to the maritime museum as well (on the HMS Surprise from the Master and Commander movie). The whale watching was on a sailboat and was a great experience: https://nextlevelsailing.com/ They had a guarantee that you'd see a whale -- and we did, even out of season! The captain of the cruise had been an extra on the movie and had a number of stories about the filming.

We had a great meal in La Jolla - Duke's -- it was wonderful, and we reserved the patio overlooking the water. https://www.dukeslajolla.com/menus/dinner/

On Coronado Island, we had a great meal at the Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill: https://www.bluewatergrill.com/locations/coronado.php

We also ate at Leroy's Kitchen and Lounge (farm to table) on Coronado, which was really good - https://bluebridgehospitality.com/leroyskitchenandlounge/

We didn't go to San Diego proper much, but enjoyed the Zoo. We also enjoyed the Balboa Park museums -- they have a whole bunch of smaller museums that we tried to do all in one fell swoop -- they started to all look the same at one point. The model railroad museum is amazing.

We'd gotten the Balboa Park Explorer Pass which was good for a week and included the zoo and all of the museum admissions (except the Midway). You'll need to calculate if it makes sense for you before buying it, though. You may be able to get a Groupon for it. https://explorer.balboapark.org/

We did rent a car, because DH was on his own so much. It was helpful. If we had a few more days, I probably would've included a day tour to Tijuana.

Enjoy!