Things to Do
We could have spent our entire San Diego trip in Balboa Park and been perfectly happy. This 1,200-acre urban park is home to 17 museums, stunning Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, and some of the most beautiful botanical gardens on the West Coast. We bought the Explorer Pass ($59/person) which gave us access to five museums over two days — the Fleet Science Center and the Museum of Us were our favorites. The park is free to enter and you could easily spend a full day just wandering the gardens and admiring the buildings without setting foot inside a museum.
The San Diego Zoo lives up to its legendary reputation. We arrived right at opening (9 AM) and spent six hours exploring the 100-acre grounds. Adult admission is $67, which sounds steep until you realize the sheer scale of the place. The Africa Rocks exhibit is jaw-dropping, and we watched the polar bears swim for a solid 20 minutes. Our pro tip: start at the back of the park and work forward — most visitors do the opposite, so you will have the African exhibits practically to yourself in the first hour.
La Jolla Cove was the surprise highlight of our trip. We walked down the steps to the cove at low tide and snorkeled right from shore in the marine protected area. The visibility was incredible — we spotted bright orange garibaldi, rays gliding along the sandy bottom, and a group of leopard sharks cruising about ten feet below us. Snorkel rentals from La Jolla Shores are $15/day, and the kayak tours through the sea caves ($49/person) are worth every penny.
Where to Stay
We split our stay between the Gaslamp Quarter and Pacific Beach, and both neighborhoods delivered in different ways. The Gaslamp is where you want to be if you love walkable dining and nightlife — we stepped out our hotel door and had 50 restaurants within a three-block radius. The Sofia Hotel ($170/night) was our pick for its boutique style and rooftop bar, but the Pendry ($350/night) is the luxury standard-bearer if budget allows. Hostels like USA Hostels San Diego ($35-40/night) offer a social backpacker vibe right in the Gaslamp.
Pacific Beach — or PB as locals call it — gave us a completely different energy. Surfers in wetsuits walk past coffee shops at sunrise, beach bonfires light up the evenings, and the pace slows down noticeably. We found a great Airbnb two blocks from the beach for $140/night, though the Crystal Pier Hotel ($250-400/night) lets you literally sleep over the ocean in private cottages built on the pier. Nothing beats waking up to the sound of waves crashing directly beneath your room.
For families, we would point you toward the Mission Bay area. The Hyatt Regency Mission Bay ($200-300/night) has water slides, fire pits, and kayak rentals right on the bay. Coronado is another stellar family option — the Hotel del Coronado ($400-700/night) is iconic, but the cheaper Coronado Island Marriott ($200/night) across the bay still gets you on that gorgeous beach.
Where to Eat
San Diego’s food identity starts and ends with fish tacos, and we made it our mission to find the best ones. After sampling at least a dozen spots, our top three were: Tacos El Gordo in Chula Vista for adobada ($3 each), Oscar’s Mexican Seafood in Pacific Beach for battered fish ($4 each), and El Zarape in University Heights for creative fusion tacos ($5 each, try the lobster). We learned quickly that the best tacos in San Diego are almost never in the tourist areas — drive 10 minutes from the Gaslamp and prices drop by half while quality doubles.
The craft beer scene here is staggering. With over 150 breweries in the county, San Diego has more craft breweries per capita than almost anywhere in the world. We spent an afternoon in the North Park neighborhood hitting Modern Times, North Park Beer Co, and Rip Current back-to-back-to-back. Tasting flights run $10-15 at most spots. Stone Brewing’s Liberty Station outpost is worth visiting just for the gorgeous outdoor garden setting, even if you only order a single $8 IPA.
For sit-down dining, we loved Juniper & Ivy in Little Italy ($28-45 entrees) for a special-occasion dinner — Chef Richard Blais brings molecular gastronomy techniques to comfort food classics. For something more casual, Liberty Public Market in Point Loma is San Diego’s answer to a gourmet food hall: we assembled an incredible lunch of fresh oysters ($18/dozen from Wicked Maine Lobster), artisan cheese ($8 plate from Venissimo), and craft beer ($7 pints from Bottlecraft) for under $40 total.
Getting Around
San Diego is far more navigable than Los Angeles, but a car still helps significantly. We rented one for $45/day and used it primarily for reaching La Jolla, Coronado (via the stunning bridge), and brewery-hopping in North Park and Miramar. Parking is mostly free or cheap — beach lots run $5-15/day, and downtown garages charge $10-20. Street parking in neighborhoods like North Park and Hillcrest is usually free with a two-hour limit.
The MTS Trolley system is genuinely useful for certain routes. The Blue Line runs from Old Town through downtown to the Mexican border ($2.50 one way), and the Green Line connects downtown to Old Town and Mission Valley. We used the trolley for Gaslamp Quarter evenings when we knew we would be drinking. Day passes cost $6 and cover unlimited rides on both trolley and bus lines.
For the beach communities, we found that electric scooters (Lime and Bird, $1 to unlock plus $0.35/minute) were the perfect way to zip between Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and Ocean Beach. The boardwalk running along Mission Bay is flat, scenic, and scooter-friendly. Rideshares average $10-18 for most trips around the city, making them reasonable for nights out. Biking is also popular — the Bayshore Bikeway circles Mission Bay for 12 flat miles and rentals start at $10/hour at multiple shops near the bay.