san diego

[the beerdrinker]

Wife and I will be in San Diego for 5 days early February. Any suggestions for restaurants, museums, walking tours, etc... - besides the usual brochure data? No car, we'll take public transport. We're staying on Mission Beach next to the bike trail.
Thanks for any input.

[Kuota Rider]

La Jolla cove and Old Town. Tiajuana is a fun day trip if you have the time.

-M

[Harold]

suggestions for restaurants

As someone who seeks out uniquely great restaurants anywhere I go, I'd say Hash House A Go Go and Cucina Urbana are each standouts (for breakfast/dinner respectively).

[momar]

When in San Diego, I eat nothing but fish tacos (or at least try!).

[chaz]

San Diego Zoo for sure.

[Fallible]

Don't forget Coronado and the Coronado hotel. Went there many years ago with family and still can't forget the beauty of it all.

[lwfitzge]

take a trip to Coronado island (car over by bridge or ferry over even better] & have lunch @ Hotel del Coronado. Historic hotel, good food, nice beach to stroll

[mclvngr]

Easy! Take the San Diego Trolley Tour. You can hop on and off as often as you like. The complete tour lasts a couple of hours and hits just about everywhere you'd want to go.

Speaking of hop, I assume you're a beer drinker by your nickname! Try some of our microbrews or visit one of the breweries - Stone is just incredible! San Diego has the best selection of beer/breweries in the country. Other breweries include Green Flash, Pizza Port, Coronado, Alesmith - too many to mention!

[centrifuge41]

Old Town, Gaslamp and Horton Plaza, Coronado (and the Hotel), La Jolla Cove, the zoo and Balboa Park's Prado, in no particular order.

I'm not sure about transportation logistics since I didn't use public transportation in SD.

[norookie]

[Kenkat]

Agree with Coronado Island and Hotel del Coronado.

I also really enjoyed the USS Midway (WW2 class aircraft carrier).

[Kuota Rider]

the beerdrinker wrote:
suggestions for restaurants

There's a little old lady who sits on the pier in Ensenada, Mexico who makes the best fish tacos you will ever eat.

[lillypie]

Here is some restaurants

Downtown - Bandar, persian food in the gaslamp - Great Chicken Kabobs and rice.

Downtown (by convention center...near trolley station) - Tin Fish - Fish taco's, etc. Share a plate, they are huge.

Pacific Beach - Near Mission beach (taxi ride?) - World Curry - could be good for lunch or dinner

Morena Blvd - The High Dive - Kind of near mission beach - Burgers, beer, and great breakfast too

Pizza Port - There is one in Ocean Beach now...kind of near Mission beach - As mentioned above - good beer here too.

There are many others....I am sure you can find some good stuff on Yelp.

[gunn_show]

Here is some restaurants

Downtown - Bandar, persian food in the gaslamp - Great Chicken Kabobs and rice.

Downtown (by convention center...near trolley station) - Tin Fish - Fish taco's, etc. Share a plate, they are huge.

Pacific Beach - Near Mission beach (taxi ride?) - World Curry - could be good for lunch or dinner

Morena Blvd - The High Dive - Kind of near mission beach - Burgers, beer, and great breakfast too

Pizza Port - There is one in Ocean Beach now...kind of near Mission beach - As mentioned above - good beer here too.

There are many others....I am sure you can find some good stuff on Yelp.

Good options. High Dive and Pizza Port are must-eats IMHO. So is a previous poster's mention of Cucina Urbana - my fave restaurant hands down, and I am an SD native.

Problem is not having a car in San Diego, that is a pretty bad idea, IMHO. SD is very large and traffic, bus times, will eat your time. High Dive is very close to where you will be, I am assuming the Mission Bay Hilton or something around there. Could almost walk to High Dive. The others would take a while by bus or cost $20+ by cab. Use costco travel and get a cheap rental car.

If you like Italian - go to Little Italy, place called Bencotto. Amazing.

Zoo ... Sea World... Lego Land .. Coronado ... Gaslamp Downtown ... Pacific Beach - Tower 23 a great restaurant, so is Firehouse - with a gorgeous rooftop bar .... La Jolla - awesome area to walk around - George's Top of the Cove is LJ's finest restaurant by far ... but again public trans to all these places would just be a waste of vacation time to me.

Give us other ideas of what you like and what to see, to comment. There is just so much here, depends on your taste.

[Random Poster]

San Diego Zoo for sure.

+1.

If you like animals, try to spend 2 days at the Zoo. There's too much to see and do there in just 1 day.

[tyrion]

I live in San Diego. My Mom usually comes for a month every winter and stays down in Mission Bay.


San Diego does not have great public transportation. I would advise that you either get a rental car and do some of the stuff listed above (restaurants, zoo for sure, balboa park museums, USS Midway, etc) or skip the car and stay local. In the latter case rent some bikes and enjoy the boardwalk. There are plenty of restaurants in biking distance.

[Midpack]

Most of my favorites have been mentioned; La Jolla (take your wallet), Coronado Island and "the Del", Old Town (for Mexican food), Gaslamp District, Horton Plaza & SD Zoo.

I can't imagine SD without a car.

I never go to SD without eating lunch at Pt Loma Seafood, love the place, casual carry out - you can't get fresher fish. And I never go to SD without getting out on the water, whale watch, Americas Cup sailing, renting a sailboat - and there are other options as well.

I forget the name, but there's a drive-thru Mexican place on Rosencrans out near Shelter Island that I always go to for breakfast one day. Not that it's anything special, it's just the only place I've ever seen with Huevos Rancheros at a drive thru! I just take it out to the parks on Shelter Island and enjoy it while the boats go by. Just a silly tradition, not a recommendation.

San Diego is a great place to visit, lucky you!

[travelnut11]

You will definitely need a car or will waste all of your time trying to deal with the lousy bus system. SD is so spread out that using the buses takes FOREVER! Believe me...when I first moved to SD and didn't have a car yet I had to get around this way and it was terrible and time-consuming. Car rentals are cheap and the driving isn't all that bad.

I can also recommend Hash House-A-Go-Go but try to go during the week. If you want breakfast on the weekend it's a 2-3 hour wait. Southbeach in Ocean Beach (OB) is delicious for fish tacos (I like the lobster ones the best). I'm not up on the local sushi joints anymore since I no longer live in SD but it's hard to go wrong with sushi in California.

La Jolla Cove is pretty and interesting if you're into sea lions. Old Town is fun if you're into historical stuff (with some food and kitschy shopping thrown in for fun). Balboa Park is beautiful and has some great museums. The Zoo is nice but I hear the Wild Animal Park is way better.

Have fun and seriously, reconsider the car.

[kenyan]

Not an expert on the area, but would definitely agree with the recommendations for Old Town for Mexican food. Love the homemade tortillas at the Old Town Mexican Cafe.

The San Diego Zoo is great, just make sure you're prepared for very hilly walking. They do have some sort of safari-type trip you can take as well for a second day of action, might want to check it out. Haven't done it but have heard positive reviews. Also checked out the Maritime Museum, was pretty interesting for a few hours.

[sillybones34]

There is no way you'll be able to enjoy all SD has to offer without a vehicle. It is too spread out and too hilly to walk/bike it all. Coronado, La Jolla, Mt. Soledad...so many awesome places!! Only go to Tijuana if you potentially want to be kidnapped. Awful idea..

[gatorman]

When in San Diego, I eat nothing but fish tacos (or at least try!).

+1 - Love a good fish taco.
gatorman

[manuvns]

Cabrillo National Monument , Coronado , Gaslamp district

[Naikansha]

If you like sushi, I strongly recommend Harney sushi, one of the best in San Diego. They are at 3964 Harney Street (619.295.3272 for reservations).

[ilmartello]

It's not actually in San Diego, but close by. The Wild Animal/Safari Park is excellent.

[MortgageOnBlack]

San Diego is awesome! You definitely need to rent a car for maximum experience.

Attractions:
SeaWorld
Zoo (Go if you like Panda's, but overrated IMO)
Wild Animal Park in Escondido (Preferred over the Zoo IMO)
Dog Beach in Ocean Beach (for dog lovers!)
Long Pier by Ocean Beach (apparently longest in West Coast. Also offers a great Lobster Taco at the end!)
La Jolla (Fancy Dining! George's at the Cove - you won't be disappointed)
Walk the La Jolla Bridge by Children's Beach

Other than that, get lost and make the trip your own!

La Jolla is probably the most beautiful place I've seen.