San Diego - travel questions
- Thread starter ms71069
- Start date
pjlippert
Cathlete
Hi Michele,
I used to live in SD. Legoland is an awesome theme-park!!! We used to have an annual pass to make it more affordable. It's excellent for kids of varying age groups. Also, during the SD RT, we stayed at the Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort (pretty close to Legoland). It is within walking distance to the beach, tons of restaurants and shops. The property is small but very well furnished with pools, a rec-room, beautiful lawn area, etc.. The prices were reasonable but it was also not prime-time. My only complaint was that it did not have room service- pretty important after a long tiring day of being a tourist in the town you used to live in. Check with the concierge about scoring free Legoland tickets for listening to a short time-share presentation. We did not need to do this because our friends had passes for us.
The SD Zoo is great but it is HUGE and there is a lot of walking. We also used to have passes to the Wild Animal Park which is great as well.
Most of what I recommend is in North County. Downtown SD also has a lot to offer. You might want to break your trip up by staying up the coast to Disneyland. As far as the big D goes, it is normally extremely crowded and expensive with very long lines. We enjoyed CA Adventure a lot more- but that was about five years ago. It is more open, less crowded and the lines were shorter. Not sure how it's changed since then.
There's my two cents.... ya get whatcha pay for!!
Have a wonderful time!!!
Pam
I used to live in SD. Legoland is an awesome theme-park!!! We used to have an annual pass to make it more affordable. It's excellent for kids of varying age groups. Also, during the SD RT, we stayed at the Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort (pretty close to Legoland). It is within walking distance to the beach, tons of restaurants and shops. The property is small but very well furnished with pools, a rec-room, beautiful lawn area, etc.. The prices were reasonable but it was also not prime-time. My only complaint was that it did not have room service- pretty important after a long tiring day of being a tourist in the town you used to live in. Check with the concierge about scoring free Legoland tickets for listening to a short time-share presentation. We did not need to do this because our friends had passes for us.
The SD Zoo is great but it is HUGE and there is a lot of walking. We also used to have passes to the Wild Animal Park which is great as well.
Most of what I recommend is in North County. Downtown SD also has a lot to offer. You might want to break your trip up by staying up the coast to Disneyland. As far as the big D goes, it is normally extremely crowded and expensive with very long lines. We enjoyed CA Adventure a lot more- but that was about five years ago. It is more open, less crowded and the lines were shorter. Not sure how it's changed since then.
There's my two cents.... ya get whatcha pay for!!
Have a wonderful time!!!
Pam
RunninTeach
Cathlete
Michele,
I just returned from a trip to San Diego last month. We stayed at the Hilton Bayfront, which is directly across from Petco Park and just a short walk to the Gaslamp Quarter and to Seaport Village. It seemed to be more geared toward business travelers than families, but the accommodations were very nice, and the waterfront made for an excellent spot for runners/walkers. Also, the Old Town Trolley makes a stop right there.
I would recommend Balboa Park, the Zoo, Coronado, and Old Town. But the highlight of the trip had to be the hot air balloon ride over Del Mar. Wow! Unforgettable!
We didn't get a chance to do this, but on a future visit, I would like to check out the USS Midway Museum.
For restaurants, I recommend breakfast at the Broken Yolk, breakfast or lunch at The Cheese Shop, dinner at Buon Appetito in Little Italy, and dessert at Extraordinary Desserts. We also ate lots of great Mexican. Oh, and the freshly-squeezed lemonade in Balboa Park is the best I've ever had!
Have a great time!
I just returned from a trip to San Diego last month. We stayed at the Hilton Bayfront, which is directly across from Petco Park and just a short walk to the Gaslamp Quarter and to Seaport Village. It seemed to be more geared toward business travelers than families, but the accommodations were very nice, and the waterfront made for an excellent spot for runners/walkers. Also, the Old Town Trolley makes a stop right there.
I would recommend Balboa Park, the Zoo, Coronado, and Old Town. But the highlight of the trip had to be the hot air balloon ride over Del Mar. Wow! Unforgettable!
We didn't get a chance to do this, but on a future visit, I would like to check out the USS Midway Museum.
For restaurants, I recommend breakfast at the Broken Yolk, breakfast or lunch at The Cheese Shop, dinner at Buon Appetito in Little Italy, and dessert at Extraordinary Desserts. We also ate lots of great Mexican. Oh, and the freshly-squeezed lemonade in Balboa Park is the best I've ever had!
Have a great time!
ms71069
Cathlete
Thanks, everyone, for all the help!
Cathy - had a horrible hot air balloon experience way back in '96 and will never step foot in one again. I'm glad you had a good time, though! It is an awesome experience...unfortunately, coming back down and landing for us was not a happy ending!
Cathy - had a horrible hot air balloon experience way back in '96 and will never step foot in one again. I'm glad you had a good time, though! It is an awesome experience...unfortunately, coming back down and landing for us was not a happy ending!
RunninTeach
Cathlete
Ut oh...sorry to hear that. We were forewarned about the possibility of a "rough" landing. What happened, if you don't mind my asking?