jft

We are planning a trip to San Diego and Palm Springs in mid- late January from Jan 19-28, 2023 for our family (4-5 adults between 30-65). One/two will be coming from Santa Cruz ( either fly or drive), the others from Toronto. ( fly into SD and out of Palm Springs for Torontonians). What area of SD is best for accommodation for mid/end January. I am thinking a vrbo rental of home or condo for SD or could be a hotel although would need multiple rooms.... I am thinking a villa rental in Palm Springs area......How should we divide the 9 nights between the two locations? Suggestions of highlights of the 2 destinations....also is the day trip to valle de guadalope wineries in Mexico worthwhile ( bus trip) from SD.
Thanks for your help!

sunbum1944

I like to stay in the north county cities when in the San Diego area. Carlsbad is my favorite but there are others- DelMar, La Jolla etc. From Carlsbad you can take the train into San Diego or several of the other beach towns. I don't have a particular hotel to suggest as my daughter used to live in Carlsbad and I stayed with her.
Carlsbad has a great outlet mall for shopping.
If you are interested in wine tasting I can suggest a day trip to Temecula. Many nice wineries there.
I have only been to Palm Springs once. I'm not into golf, pickle ball or tennis but there is a lot of that to do. We did a jeep tour to Joshua Tree which was nice.
Hope you enjoy trip. I am Canadian too- from Saskatchewan and living in the US

MichelleY

Agree with checking out Temecula wine tasting.

We have stayed in the Pacific Beach area: the Catamaran Resort and Blue Sea Beach Hotel. Blue Sea is part of the Pacifica Hotel Group. They have a hotel in La Jolla and hotels all along the coast

https://www.pacificahotels.com/hotels

I think it would also be cool to stay on Coronado.

Plenty to see and do: the San Diego Zoo, old town, Little Italy, the USS Midway aircraft carrier, Hotel del Coronado.

Palm Springs is golf and tennis heaven. We stayed in a small MCM hotel in PS. Enjoyed riding the tram up Mt. Jacinto, hiking San Andreas palm canyon, visiting Oasis Date Gardens. Joshua Tree and Living Desert Museum. Liked checking out the MCM architecture and fun restaurants.

Jean

"...also is the day trip to valle de guadalope wineries in Mexico worthwhile ( bus trip) from SD."

This is not something I would do for a few reasons... There has been a lot of violence in Baja state (and other northern states of Mexico) in the past week. In Baja, it's mostly concentrated in/near Tijuana and not specifically directed at tourists or Americans. Frankly, Mexicans can't figure out exactly what the cartels are trying to do with these most recent attacks other than generate chaos and fear. One can be hopeful things will be better in northern Baja by January, but I wouldn't bet on it. It's drug cartels, and they're not going away. Plus, from San Diego, it's at least a 2-hour bus ride each way. And, if you're driving from SD to PS, you'll drive right through the Temecula wine area.

Barbara

I agree with Jean about a trip to wineries in Baja. This past weekend, the US Consulate in Tijuana had all their employees shelter at home.

For where-to-stay in San Diego, I would decide what you want to do, then find somewhere fairly close to it all. There's no point in staying in one of the north county beach towns if you have to travel to downtown San Diego each day. The traffic on I-5 is busy all the time.

You might also consider the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. Fantastic views of San Diego and the vast Pacific. If you do drive there, check out Point Loma Seafood for lunch. You should go to the Midway Museum and right next to it are several good restaurants, The Fish Market to the south and the Brigantine further north on the Embarcadero.


https://pointlomaseafoods.com/

https://www.thefishmarket.com/location/san-diego/

https://www.brigantine.com/

jft

[QUOTE=Barbara;17391367]I agree with Jean about a trip to wineries in Baja. This past weekend, the US Consulate in Tijuana had all their employees shelter at home.

For where-to-stay in San Diego, I would decide what you want to do, then find somewhere fairly close to it all. There's no point in staying in one of the north county beach towns if you have to travel to downtown San Diego each day. The traffic on I-5 is busy all the time.

You might also consider the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. Fantastic views of San Diego and the vast Pacific. If you do drive there, check out Point Loma Seafood for lunch. You should go to the Midway Museum and right next to it are several good restaurants, The Fish Market to the south and the Brigantine further north on the Embarcadero.


https://pointlomaseafoods.com/

https://www.thefishmarket.com/location/san-diego/

https://www.brigantine.com/

Thanks for all the replies. I will look into the suggestions! For some reason I am having trouble adding a reply using my phone.

jft

Thank everyone who has replied so far. I will read up on the suggestions. I will look into Temecula and skip Mexico wineries. I will look into both hotels or rentals probably closer to San Diego proper to avoid daily traffic and depending on what the group wants may head out La . I haven't decided on number of days in each place but am thinking arriving Jan 19-24 in San Diego and drive to Palm springs 24-28 when we fly home.

sunbum1944

Wine tasting can be expensive of course. I think most wineries in Temecula will charge a tasting fee which can be up to $20/pp. I enjoyed tasting almond champagne at Wilson Creek. It was served in a chocolate shell. I have not been there since pandemic started so things may have changed. I read on line that there are tickets you can purchase online which are 2 for 1. Perhaps your hotel will have more information.