I'm attending a conference with work colleagues in San Diego the end of October staying at the Sheraton marina. We would really appreciate your suggestions on things to see and do. Any need to rent a car for a day? None of us have been to California, travelling from Ontario, Canada.

The Sheraton Marina is on Harbor Island across from the airport. You will be using a lot of taxis when you want to go out to dinner, explore downtown and Balboa Park.
You'll want to see Coronado Island, downtown San Diego, have a meal or two in Little Italy. You can tour the aircraft carrier USS Midway, now a museum on the city waterfront.
Balboa Park is beautiful, has many museums and the world famous zoo. You may want a car to explore the park and Coronado. On Harbor Island where your hotel is located, you'll get dinner with a view at Tom Ham's Lighthouse.

Unfortunately, the Sheraton is isolated on Harbor Island. Nothing to walk to.

How many people are sharing the taxi fare? A taxi to downtown SD is about $20. If split 3 or 4 ways that's not so much.

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How much time do you have for sightseeing? A lot depends on that as well as if it's just in the evening after a conference or if you have actual free days. Let us know and we can then give you an idea as to what you can visit on the free time you have available to you.

On Harbor Is for restaurants there's the highly rated Island Prime & C Level in the same bldg and Tom Ham's Lighthouse at the other end of the Island.

It also helps to know if you have any specific interests.

http://www.sandiego.org/

Thanks so much for those suggestions! There are 4 of us and we will have 2 possibly 3 days to explore. We haven't finalized how many days Of the conference we'll attend. We love to get into neighbourhoods, hike and walk. Don't need fine dining but appreciate good food at family run restaurants. Perhaps we should stay somewhere else and take a taxi to our conference?

You asked this question: "Any need to rent a car for a day?" and I think from the responses you have received the answer might be yes. It will depend on how much the rental would cost and if you want it for the entire time which would: save you taxi fare to and from the airport; make a car available whenever you wanted to use it. How are the four of you going to decide where to go and are all of you going to be in agreement all the time?

If the answer to the latter question is, "Who knows?" then perhaps taking taxis is a better idea.

The various things to visit in San Diego are not close together.

OTOH if you consult a map perhaps you really should stay elsewhere and that "elsewhere" could be a lot closer to downtown if nowhere else.

The Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma is interesting and has amazing views of the city and in the opposite direction, the ocean.

Old Town San Diego is also interesting, also Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of the California Missions.

TO visit all of these, which you could do in a day, you would need a car. They are miles apart.

On the Embarcadero not all that far from your hotel is the Star of India and the rest of the San Diego Maritime Museum. A bit further along is the already-mentioned Midway Museum.

Also on the Embarcadero you'll find Harbor cruises.

October usually has good weather, often very hot during the day. It is also "fire month" here, the time of year our biggest wildfires seem to happen.

If you stay at the Sheraton it is best to have a rental car. If not for the whole time than at least the days when you sightsee.

Just want to point out
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The Sheraton is across the street from the Airport and has a Shuttle to / from.

On a clear day in a car it's worth driving up to Cabrillo National Monument. The view from there is spectacular. And there are walking / hiking trails and tidepools.

I think you'd want to visit Downtown SD and walk along the boardwalk on the Bay / Marina.

Visit Little Italy, Balboa Park, Old Town. It's a short drive to Pacific Beach which has a very active boardwalk with joggers, dog walkers, rollerbladers. You can sit in restaurants along it and enjoy the view while eating or drinking.

Oh, elizzie's last point just reminded me - if you go to Coronado, have a drink at the bar overlooking the beach at the Hotel del Coronado. Great vibe, beautiful view, and take a walk on the beach there.

there is a walking tour of some wonderful old houses in Coronado. short but very interesting stories about them... Bought a walking book at a local shop there....

We have decided to stay in the Gaslamp area and cab it out to our conference on harbour island. We won't be renting a car but will have three days to explore downtown San Diego and places of interest by cab or public transit. Can we get to Little Italy on foot? What are some recommended restaurants in the area? We would love to get to the coastline and a beach - which location would be best walking or by transit? Is the boardwalk on the bay close to the Gaslamp Hilton?

Gaslamp to Little Italy- you can walk or take a red trolley.
Restaurants in Little Italy- Buon Appetito, Bencotto, Ironsides, Isola
Drive to the beaches, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach or Coronado Island( the closest.)
There is a waterfront promenade from Seaport Village to the Hilton.

IF you staying downt town you can take a long walk, or bus/trolly to Little Italy. So many great restaraunts there-just walk along and look at the menu's.

Also from downtown (walking)
-Seaport Village-little shops on the bay front, very scenic.
-SD Zoo-easy buses
-Old Town with historical buildings, restaraunts, etc. (Guadalajara Grill outside is best)
Walk or bus to the ferry Landing at B street Pier-take the ferry over to Corondado. You can walk around the landing there. Nice restaraunt is Peohe's, something more casual is Village Pizza
You can take the bus down Orange to the HOtel Del Coronado-which is a destination in itself. (Moo Town Ice cream!)


Some of The best parts of San Diego are outside of downtown, and you would need a car.

Have fun-from a San Diego Native!

I am going to SD for, literally, 24 hours and just rented a mid-size car ofr $26.

HTH

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It's the Green Line Trolley you'd take to get to Little Italy. Depending on where in Downtown you are staying (I hope not on 5th Ave) you can walk from Gaslamp to Little Italy in about 20 mins or so. A taxi would be about $6.00ish or less.

In Little Italy I like Buon Appetito, Davanti Enoteca, Prep Kitchen, Bencotto, Queenstown Public House, Isola Pizza Bar.

From Downtown you can walk to the USS Midway, Seaport Village, Maritime Museum. Harbor cruises. The Ferry to Coronado. The bus or taxi to Balboa Park and the Zoo.

You can take the Green Line Trolley to Old Town.