A few days in San Diego
 

We are from UK, want to spend 4 days seeing San Diego before our Panama Canal cruise. We are general tourists (over 60) who want to just do the 'touristy' things, any help on attractions, dining, etc would be helpful

You should probably get a guidebook to see what interests you.

The zoo is fabulous.

(you accidentally started a new thread rather than a reply message with your date in it)

In addiiton to the Zoo, there are several museums and attraction nearby in Balboa Park.
Also, the Gaslamp District is interesting. On the waterfront the retired aircraft carrier the USS Midway is open for tours. I think there are some other ships open for tours as well and, of course the beaches in the area are great. There is smallish, but nice aquarium near LaJolla. The Wild Animal Park is outside of Escondido to the north and worth a visit if you have time.

I'd avoid Tijuana, Mexico because of ongoing violent crime in the city.

We were in San Diego in May-we loved the Old Town Trolley tour.
You can get on and off and see a lot of the city. We got off at the Del Coronado Hotel and ate lunch-we loved walking on the beach there and looking around at the hotel.

I live in San Diego. To really see all that San Diego has to see, you will need to hire a car.

The Destination section of this web site would be a good place to begin.

The most famous thing to see is the San Diego Zoo. It's very hilly, but there is a bus tour round it and a gondola ride that takes you to the highest part. There are also some escalators and moving walkways to help.

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/

The Zoo is in Balboa Park, where there are many museums to see. There is also a great restaurant, the Prado.

http://www.balboapark.org/

On the Embarcadero, by San Diego Bay, the Midway museum is very interesting.

www.midway.org

The San Diego Maritime Museum is also in that area, including the Star of India sailing ship.

www.sdmaritime.com

The aquarium mentioned in La Jolla is the Birch Aquarium. It is part if the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/

The Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma is well worth a visit. Interesting history and fantastic views of the city.

http://www.nps.gov/cabr/

La Jolla is a lovely area for shopping, strolling and eating.

The Gaslamp District downtown is full of restaurants and clubs.

After you do a little research, come back and ask more questions. We're always happy to help.

Great list, Barbara! I would add a visit to Del Mar for the beach/Del Mar Plaza/stroll around and if you are fit, a hike at the Torrey Pines State Reserve on the beach trail is magnificent. Likewise, kayaking in the La Jolla Cove is truly special; we saw leopard sharks all around.

I would agree. The hikes at Torry Pines are absolutley a must for those that like hikes. They are all pretty short so you can still do other things in the same day like hitting La Jolla, or Robertos for lunch after your done hiking!

georgec:

The San Diego Convention Bureau www.sandiego.org is a great source of information and discount coupons. If you are not coming until April 09 you have time to request one of their free vacation planning guides.

Sandy