best area to stay in san diego
 

Can anyone offer suggestions on the best area to stay in san diego? Good for family with young kids. Doesn't have to be beach, just easy to get public transport and good restaurants. Thanks

The best places to stay to use public transportation are Little Italy, further downtown near the bay and Old Town.

It really depends on what your budget is. Here are just a few choices.

Best Western Plus Bayside in Little Italy is a quick walk to the bay to see the sights there. And easy to use the Trolley service a block away. Bus is close.

Wyndham Bayside and the Embassy Suites are both across the street from the Bay and easy to use bus and trolley.

Old Town isn't walking distance to anywhere else but easy to use public transport.

I prefer Coronado, but it really depends on your preferences and your activities.

I wouldn't mind nice shops and restaurants, but we do plan to see seaworld and legoland. bit more historical area but not night clubs etc would be nice. Would Old Town be good for this or Mission Valley?

Not Mission Valley so much. It would be more time consuming than staying in Little Italy or Old Town. A lot of hotels in MV (Hotel Circle) aren't a good idea w/o a car.

Oh, I just see you want to go to Legoland. Not very easy w/o a car. LL is about a 40 mins drive away by car in the town of Carlsbad. Had you thought about how you are going to get there? A tour or ? The Amtrak train will take you and then you'd have to get from the Carlsbad train station via a bus or taxi.
http://www.amtrak.com/home

Via car:
http://goo.gl/maps/VpBrl

I think with the train and bus or taxi it could be closer to 2 hrs.

would be helpful if you told us what type of room you want - 2 queens in one room ok? or, 1 or 2 bedroom? how much in US$ do you want to pay? how do you plan to get to legoland without a car? can you not drive or you just prefer not too? san diego is much more enjoyable with a vehicle, at least for a few days. are we talking 2 nights? 14 nights? details would help us help you.

Little Italy and Old Town are great fun areas especially for adults. But, they aren't really kid or child friendly. Little Italy is a mix of restaurants, businesses and is more commercial. Old Town is really a tourist destination. People go there to eat out, see some historic buildings. If you have children I would be worried about traffic, noise, and few places for them to enjoy being a kid.

Coronado is actually a residential town with lots of family friendly parks, beaches, bays, you can bike around town with the kids, play at beautiful family friendly parks, etc. Coronado has great public transporation over to downtown (just across the bay) and Balboa Park and the Zoo.

You might also consider Mission Bay's Paradise Point Resort. It's on a beautiful bay with opportunities to do water activities. It's got good access to freeways as well.

Should note that Mission Bay has good access to freeways particularly if you have a car (a bus does pick up people to go into downtown but San Diego sadly doesn't really have good public transportation period).

elizzie is right about Legoland. You simply can't reasonably take public transportation from downtown, Coronado, Mission Bay, La Jolla or other areas up to LegoLand in Carlsbad. By car it's a good 40-60 minutes depending on traffic. By public transport it would be a nightmare IMHO.

Are you going to rent a car? You really should.

Getting any where in San Diego without a car seems to be a nightmare waiting to happen.

We just got home (SD) from a trip and I had the bright idea that we should "go green and take public transportation."

It will be weeks before my husband will ever listen to my advice.

Thanks for the advice. We are only staying 4 nights, so 3 days to do things. One day will be sea world one day Lego land (can you get ticket with shuttle bus?) And one day just to look around maybe do the trolley. Accom can be 2 beds as kids can share.

<<(can you get ticket with shuttle bus?) >>

There is NO shuttle bus to LegoLand. It's too far away!

Did you see the directions I gave you using the Amtrak train? Then a taxi to Legoland. If the kids are young they'll need a car seat in the taxi. It will take over an hour.
http://goo.gl/maps/RrFyW

The 101 Bus from the Carlsbad train station to Legoland will add another hour.
http://goo.gl/maps/z6nu5

Don't confuse the Old Town Trolley Tour with our lightrail trolley.

I think we'll skip staying there and just do day trip from LA to seaworld. Leave out Lego land too

Do yourself a favor and rent a car. Stay in Mission Valley or somewhere that you won't have to pay for parking.

how are you going to get from LA to Seaworld?

Starline have tours

With only 3 days, 72 hours that equals about 42 are actually for having fun b/c you'll be sleeping and getting ready to have fun. Do you really want to spend 12 to 15 of those hours on public transportation?

With 2 children who may be cranky and tired from traveling?

Reiterating what others have said - rent a car, especially if you are travelling with children.

I see from your other thread, that you are also going to Las Vegas. How are you getting from Vegas to California?

tom42, we are traveling all over the states but planning to come from mexico in to san diego before heading to hawaii