Exploring around San Diego
 

Looking for ideas on where to go and what to see in around San Diego. We have five days at the end of December and beginning of January before a conference on Coronado. We are interested in beaches, the desert, walks, gardens, natural attractions. We would be intersted in Anzo-Borrego and Baja California. We will have a car.

I just got back from Thanksgiving in San Diego.

Balboa Park
SeaPort Village
La Jolla

I wish we had driven up north to some of the beaches... like newport or huntington.

if it's a rental car you may not be able to take it into mexico. if you can, drive through tj and head to rosarito beach. get directions from visitor information on how to get through tj - it's not too difficult. then the rest of the drive is very pretty. so some shopping and have a late lunch or shop and then head a little further south to puerto nuevo (lobster village). that's a good place to eat. i'd recommend a late lunch so that you still have daylight when driving through tj. the border crossing could take an hour or more.
take a drive north one day and spend some time in laguna beach.
the first day you may want to jump on their trolley (it's actually a bus) which goes around the whole city hitting the major attractions like balboa park, coronado, old town and others. you can jump on & off throughout the day. it's a good way to get an overall view of the city.
la jolla down by the cove is a very nice place for an sunset walk, then go up to the village for dinner.
have fun...it's a GREAT city.

San Diego is definitely a great city.

We drove out to Point Loma, which is on a peninsula on the west side of the harbor. The views from there are incredible - the downtown area, the harbor, Coronado Island. Also since it is up high, it's a good vantage point for spotting whales. Depending on the weather, you might catch the beginning of their migration north. Also you can tour an old lighthouse and check out some tide pools down below.

If you are interested in the history of the area, there is a daily guided walking tour in Old Town - I think it's at 11. It takes about an hour and is pretty good.

Thanks, everyone for the helpful advice. Anzo-Borrego looks fascinating from the guidebooks. Does anyone have any experience there. Would you suggest an overnight trip?