Hi,

we are an Australian family visiting the USA for 5 weeks in October/November and we have 3-4 nights at the end of our trip to stay in the San Deigo area. We have never been south of OC before and want to spend a day in Encinitas. (for golf/Swami experiences)

Our children will be 12 and 10 and we are not interested in visiting the zoo or Legoland or Seaworld. We want to explore San Diego, La Jolla, Encinitas, Balboa Park and eat all the delicious regional food.

Where would you base yourself? We fly from LAX at 10pm on the last day. We will be hiring a car.

I would choose Encinitas over San Diego. I love the North County coastal towns- Carlsbad being my favorite. There is an Amtrak train station in Carlsbad and Encinitas so easy to get into the city and some other coastal towns without driving.

Everything except Encinitas is in San Diego, the city itself La Jolla (a suburb) and Balboa Park. If you stay in Encinitas you will be spending time commuting back and forth every day. I would stay in La Jolla. Closer to Encinitas than downtown is, but also closer to all the San Diego area things you want to do, plus lots of great places to eat.

MichelleY, yes that's on the list too! I forgot to type that in.
Thank you all for replying...

Encinitas is a cute town, and I also like the North County towns, but not sure there is enough to do there for 3-4 days with a 45 minute or so drive each way to San Diego itself.

We loved staying in La Jolla - so many good restaurants there and very pretty - Cody's, Brockton Villa, The Cottage, Puesto, Shorehouse, George's at the Cove. We stayed at the Grande Colonial. Have also stayed in San Diego at the Indigo and loved it, great if you want to go to the ballpark.