Sadie_Molloy

Hi. My hubby and I are planning a 4 night trip from Mar.26 to Mar.30. We are debating between Las Vegas and San Diego. We've been to Vegas before and know where we want to stay and what to do there. We've always wanted to go to San Diego and the 4 night hotel/air fare deals for both are pretty close in pricing with San Diego being a little more expensive.

I'm hoping someone can give me some info on the San Diego area. We normally like to stay in 4* hotels so any tips on accomodations would be appreciated. The package deals we're looking at may limit what hotel we can stay at anyway.

We also have no idea what area to stay in. We do like cites such as Vegas and New York where you can walk pretty much everywhere you want to go but we will have a car as well. Any hotels who would "not" have a parking fee?

We know about the San Diego Zoo and Sea World but don't know about any other attractions. We also love the beach. Any info on nice beaches to go and if you think it'd be warm enough there during the dates we're going. We'd like to hit the beach for at least half a day.

Thanks for any help you can give us!

boom_boom

Old Town San Diego is worth a visit. Also, there is an aircraft carrier as a musuem at the waterfront. The Gaslamp area of the city has man good restaurants, there is a nice aquarium in La Jolla (Scripps),museums in Balboa Park. Then if you want to drive a bit, there is Wild Animal Park near Escondido and wine tasting in the Temecula area.
I think late March is a little iffy on the beach, but in California you never know, could be 80 degrees by then.
The Hilton Gaslamp is very nice hotel.

ksucat

Great deals right now for 4-5* hotels..

Downtown SD..US Grant Hotel, The Ivy or the Hotel Solamar.

La Jolla..Grande Colonial Hotel, La Valencia Hotel, Estancia Hotel or The Lodge at Torrey Pines.

Del Mar..
Grand Del Mar Resort
L'Auberge Resort

Carlsbad..
La Costa Resort
Four Seasons

Lots to do here..beach will be cool and not really the weather for it but its a beautiful city and you won't be bored.

Barbara

If you want to be able to walk to as many things as possible, then I'd suggest you stay in a hotel downtown. You still can't walk to everything, but your reach is expanded by using the Trolley to get to Old Town, San Diego Mission de Alcala, Fashion Valley Mall.

If you haven't already done so, I'd also suggest that you look at the destination page here for San Diego. It's really informative and may give you ideas that aren't mentioned here.

nanabee

Sadie Molloy

The beaches will be fun, but the water will be cold. My kids always loved going to La Jolla Cove to look at the sea life in the tide pools. It is a small sheltered beach with lifeguards and close to the Village (or main downtown area of La Jolla).
The Cove is next to a lovely park where kids can run around and picnic, and it's also a brief short walk to the Children's Pool another beach area (no swimming) where you can watch about a hundred seals in their natural habitat.

LSky

Stay downtown. You can go to the Gaslamp, ferry over to Coronado, the Zoo and Balbao Park are near by.

If your going to have a car, it's even better. Take a drive up to La Jolla and Torrey Pines.

The beach is lovely in the winter- dress warm. It's still a nice place to walk and enjoy. Even better without the all the tourists.

Old Town isn't as much fun as it used to be since they let some corporation take it over.

What areas are you considering for a hotel?

LSky

Meant to add that the hotels downtown will not have free parking but other areas will.

Tell us the areas you are considering.

Sadie_Molloy

Thanks so much guys. This is a great help! I was thinking about the Gaslamp area because it looks like it's in the centre of everything. I also saw a few air fare/hotel deals for the Mission Bay area. It looks like a beautiful spot but I'm thinking it's way to far from the downtown/Gaslamp area. Am I right?

I'm not 100% sure about how to navigate old threads but I typed in San Diego in the search at the top of the page and found some other threads about San Diego with great info. Is this what you mean by search the destination page for San Diego? Also how do you bookmark a thread? I've read other threads where people have said they've done this but I don't know how. I came across some really good threads on San Francisco & Hawaii (2 places I'm hoping to get to next year)but I just copied all the info in a word document Is that what they call old school. Lol!

jerseygirlk

Sadie-

This past August was our first trip to San Diego. We opted to rent a condo right off Gaslamp to we could walk as much as possible and use the trolley. Being from the East Coast i loved the outdoor Horton Plaza(mall) right in the middle of Gaslamp. We did touristy type things such as the zoo, old town, took in a preseason football game at Qualcomm, you can also attend a baseball game at Petco, ferry to Coronado plus an afternoon of driving around Coronado and riding out on the strip, Embarcadero and Seaport Village, Scripps aquarium in La Jolla , Cabrillo Monument in Point Loma and spending an afternoon just roaming around Gaslamp.


Restaurants were the Cheese shop on fourth, Phil's Bar B Q in Point Loma, In and Out Burger, Point Loma Seafood (a Rachael Ray 40 dollars a day), Anthony's, Panda Inn (Chinese upstairs in the mall) and not to be missed George's in La Jolla. They have a smoked chicken/bean soup which is a must and also a reservation is a good idea.

This is just a quick overview of our vacation.

Hope this helped.

LSky

Mission Bay is a pretty quick trip into downtown, less than 10 miles.
For a 4 day trip with your own car, everything is close in San Diego.

Downtown has a lot of clubs and restaurants at your doorstep. If I were coming here on a package, I'd pick my hotel by the amenities.

You've used the search fct correctly. As for bookmarking threads, I do it "old school" too.
Have a great trip to San Diego, hope we have splendid weather for you.

ncounty

ksucat gave a great list of hotels already. MY favorites on that list are The Estancia in La Jolla, The Lodge at Torrey Pines and The Grande Del Mar. Downtown in the Gaslamp, I like the Hotel Solamar which is a Kimpton boutique hotel. That is the most happening central location; my other favorites would involve driving to wherever you want to go to.

Melissa5

Sadie_Malloy, I'm afraid San Diego is so spread out that no matter where you stay, you will have to drive...unless you want an adventure, then you can try our public transportation system, which isn't very efficient.

I live in San Diego and love it here. But I never understand why visitors want to see the gaslamp district, downtown San Diego, or Seaport Village shopping area...my husband and I venture around San Diego county frequently, and we don't think the gaslamp district or downtown San Diego are very interesting. Seaport Village is just a shopping mall, and is very touristy...not the best thing to see in San Diego.

We also travel internationally every year, but there are areas of San Diego county that we are very fond of... La Jolla Cove, as someone mentioned, is a really nice area...you can see the seals at La Jolla Cove, sit on the beach, or walk along the path up above the beach. Such a pretty area...I just walked there again today and I never tire of it. La Jolla Cove is within walking distance to many cute and tasty little cafes and restaurants in La Jolla...on the map see Girard Avenue and Prospect Street, both in La Jolla, and all the little side streets nearby. The streets near the La Jolla Cove are referred to as the Village...however, don't confuse that with La Jolla Village shopping center on La Jolla Village drive, which is much more inland! (Confusing, I know.)

Enjoy your visit.

1JAR

It might be good to look at a map for San Diego. If you are coming to San Diego to see the Ocean I would stay in the Hotel Del Coronado (check priceline or San Deigo Convention/Visitors Bureau sites for some great deals, Sign On San Diego, KIXI 96.5 website)
or LA JOlla Shores.

There is a place called Crystal Pier that has cottages on it over the ocean near Mission Beach and also Tower 24 Hotels is on teh beach kind of a hip newer place..

Barbara

Sadie_Molloy,

You will find the Destination page at Fodor's by looking towards the top of your screen. Right below the Fodor's name is "talk" (where you are now) and "destinations" (where you need to go).

Barbara

Sadie_Molloy,

You will find the Destination page at Fodor's by looking towards the top of your screen. To the right of the Fodor's name is "talk" (where you are now) and "destinations" (where you need to go).

Sadie_Molloy

Thanks for the info on the "destinations" page. Right in front of my eyes. Geesh!

I'm thinking if we go we'll stay in the downtown/Gaslamp area. If it was later in the year we'd probably stay closer to the ocean. We will have a car so we can drive to the La Jolla & Torrey Pines areas that someone mentioned. And we'd be in a central location to walk to shops and restaurants and maybe have a drink or two without having to worry about driving in the evening.

I'll have to sit down and go over everything with hubby and decide where we want to go. If we do pick Vegas for this Spring you're help will not be lost. San Diego is definitely on my list of places to visit so I'll be saving this info to reference later.

Thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate it!

ksucat

If you do go to Vegas in the Spring, things book quickly because of the conventions that are heavy in March/April..
Sign up for the Wynn Las Vegas e-mail and get incredible deals..$109 a night for a 5* hotel..

wynnlasvegas.com

mrdsk

Check the review written here. I think it captures all the good things you can do while in san diego.
http://tripladder.com/reviews/read_review?review_id=13