SAN DIEGO · CALIFORNIA
Seventy degrees and sunshine, all year.
Pacific beaches, the Gaslamp at night, sea caves at La Jolla, the world’s most-reviewed zoo, a walkable warship and a hop across the border. Southern California, top to bottom.
The one everyone starts with
If you only do one thing in San Diego.
Every traveller’s list starts somewhere. In San Diego it starts here.
The classics
San Diego’s Most Popular Tours
The Zoo, the harbour, the Midway, the trolley loop, the whale boats and the sea caves. The things most travellers come to San Diego for.
Three coasts in a day
Bay water, ocean water, the line south.
San Diego sits on a corner of the map. The bay turns its back on the ocean. The ocean meets sandstone cliffs to the north. Mexico waits thirty minutes south. You can touch all three before dinner.
The Bay
Glass water, skyline, sailboats.San Diego Bay sits inside Point Loma like a held breath. Harbor cruises, dinner boats, sailing tours and the SEAL amphibious tour all launch from here.
The Pacific
Sea caves, kayaks, whales offshore.Twenty minutes north, the coast turns to sandstone cliffs and hidden sea caves. La Jolla Cove protects a colony of sea lions; whales pass offshore on the Pacific migration.
The Border
Mexico, before lunch.Thirty minutes south, the country changes. Tijuana day tours cross the busiest land border in the western hemisphere — taco crawls, brewery walks, and back by sunset.
Only in San Diego
Three things that belong to this city.
Zoos exist everywhere; the San Diego one runs the world’s biggest endangered-species breeding programme. Warships exist everywhere; only the Midway is moored and walkable. Sea caves exist everywhere; only La Jolla’s are kayakable on the US mainland Pacific.
World-class wildlife
The Zoo
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance runs the largest captive-breeding programme of endangered species in the world. The Frozen Zoo holds 11,000 cell lines from 1,300 species — material that has already brought species back from the brink. The Safari Park, 30 miles north, lets you cross 1,800 acres of African plains by tram.
- 1 San Diego Zoo 1-Day Pass: Any Day Ticket
- 2 San Diego Zoo Admission Ticket
- 3 San Diego Zoo: 1-Day Admission Ticket
On a working warship
The Midway
The USS Midway served from 1945 to 1992 — the longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century. She fought in Vietnam and led the carrier force in Desert Storm. Now docked at Navy Pier, you walk her flight deck and her hangar, the only place in the world you can do that on a Navy warship of her vintage.
See all 1 →Sea caves on the Pacific
The Seven Sisters
The sandstone cliffs at La Jolla Cove are pocked with seven sea caves — the only paddleable sea-cave system on the US mainland Pacific coast. The cove itself is a no-take marine reserve protecting the only public-beach sea-lion colony in California. Kayak in, snorkel out, dry off on the cliffs.
- 1 La Jolla Sea Caves Kayak Tour For Two (Tandem Kayak)
- 2 Original La Jolla Sea Cave Kayak Tour for Two
- 3 La Jolla: 2-Hour Kayak Tour of the 7 Caves
Passport in pocket
Mexico, and back before sunset.
San Ysidro is the busiest land border in the western hemisphere — and a thirty-minute trolley ride from downtown San Diego. Cross on foot, eat the taco the Cali-Baja food scene was built on, and ride back across at golden hour.
By neighbourhood
Pick a corner of San Diego.
La Jolla for the sea caves. Gaslamp for the evening. Coronado for the bridge and the beach. Old Town for the first day California ever had. Little Italy for Saturday. Pacific Beach for the boardwalk.
By activity
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Boat if you want the bay. Kayak if you want the caves. Trolley if you want the loop. Walking if you want the streets. Food, whales, evening cruises, day trips into Baja — pick your pace.
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