San Diego is the most immediately liveable city in California — a claim it makes with justification, backed by 266 sunny days per year, a mild Pacific climate that rarely exceeds 30°C in summer or drops below 10°C in winter, and a general atmosphere of having arrived at a satisfactory arrangement with life. It is younger and less frenetic than Los Angeles to the north, less expensive than San Francisco further up the coast, and possessed of a beach culture, a naval presence, a large Mexican-American population, and a proximity to the border that gives it a distinct character.
We first experienced San Diego at the end of a long ride down the Pacific Coast. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express near Sea World and rode down to the Mexican border the following day. It’s not far nor hard to do this although as you get closer to the fence, the border patrol is more evident (in trucks, in hovering helicopters and on horseback). We returned a couple of years later to start another ride from dog beach. We went downtown once and saw the gaslamp area otherwise we’ve seen more of the surrounds of San Diego than its core.
A Little Background
The area was home to the Kumeyaay people for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived. Junípero Serra established Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769 — the first of the 21 Alta California missions, and the beginning of Spanish colonial presence on what would become the American West Coast. The city remained small through the Spanish and Mexican periods; American control came with the Mexican-American War in 1848, and growth followed the arrival of the transcontinental railroad in 1885. The United States Navy established a significant presence during the early twentieth century and remains the city’s largest employer.
San Diego is the closest major American city to the Mexican border — Tijuana is 29 kilometres south, connected by one of the busiest land border crossings in the world. The cultural and economic relationship between the two cities is closer and more intertwined than the border suggests.
What to See and Do
Balboa Park is the cultural centre of San Diego — 490 hectares of gardens, museums, and performance venues in the middle of the city. The park was developed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, and the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture of its central buildings is exceptional. Within it: the San Diego Museum of Art (strong Spanish masters, American art; adult approximately US$20); the Natural History Museum; the Fleet Science Center; the Mingei International Museum of folk art; and — the main reason most people come — the San Diego Zoo. The zoo (adult approximately US$64) is among the best in the world, consistently ranked in the top tier globally, and known particularly for its giant panda programme. Allow a full day for the zoo alone; Balboa Park more broadly warrants a separate visit.
The Gaslamp Quarter is downtown San Diego’s entertainment and restaurant district — a sixteen-block area of Victorian commercial buildings (the largest concentration in the US) now occupied by restaurants, bars, and clubs. It is lively, well-preserved architecturally, and a reasonable base for exploring the downtown waterfront.
Coronado is a small island — technically a peninsula — connected to downtown San Diego by the Coronado Bridge (one of the better views of the city) and by ferry from Broadway Pier. The Hotel del Coronado, a Victorian beach resort that opened in 1888, is one of the great American resort hotels; even without staying there, the building and its beach setting warrant an hour of your time. Coronado Beach itself is consistently rated among the best in California.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is the site of the original Spanish and Mexican settlement — a cluster of adobe buildings, a reconstructed plaza, and several decent Mexican restaurants around a central square. The history is genuine and the food is better here than in the tourist areas downtown.
The USS Midway Museum — the aircraft carrier USS Midway is moored on the Embarcadero and open as a museum (adult approximately US$26). It is the most visited naval aviation museum in the country; 29 restored aircraft on the flight deck and hangar, with audio tours narrated by veterans. Worth two hours.
La Jolla is a coastal village 22 kilometres north of downtown, set on a clifftop above coves and caves — one of the more beautiful stretches of the California coast. The La Jolla Cove beach is small and popular; the sea lion colony on the Children’s Pool beach is an improbable attraction. The Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (adult approximately US$22) overlooks the Pacific from above La Jolla.
The Tijuana Border Crossing — if you have crossed international land borders before and know the process, the San Diego Trolley Blue Line runs directly to San Ysidro (US$2.50), from where you walk across to Tijuana. The return crossing by foot is usually faster than by car. Tijuana’s Avenida Revolución (the traditional tourist strip) is noisy and commercial; the Zona Río neighbourhood further east has the city’s best restaurants and a more authentic street life. A full day in Tijuana and back is feasible from San Diego; check your entry documentation requirements before you go.
Getting There
San Diego International Airport (SAN) is 5 kilometres from downtown — unusually close for a major American airport. Taxis and rideshares to the Gaslamp Quarter cost approximately US$15; the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Bus Route 992 connects the airport to the city centre for US$2.50. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner runs north along the coast to Los Angeles (approximately 3 hours) and beyond to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo — one of the more scenic rail journeys on the West Coast.
Cost and Hours
San Diego is expensive by the standards of most of the world but somewhat more affordable than Los Angeles or San Francisco. Mid-range hotels downtown or in the Gaslamp Quarter run US$180–300 per night; La Jolla and Coronado tend to be more. Allow three days minimum; four is comfortable for including the zoo, Balboa Park properly, and a day in La Jolla or Coronado.