San Diego Trip Planning Guide

[landandword17]

Originally Posted by Aims

Hi landandword! Lots of good questions there For the main question, it will be busy in the city over Labor Day weekend depending on where you are. Beaches will be crowded that weekend, and popular tourist attractions like the Zoo and Sea World will be the busiest places to visit. Nighttime Zoo will be busy that weekend, too. Schools are back in session the day after Labor Day though, so I would hold off on the Zoo until the Tuesday- or even Wednesday is better. Downtown in the city center where you are staying will also be busy that weekend, as there are some special events that happen downtown at that time- I know there is a fireworks show on the bay on the 31st. I would suggest making dinner reservations ahead for restaurants downtown over Labor Day weekend. Once Labor Day has passed, things will quiet down more.



La Jolla would be a great place to visit over that weekend...it will be busy there but not to the degree that it will be in San Diego. It's not as easy to get to La Jolla without a car though, but you could always use Uber. Public transportation doesn't have a lot of options going there besides the city buses, which I don't really recommend. If you were to go to La Jolla Cove to see the sea lions, for example, it's about 13 miles from downtown San Diego...not sure how expensive an Uber that would be, but it's worth investigating. Another idea for seeing La Jolla would be through San Diego Trolley Tours. They offer a sightseeing tour of La Jolla, plus some of the other beaches in San Diego. Here is some info on that: trolleytours/san-die...trips-la-jolla


Uber is allowed to pick up outside the airport terminals. Flying in from Hawaii, I'm guessing you will be arriving in terminal 2...if so, after you leave the baggage claim area and go outside, you will cross at the main crosswalk and go to the Transportation Plaza. From there, you will see signs directing you to where the Ride Share pickup location is. If you have to get a taxi instead, you just follow the same directions to the Transportation Plaza and you will see where the taxi stand is.

I can't believe you have been finding dropping prices for hotels for Labor Day weekend- lucky you! I am really surprised by that.




Yes, I know exactly what you mean! If you need any help with putting your itinerary together, let me know.

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Thanks Aims. Very helpful. I forgot to ask for food recs but I see someone asked after me so have saved your response.

That tour to La Jolla looks good, I think we’ll go for that vs getting an Uber.

I was so surprised about hotel prices too. We initially booked the Hotel Republic for $155 which I was happy with but it’s now down to $112 and Orbitz allowed me to use the first time app 15% promo code so it made it a steal and gives us some extra spends to do the zoo and a tour.

Edit: one more question. We want to get to a Bed, Bath and Beyond. Am I right in thinking the trolley will get us there by getting out at the Fashion Valley stop? It’s not very clear if it’s walking distance in google maps. We’ll get an Uber if it’s not. Thanks.

[Aims]

Originally Posted by landandword17

Edit: one more question. We want to get to a Bed, Bath and Beyond. Am I right in thinking the trolley will get us there by getting out at the Fashion Valley stop? It’s not very clear if it’s walking distance in google maps. We’ll get an Uber if it’s not. Thanks.

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Sorry I am late in replying to this. I was at Knotts Berry Farm all day yesterday and got home late. Bed Bath and Beyond is in the Mission Valley Mall, so you will need to take the Green Line on the San Diego trolley and get off at the Mission Valley Center stop. That is the closest stop to that mall. It will be a bit of a walk as the stop is behind the back section of the shopping center and you will need to cross a street to get to the main mall where Bed Bath and Beyond is. There are some directions from the trolley stop on the mall’s website here: westfield/missionval...o/getting-here

[landandword17]

Originally Posted by Aims

Sorry I am late in replying to this. I was at Knotts Berry Farm all day yesterday and got home late. Bed Bath and Beyond is in the Mission Valley Mall, so you will need to take the Green Line on the San Diego trolley and get off at the Mission Valley Center stop. That is the closest stop to that mall. It will be a bit of a walk as the stop is behind the back section of the shopping center and you will need to cross a street to get to the main mall where Bed Bath and Beyond is. There are some directions from the trolley stop on the mall’s website here: westfield/missionval...o/getting-here

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Thanks 👍

[fatblokeflorida]

Originally Posted by landandword17

Thanks 👍

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Hi Amy, we will be in San Diego in a few days time and our boys would like to jet ski and possibly go deep sea fishing so can recommend any good jet ski rental companies or half day deep sea fishing trip companies? Thanks as always

[Aims]

Originally Posted by fatblokeflorida

Hi Amy, we will be in San Diego in a few days time and our boys would like to jet ski and possibly go deep sea fishing so can recommend any good jet ski rental companies or half day deep sea fishing trip companies? Thanks as always

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Wow, you are already in California- welcome to the west coast! I hope you are having a fun time, so far.

I’ve never been on a jet ski (except once when I was a kid), but I have heard only good things about this rental place that is on San Diego bay: sdbayadventures/

For deep sea fishing, I’d recommend looking at either Seaforth Sportfishing: seaforthlanding/ or H&M Landing: hmlanding/ They have both been in San Diego a long time and have good reputations.

[fatblokeflorida]

Originally Posted by Aims

Wow, you are already in California- welcome to the west coast! I hope you are having a fun time, so far.

I’ve never been on a jet ski (except once when I was a kid), but I have heard only good things about this rental place that is on San Diego bay: sdbayadventures/

For deep sea fishing, I’d recommend looking at either Seaforth Sportfishing: seaforthlanding/ or H&M Landing: hmlanding/ They have both been in San Diego a long time and have good reputations.

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Thanks Amy. You always come up with the goods🙂

Loving the West Coast so far. Leave Monterey for Pismo tomorrow then onto LA before we reach San Diego for 5 nights. Other than tickets for the Padres and a day at the zoo, we have no other definite plans at the moment

[Aims]

Originally Posted by fatblokeflorida

Thanks Amy. You always come up with the goods🙂

Loving the West Coast so far. Leave Monterey for Pismo tomorrow then onto LA before we reach San Diego for 5 nights. Other than tickets for the Padres and a day at the zoo, we have no other definite plans at the moment

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I really enjoyed Pismo when I stayed there- pretty beach. When you’re there, treat yourself to some cinnamon rolls here: oldwestcinnamonrolls/ 😋👍

If you are stuck for any ideas for San Diego when you get here, give me a shout and I will be glad to give some suggestions. I recommend doing the Old Town Trolley tour on one of the days. You will get a nice overall look at the city and it goes over to Coronado too. The drivers serve up some trivia on San Diego, and some silly jokes. It’s just a fun way to get to know some of the background of the city and see some spots you might not get to on your own. You could easily spend a full day on the tour if you get off at any of it’s numerous stops to explore. Or you can keep it briefer and just stay on the trolley. I’d suggest starting the tour at it’s official beginning point in Old Town State Park. Here’s the tour info: trolleytours/san-diego

[fatblokeflorida]

Originally Posted by Aims

I really enjoyed Pismo when I stayed there- pretty beach. When you’re there, treat yourself to some cinnamon rolls here: oldwestcinnamonrolls/ 😋👍

If you are stuck for any ideas for San Diego when you get here, give me a shout and I will be glad to give some suggestions. I recommend doing the Old Town Trolley tour on one of the days. You will get a nice overall look at the city and it goes over to Coronado too. The drivers serve up some trivia on San Diego, and some silly jokes. It’s just a fun way to get to know some of the background of the city and see some spots you might not get to on your own. You could easily spend a full day on the tour if you get off at any of it’s numerous stops to explore. Or you can keep it briefer and just stay on the trolley. I’d suggest starting the tour at it’s official beginning point in Old Town State Park. Here’s the tour info: trolleytours/san-diego

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Hi Amy, Really enjoyed Pismo but unfortunately didnt find the cinnamon rolls shop🙁 Thanks for offering to help with suggestions whilst we are in SD. We leave for SD tomorrow for 5 nights but will be heading to Santa Monica first as SM was so busy on Saturday we couldn't get anywhere near it, so after spending some time there then the journey down to SD, checking in and we have tickets for the Padres game tomorrow evening i think we have a fairly full day tomorrow. After that, any advice you can give to make best use of our time would be appreciated. We already have tickets for the zoo so will be going there and the trolley tour you've suggested sounds ideal to get our bearings around the city. What's the best and most economic way of using the trolley tour, travelling around the city etc? We have a car but im easy using Uber/Lyft if that works out easier? Other things of interest would be USS Midway (although think it might just be me for that), Top Gun bar, some time at the beach, possibly a fishing trip and jet skiing as per earlier messages. Some time around the pool would also be welcome I'm sure but not trips to Legoland, sea world etc as we are coming back to Disney and Universal for our theme park fix after we leave SD. Im sure they are lots of things ive missed so please feel ftee to recommend away. The wife and kids have already bought most of the Premium Outlets at Pismo so im not sure what else they could possibly need but they are still keen on doing more shopping at either Carlsbad or Las Americas, so which of those would you recommend?
Sorry for rambling but would appreciate any suggestions you might have🙂🙂

[Aims]

Lots of good questions there! Give me a few minutes to think them over and I will get back to you with another post real soon. But let me ask you this- where will be you be staying in San Diego? Will you be near downtown?

[fatblokeflorida]

Originally Posted by Aims

Lots of good questions there! Give me a few minutes to think them over and I will get back to you with another post real soon. But let me ask you this- where will be you be staying in San Diego? Will you be near downtown?

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Sorry Amy - we are staying on Shelter Island