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Old 11 Jan 24, 07:35 PM  
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#381
Young Pooh
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We stayed at the Best Western Yacht Harbor at the end of October and can confirm they have free parking (under cover) plus a free breakfast. The hotel is basic but clean and very good value for money.

It is a good location, near to the airport but still only a short drive/uber to downtown. There are also a few eating/drinking places across the road along the waterfront.
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Old 11 Jan 24, 11:10 PM  
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#382
dizzymcfarlane
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Aims, thank you for reply. Everything is up in the air just now till it’s confirmed what’s happening with our trip to Galápagos. We would probably spend 4/5 days and go elsewhere exploring.
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Old 25 Jan 24, 02:53 PM  
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Im back on this thread three years after our last failed attempt to get here... it is surely going to happen this time! Aimes advice was excellent and I have read back on it but we are doing things a bit differently.

Coming in the heat of July (not our choice, but circumstance dictated dates) We are doing the LA thing first, then taking the Pacific Surfliner from Burbank to SD for 5 nights at the Bahia.

we plan to do the usual first timer stuff: midway, gaslamp; balboa; seaworld and also take in some down time in resort and beach.

we wont have a car so have been doing Lyft dummy bookings and it does not seem expensive at all.

So Aimes - any advice for us public transport people? How far is the Amtrak stn from Bahia? Looks about a $10 Lyft ride from old town transit stn.
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Old 25 Jan 24, 05:55 PM  
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#384
Aims
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Originally Posted by Vertigo View Post
Im back on this thread three years after our last failed attempt to get here... it is surely going to happen this time! Aimes advice was excellent and I have read back on it but we are doing things a bit differently.

Coming in the heat of July (not our choice, but circumstance dictated dates) We are doing the LA thing first, then taking the Pacific Surfliner from Burbank to SD for 5 nights at the Bahia.

we plan to do the usual first timer stuff: midway, gaslamp; balboa; seaworld and also take in some down time in resort and beach.

we wont have a car so have been doing Lyft dummy bookings and it does not seem expensive at all.

So Aimes - any advice for us public transport people? How far is the Amtrak stn from Bahia? Looks about a $10 Lyft ride from old town transit stn.
Hi, Vertigo! 😃 I’m glad you are finally getting to make your missed trip to San Diego. 👍 July is the height of tourist season, so it will be busy at the beaches and some of the popular attractions like the Zoo and Sea World. It’s nice though that the Bahia is five minutes from Mission Beach, you can walk there from the hotel. You will be just a short walk from Belmont Park too, which is a beachside amusement park that has a historic wooden rollercoaster. When I say amusement park, keep your expectations small- it’s mostly a few carnival type rides alongside the coaster. Sea World is right across the bay from the Bahia. They usually do fireworks most nights in the summer and your hotel is close enough to Sea World to get a good view.

The Bahia is a ten minute drive from the Amtrak station downtown. I believe Uber and Lyft will be your best options to and from your hotel location if you don’t have a car. Public transportation isn’t the most elaborate in San Diego. You could take a combination of the city trolley (a light rail) and then transfer to a bus to your hotel, but it would take 30 mins as opposed to 10 mins by Lyft. Going to the sights from your hotel would involve multiple bus and trolley transfers, involving a good deal of extra time- so definitely recommend Lyft or Uber from your hotel location for the most convenience. San Diego is a very compact city and all it’s major sights aren’t very far apart- most are within 20 minutes from each other. It’s not like Los Angeles where everything can be widely spread apart. If you wanted to go to the city of La Jolla to see the cove where the sea lions hang out, it would only be around 20 minutes or slightly longer from your hotel by Lyft.

P.S. July in San Diego can be warm but rarely “hot”. It’s usually several degrees cooler than LA due to being on the coastline. It rarely gets above the 80’s on the average, but it can feel a bit more humid on the warm days than LA does because of being on the ocean (not Florida level humidity though!).

If you have other questions at any time, please ask 🙂
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Old 25 Jan 24, 07:38 PM  
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#385
eeyore
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I think we will be in San Diego at a similar time to we are there Fri 19th to Mon 22nd. We have 3 nights booked At Springhill suites (recommended by CFB). We realise.its going up be very busy as our dates also mean it's a weekend.

We are wondering whether the Saturday or Sunday is best for the zoo? On our other full day our current thoughts are to do hop on hop off trolley bus and go to old town gaslamp etc possibly to USS midway.
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Old 25 Jan 24, 08:13 PM  
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#386
Aims
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Originally Posted by eeyore View Post
I think we will be in San Diego at a similar time to we are there Fri 19th to Mon 22nd. We have 3 nights booked At Springhill suites (recommended by CFB). We realise.its going up be very busy as our dates also mean it's a weekend.

We are wondering whether the Saturday or Sunday is best for the zoo? On our other full day our current thoughts are to do hop on hop off trolley bus and go to old town gaslamp etc possibly to USS midway.
Hi eeyore! 😊 As you guessed, the Zoo will be busy both Saturday and Sunday in the summer. I have an annual pass to the Zoo, so I am there a lot and I have found that Sundays seem a little less crowded than Saturdays. I usually go on Sundays myself now if I have to go on the weekend. I still suggest that you get to the Zoo for opening so you can do the narrated bus tour first thing- as the morning and day goes on the line for that gets very long.

I love your idea of doing the Old Town Trolley hop off hop on tour on the other full day. You can see so much of the city in one day, and that especially comes in handy when you have a short stay in town. This is another thing I suggest starting at the beginning of the day. The full tour without getting off at any stops takes around two hours. You would then have half a day left to do one of the other attractions that take some time to explore, such as the USS Midway. 🙂
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Old 25 Jan 24, 11:18 PM  
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A day on the trolley is very much in our plans.

Where is the best place to get that from and how do you get tickets?
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Old 26 Jan 24, 12:10 AM  
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Aims
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Originally Posted by Vertigo View Post
A day on the trolley is very much in our plans.

Where is the best place to get that from and how do you get tickets?
The best place to get the trolley tour from is in Old Town State Park, specifically, at 4010 Twiggs Street. You will see the big orange trolley buses parked along there and a ticket booth. You can buy the tickets on the day, or you can buy in advance through their website and save a few dollars: trolleytours/san-diego

While you can catch the tour at a few of the stops the trolley makes (some like in Seaport Village have ticket booths), the Old Town State Park location is the official starting and ending point of the tour. Old Town is very close to Mission Bay and the Bahia hotel- around 10-15 minutes by car.
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Old 29 Jan 24, 05:06 PM  
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Recommendations for where to stay

Hi Aims
Since starting to plan what was a trip with my now unexpectedly pregnant daughter I have read your posts regularly - as a resident and therefore a pretty knowledgeable source are able to advise what area I should be thinking of staying in.
I will be travelling alone (Not my choice but it's either that or cancel and I guess California is as good a place as any for my first solo trip )
I won't have a car so relying on public transport/uber. I will arrive via Pacific Surfliner. While I am there am planning to do the following
Zoo
Sea world
Coronado for the day
Hop on hop off trolley for a day
A day or two visiting old town or anything else I think of when I'm there
I probably won't do much in the evenings except maybe eat.
I was looking for an area somewhere either close to the things that i want to do or failing that close to public transport but somewhere safe due to the fact that i will be on my own. I have travelled lots and also many times to the US but never on my own - i wondered whether downtown or old town would work and be ok for a lone traveller - any advice would be gratefully received
Many thanks
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Old 29 Jan 24, 07:07 PM  
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Aims
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Originally Posted by dipsydoodle View Post
Hi Aims
Since starting to plan what was a trip with my now unexpectedly pregnant daughter I have read your posts regularly - as a resident and therefore a pretty knowledgeable source are able to advise what area I should be thinking of staying in.
I will be travelling alone (Not my choice but it's either that or cancel and I guess California is as good a place as any for my first solo trip )
I won't have a car so relying on public transport/uber. I will arrive via Pacific Surfliner. While I am there am planning to do the following
Zoo
Sea world
Coronado for the day
Hop on hop off trolley for a day
A day or two visiting old town or anything else I think of when I'm there
I probably won't do much in the evenings except maybe eat.
I was looking for an area somewhere either close to the things that i want to do or failing that close to public transport but somewhere safe due to the fact that i will be on my own. I have travelled lots and also many times to the US but never on my own - i wondered whether downtown or old town would work and be ok for a lone traveller - any advice would be gratefully received
Many thanks
Hi dipsydoodle 😊 First off, congratulations on your coming grandchild! My daughter-in-law is expecting our second grandchild this summer, in August. Exciting times! 😃

How many days are you planning to be in San Diego? I’m guessing from your countdown, you are coming out in September or around then?

You could stay downtown, that area has the most places you can walk to from your hotel (restaurants etc), but I would suggest staying in the Seaport Village area if you do. It’s pretty safe around there and you could walk into Seaport Village for meals- lots of choices there including the Cheesecake Factory. The two hotels I like that are next to Seaport Village are the Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt Manchester Grand. Seaport Village is on the outside fringe of downtown and it’s a close walk if you want to go into downtown proper- the Gaslamp Quarter is across the road from the hotels I mentioned. My caution though for a solo female traveller is that I would recommend either not walking around downtown in the evening alone, or take an Uber to whatever restaurant or other location you want to visit downtown after dark. There are a lot of homeless people around downtown and some streets are worse than others (tent cities along whole blocks). I wouldn’t want you to get lost or turn down the wrong block at night. Visiting the Gaslamp Quarter during the day is fine- though you will see some homeless around there too, there are usually lots of people and tourists around during the day.

I would more highly recommend staying in the Point Loma neighborhood which is down by the airport, and only about 5 miles outside downtown. There are more residential areas in Point Loma, so it’s less hectic and a bit quieter. It’s the place I usually choose to stay in if I’m going to an event downtown. Point Loma is also a close Uber drive to many of the sights you are interested in like the Zoo (15 mins), Sea World (10 mins), Old Town is also 10 mins away and you can catch the trolley tour there. Downtown, Seaport Village and the USS Midway museum are about 15 mins away. Coronado will be a little further out than these other places- about 20-25 mins by car, but could be longer during rush hour traffic or on weekends when it gets busy with visitors. The Coronado bridge that connects Coronado with downtown is the main way most people go into and out of Coronado. The Old Town Trolley Tour does take you into Coronado and stops near the famous Hotel Del- you could save the Uber costs if you got off at that stop and explored the hotel and beach for a couple hours, then catch the next trolley to continue the tour. Another way to visit Coronado if you want a longer time there is to get an Uber from your hotel to the Broadway Pier and catch the Coronado Ferry. It lands on the opposite side of the island from where the Hotel Del is but you could get an Uber from there to the hotel if you like, or if you are a good walker and don’t mind walking a good distance, the Hotel Del is about 1 1/2 miles from the Coronado ferry landing. You would walk up Orange Ave. for most of it, which is the main street through Coronado and it’s filled with shops and restaurants. Either way you choose to visit there, I highly recommend a stop at the Hotel Del for a look around. It’s stunning, has lots of history and the beach it sits on is one of the prettiest in San Diego.

Anyways! Back to Point Loma 😄 If you wanted to look into staying in this area, my favorite hotels there are Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn and the Best Western Island Palms next to it- though personally I favor Humphreys the most of the two. These hotels are on a strip of peninsula on the bay called Shelter Island, so it’s very scenic and surrounded by water and boat marinas. About five minutes away in a neighborhood called Liberty Station is another hotel I stay at often called the Courtyard Liberty Station by Marriott. This hotel is in a more residential location, so it doesn’t have the water views of the bay.

In all that chatter I just did, I hope I managed to answer all your questions. 😊 If there is anything I missed- or you have other questions- please ask.
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Edited at 07:12 PM.
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