San Diego is a major city in Southern California. The weather is great year-round and that’s why it’s one of America’s most popular tourist destinations. The United States Marine Corps has one of it’s main basic training camps here for it’s perfect weather. It quickly found out that San Diego is an extremely active city. It felt like there was ALWAYS people outside running, biking, walking constantly. Which is awesome, especially if you are an active traveler like myself! That being said, I think that San Diego is an amazing tourist destination for everyone. They really do have things to do for all age groups. From the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park for the children. To being one of the hottest bachelor and bachelorette destinations. San Diego is an area everyone should be looking at visiting!
Although we did have a rental car my second time being in San Diego, most of our transportation consisted of Ubers and Lyfts. San Diego does seem to be fairly spread out. I would just take different things into consideration before renting. Parking also seemed to be an issue at a lot of places. But being from Minnesota, we did not mind walking in a warm climate during the winter.
If you are booking a place, I highly suggest staying in the Mission Beach area. It really is such a chill area with A LOT of things to do. All along the beach are gorgeous mansions, that are often rented out as Air BNB’s. In between the residential areas are fun shops, bars, and restaurants. There is plenty of options for renting, but the majority are going to be residential. Mission beach is lined with amazing beachfront rental properties. You will often find that they are filled with Bachelor/Bachelorette parties and large families. Since the houses are larger than normal, they may be fairly expensive for only a couple of people or solo travelers. I really can’t recall many hotel to rent in this area. So look into some sort of housing rental company. While you are going to pay a bit more to stay in this area, it really is the place to be. Out of all the beaches in the San Diego area, this is probably the most popular party beach destination. North Pacific beach area has some really cute coffee shops. My sister and I walked up here a few times in the morning while we waited for our hungover friends to wake up. Nothing like fresh coffee and smoothies and listening to waves crash against the beach.
I tried surfing for the first time in San Diego. It was so much fun, but also such a workout! A few times I felt a bit out of shape, since I had to ask the instructor for some time to rest. There is quite a few different companies throughout the Mission Beach area. We just happened to be walking along the beach, and found a stand set up. We were there in the off-season at the time, so luckily they had openings essentially whenever we wanted to go. Since we were a giant group of girls, of course we asked, “Can we have the hottest instructor you have.” The girl setting up the appointment just laughed. I will say she did not disappoint with our request! If you are more the active adventure type vacationer, I would highly suggest trying some sort of surfing.
Every time I’ve been to San Diego, I always notice a lot of Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. Not to mention that the first time I went, I was actually with a Bachelorette party. Definitely a fun place to go if you’re thinking about a destination party! The rental properties right by the beach are perfect, since the majority of houses are significantly larger than normal. While being able to hang out on the beach during the day and the plethora of nightlife. It’s a no brainer as to why it’s a top destination.
You can clearly see from the start that La Jolla is a very upscale beach community. The coastline is just as impressive with dramatic sea cliffs, hidden coves, rocky reefs, and beautiful sandy beaches. On top of that you can’t miss the opportunity to get up and personal with the La Jolla Seals. Although I did not get the chance to, I wish we had the opportunity to kayak around the area, and see the sea lions, leopard sharks, and caves from a different aspect.
Right next to Balboa Park is the famous San Diego Zoo. We did not venture through the zoo because I’m personally not a fan of zoos. I will say that I’ve heard amazing things about the zoo and should probably be at the top of your list if you are coming here with kids. While the Balboa Park itself does not have an entrance fee, there is small “museums” spread out inside. These individual places will have some sort of entry fee. I wish the entry fee’s to the museum would have been cheaper, since some of them looked fairly interesting. They just seem fairly overpriced so we didn’t make our way inside.
Two local Californians brought us to old town. It was kind of strange being in California and then suddenly bam you find yourself in this old western looking town. The area is filled with Mexican restaurants and cute little shops. I would definitely check this place out if you have a bit of time in San Diego. Or if you just have a craving for Mexican food. If you come here on the weekend, plan for having to wait in line for some time in order to get into the restaurants.