San Diego town is the oldest town in California and there are lots of top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego. This town has a beautiful view to offer to its visitors as well as a warm climate that allows the visitors to participate in outdoor adventures.
There are lots of tourist-attracted places in this city, such as gardens, museums, colonial-type Spanish architecture in Balboa park, Midway aircraft career museum and the famous San Diego zoo.
When you are visiting this place you can go shopping, walk around the Old Town San Diego Park or you can be in the Gaslamp Quarter.
In case you love to swim in the sea area, San Diego has 68 miles long sea to offer to you and the beach areas around the San Diego beaches are the best beaches in all of California.
These are the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego
1. Balboa Park
This Balboa park has a lot of attractions for visitors and it has 1400 acres of the area including beautiful gardens, historical buildings, museums and lots of places with natural green. This park was first created for the Panama California exhibition hosted from 1915 – 1916 and the park opened to the public ever since. When you visit this place you will understand that the architecture of the buildings in this place has a Spanish origin and the buildings blend in with the natural background the park has.
Other than the things mentioned before there are lots of highlighted things in this park, such as the lily pond and the botanical garden, the museum of natural history, the San Diego museum of arts, the museum of man and the world-famous zoo. In case you don’t want to go to the buildings in this place you have lots of things to explore.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego. 1549 El Prado, San Diego, California is the address of this place in case you want to visit this place in the future.
The official website of this place is: http://www.balboapark.org/
2. San Diego Zoo
The San Diego zoo is one of the best zoos in America that has recognition from all over the world. In case you are visiting this place with your kids, this is the best gift you can give to your kids. If you are looking to get the full experience of this place you have to spend at least a day in this place.
When you are visiting this place you have the opportunity to watch lots of animals starting including grizzly bears, gorillas, leopards, koalas, polar bears, bonobos, sloths and rhinos. Also, the zoo caretakers always try to give the animals a comfortable environment to live in such as rocks for Amur leopards and cool pools for polar bears.
Also, the San Diego zoo has a safari park so the visitors can enjoy the scenery of the animals in their natural habitats. In general, Giraffes like to live in a savanna field, cheetahs like to live in a dart through a jungle and elephants like to live in a sheltered valley. Because of the facilities offered by the zoo to the visitors, it is a great opportunity for the visitors to gain a good experience of their normal life.
Also, the setting in this park has some knowledge to offer to its visitors about the protective environments for the animals. Also, the San Diego Zoo Wild Life Alliance has invested to make sure that wildlife all around the world is protected in their natural habitats.
In addition to the zoo, there is an impressive botanical display that visitors can enjoy. This collection has more than 700,000 plants from all over the world.
Also in case you need any behind-the-scenes experience with the zoo and get knowledge about how to run a zoo and take care of the animals then you just need to sign up for that.
In case you are tired of walking you can use the Kangaroo bus or Skyfari Areal team to go around the zoo. Other than that you can buy a skip-the-line special ticket that allows you unlimited bus rides and easy access to the facilities without waiting in long lines.
In case you need visiting this place it is 40 minutes away from downtown San Diego.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego. 2920 Zoo Drive, Balboa Park, San Diego, California is the address of this place in case you want to visit this place in the future.
The official website of this place is: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
3. Gaslamp Quarter
Gaslamp Quarter is the main centre of the nightlife in this area even for visitors. This is the place for any visitor who looks to do things in the San Diego area, especially at night time.
This place is restored in the 19 century and early 20th centuries and has a lot of things that you can enjoy like shopping, dining in special restaurants, art galleries and other special entertainment events. Also in addition to that, this is the place for some comedy, jazz music or theatre performances in case you are interested in those.
This entertainment place is spread around 16 blocks from Broadway to the San Diego bay area, in case you don’t want to walk you can always hire a taxi.
In addition to those things, the above this place is a great place to spend the night. There are lots of low-quality to high-quality hotels starting from Pendry San Diego to Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego with a short distance from Gaslamp Quarter.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego.
The official website of this place is: http://gaslamp.org/
4. Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum
When you are walking around with your family on the San Diego waterfront you might come up with one of the largest ships in the US navy. It is the USS Midway aircraft carrier.
This is a museum of military equipment and aircraft which includes 60 items with 30 air crafts. Until it decommissioned it had 225000 Navy personnel served in it and you can have a self-guided audio tour to understand the history for an additional fee, you can enjoy a flight simulator.
In case you are in a hurry you can buy a skip-the-line ticket from the premises and avoid being in lines and save time to enjoy other attractions around the San Diego area.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego. 910 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, California is the address of this place in case you want to visit this place in the future.
The official website of this place is: http://www.midway.org/
5. Seaport Village
This place is a beautiful place for you to spend your time with your family especially in the evening. This place is located near the waterfront and the restaurants and shops in this area offer a good experience to its visitors.
This area is filled with benches, tables and waterfront patios and at the weekends these are very busy. In addition to that electronic music performances are a regular thing in the afternoons and the kids love the carousels.
Other attractive places like the USS Midway museum are a little away from this place and the parking cost of this place is higher it is better to park your vehicle a bit always from this place to save money.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego. West Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway, San Diego, California is the address of this place in case you want to visit this place in the future.
The official website of this place is: http://www.seaportvillage.com/
6. San Diego Beaches
All year-long sunny weather and the fantastic beach view make this place one of the top tourists attracted beaches around California. These beaches offer you the best beach experience with all kinds of beach-related work.
There are lots of activities you can do in this place while watching the beautiful sea view like dining and people-watching. In case you came to visit this place with your pets, this place allows you to walk around with your dogs. Also, this place has the facilities to surf. For surf lovers, the Del Mar is the place. Other than that place there are lots of surfing places in this beach area like Trestles, Pacific Beach, Black’s Beach and Swami’s. Also for beginners, the suitable place is Oceanside or La Jolla Shores.
In case you came to this place to visit with your family the best places are Coronado Beach, Del Mar La Jolla Shores and Silver Strand. In case you want a wild rugged beach with a good view and hiking trails Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is the place for you.
In case you are looking for the best tie to visit this place, it depends on your choice of tasks to do when you are at the beach area. If you like surfing winter months are the best. If you are a swimmer summer time period is the time to visit this place and for other tasks any time of the year is suitable.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego.
7. Old Town State Historic Park
Old Town State Historic Park allows you to learn all about the history related to this place from the begging. This park allows you to see the American and Mexican early periods from 1821 – 1872 and shows how this place was at that time as a Mexican pueblo.
By visiting this place, you can experience several related things to the old times like authentic Mexican crafts, a blacksmith studio, listening to live Mariachi Music, browsing art studios and wonderful restaurants. In addition to that most of the old buildings have been repaired and the added new ones have been constructed with the same architectural finish as the old ones.
This park is one of the most popular historic parks in California. Entry is free for anyone and also there are free guided tours offered every day from 11 am to 2 pm twice.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego. 4002 Wallace Street, San Diego, California is the address of this place in case you want to visit this place in the future.
The official website of this place is: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=663
8. Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument
This is one of the best places to visit with its breathtaking views of San Diego city and the Pacific Ocean. You can enjoy the view while travelling to Point Loma along the road and if the weather is clear you can see all the way to Mexico. Also in case you are lucky you will see whales and dolphins in the sea.
In 1542 this is the place Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed. In case you are interested you can learn all about that history from the Cabrillo National Monument through various kinds of exhibits. With respect, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s statue is displayed in all the places he discovered.
Other than those the Old Point Loma Light House built in 1858 has a major tourist attraction among the other places in Point Loma.
Also other than the things in the above hiking is also a tourist-attracted event in this place you can do it along the Scenic Trails or if are here with kids you can take the one-mile Bayside Trail.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego.
The official website of this place is: http://www.nps.gov/cabr/index.htm
9. Mission Beach
This Mission beach area is one of the best tourist-attracted areas in southern California especially the blond sand beach area in this Mission beach is the main attractive point for visitors.
On this beach you can do a lot of things to enjoy like swimming, beach volley ball playing surfing and sunbathing. On a sunny day, you can enjoy skateboarding, rollerblading, cycling, strolling or dining in a beautiful café with a good view.
On the Mission beachside, the most attractive item is Belmont Park which has excellent restaurants historic rollercoasters, street performances and fairground eateries.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego.
10. Sunset Cliffs Natural Park
This Sunset Cliff Natural Park is one of the best tourists attracted places which is spread across 68 acres of the coastal side of the Pacific Ocean. This place has a comparable view when compared with the other sea areas around California state.
Also during the Gray whale migration season, this place offers the best place to view those creatures of nature without any problem.
As described in the above sections this place is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in San Diego.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is San Diego famous for?
This place is famous for its ideal climate for visitors and long and beautiful beaches to enjoy for family visits. Also, the world-famous San Diego zoo and the Safari park offers the most tourist attraction among the other places.
How far is it from San Diego to Disneyland?
This place resides in the southern part of California state and Disneyland is located 95 miles away to the north of the San Diego downtown area. The time consumption may be varied with your travel arrangements due to the traffic and the stops you make, but normally it takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to travel to Disneyland.
Is San Diego cheap or expensive?
When compared to the other states it is 4% higher than the other state’s living expenses. But when compared with the national average it differs by 47% higher than the national average. But the living expenses can be controlled by changing individual expectations.
Is San Diego safe to visit?
Compared to its huge size San Diego city is one of the safest and most peaceful places in all of the US. But in some places in the city, there are some pickpocketing, taxi scams and mugging as reported. But thankfully these reports are only limited to smaller neighborhoods where visitors do not often visit.