San Diego is a city in California, USA close to the Mexican border. Here are a few San Diego landmarks you must not miss;
- Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
- Balboa Park
- Seaport Village
- San Diego Zoo
- Seaworld
- USS Midway Museum
- La Jolla Shores Park
- Cabrillo National Monument and Old Point Loma Lighthouse
- Day trips to the infamous Tijuana, Mexico
There are over 600 hotels in San Diego, it’s a top tourist destination! Hire a car to explore San Diego landmarks.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Much of the old town has been well preserved, you’ll even find some of the original vehicles from the old town era. In fact some of the buildings, such as the hotel, prison and post office have been preserved and are now museums. Visiting this park is like visiting Mexico without crossing the border, you’ll even find a tequila factory here! There is a daily market which sells traditional Mexican products and food. You’ve probably seen the Day of the Dead parade in the movies, for example, the James Bond Spectre movie. As a matter of fact, San Diego claims to hold the best Day of the Dead parade outside of Mexico!
Balboa Park – Top San Diego Instagram Spot
Balboa Park is much more than a park. As well as a reflective lake, it holds walking paths, museums and theaters. As a result of the reflective lake surrounded by stunning architecture, Balboa Park is a top San Diego Instagram spot.
Seaport Village
Seaport Village is a scenic shopping area on San Diego Bay. As well as several shops, there are also several sea front restaurants. I highly recommend the seafood in this area!
Hire a Car to Explore San Diego Landmarks
San Diego Zoo
San Diego is arguably the best zoo in the world. So good that even Pablo Escobar himself bought hippos from the zoo. As a matter of fact they still live in his former home outside Medellin, Colombia. If you visit the zoo, I recommend a skip the line advance ticket.
Seaworld
San Diego has its very own Sea World. If you don’t know what Seaworld is, it’s an animal theme park with an outside aquarium and marine mammal park. Seaworld is famous for the following shows;
- Shamu show (above)
- Clyde and Seamore sea lion show
- Dolphin show
You’ll also find some exciting rides as well as sea life and marine mammals.
USS Midway Museum
USS Midway is the longest serving warship not only in the US but in the whole world. You can explore the huge ship which has planes from World War II as well as Desert Storm. Due to its popularity, I recommend you buy a skip the line advance ticket. Did you know you can visit a captured US Warship in Pyongyang, North Korea?
La Jolla Shores Park – Top Instagram Spot
La Jolla Shores features a mile long beach. Adjacent to the beach are cliffs which reflect in the wet sand. This view alone is an Instagram worthy spot. However, you’ll find an even more beautiful sight in Scripps Pier. On a calm day, Scripps Pier reflects wonderfully in the surrounding sea. Combine this with a colorful sunset and it becomes majestic.
Cabrillo National Monument
The Cabrillo National Monument represents the first Europeans to step onto the west coast of the US back in 1542. In addition, from the peninsula you’ll witness stunning views of San Diego city and if you’re lucky you’ll view sea lions.
Old Point Loma Lighthouse – Top Instagram Spot
Adjacent to the Cabrillo National Monument is Old Point Loma Lighthouse. Built in 1855 to aid ships, the lighthouse no longer serves this purpose. However, it’s open and inside is a winding staircase. Additionally, with the ocean as a backdrop, the lighthouse itself makes a wonderful Instagram photo. Did you know there’s an Instagram worthy pink lighthouse in Curacao?
How to get from San Diego to Los Angeles
From San Diego I took the coastal route up to Los Angeles. As a matter of fact, the first stop in this route can be La Jolla Shores Park. I recommend you take the coastal road which offers miles of beautiful California coastline. There are a few small towns you pass through which you can stop at for food and to enjoy the views. Enjoy the ride!
Nice car! hahahaha
Thats a nice car for sure! Quite a nice post summing up what all there’s to do in San Diego! Will surely be looking it up when we’re there
Aww! San Diego is cool, though I’ve never been there, but trust me, I will love to visit. From this post I can see that it has a lot of places for tourists to view.
Thanks for sharing and do have a wonderful day ahead.
Wow I’ve lived in The USA and never visited San Diego. Would like to go back to see that city. I think I would enjoy a ride in that car and also would be fun visiting the zoo!
This is now on my travel list when I finished my school. I really love to go to places that has a nice scenery and of course can offer a lot of food. Nice car though.
San Diego Zoo is very Nice Place to Visit . Cool to drive in coastal route.
I haven’t been to San Diego before but I was told the food are great! I heard a bit about the Sea World too. Definitely better than the Sea World her ein our place. Btw, you got an awesome ride there. 😉
The one thing that I associate San Diego with is the zoo. Glad to know that there is a waterworld. lighthouse and a national monument that you can visit here. And love that car!
That’s such a cool info. I have an upcoming trip in April to USA and this information is just right in time. I am bookmarking your website. Thanks for sharing it. Happy travels 🙂
That is quite the fancy car! The drive along the coast is gorgeous and I’ve heard wonderful things about Balboa Park. I’m not a fan of Sea World though or anything about keeping animals in captivity, especially what happened with the poor killer whales
San Francisco is one of the places in the U.S. I’d like to visit one day but I would definitely skip Sea World and the zoo. Interesting to know the biggest Day of the Dead outside of Mexico actually occurs here!
I’m planning a trip to California in 2019. So far, we drive on all of our trips. We live in Missouri, so this will be quite the trip! Your article is really helpful. Thanks!