- 11 Things to Know Before You Go to San Diego.
I'm Chris, this is Yellow Productions.
I do travel guides that are fun,
informative, and entertaining.
This is part of my travel series on California
but this is all about what to know
before you go to San Diego.
But if you wanna know more about things in Los Angeles
or even other things in San Diego,
you'll find links in the Description below
to more great California travel videos.
And I am from San Diego so this will essentially be
what a local would tell you as a tourist to know
before you come to the city.
The first thing to know
we're gonna start with some general information.
And by the way I'll be shooting each one of these scenes
in different parts of San Diego
so you'll get to see San Diego as we go through.
And I'm starting here in the Gaslamp District.
This is Downtown San Diego during Comic Con
which is why it's so busy.
But in the general thing to know about San Diego,
first where is San Diego located?
Well, it's located,
it's kind of the most southwesternly city
in the Continental United States just north of Mexico.
San Diego borders Tijuana, Baja, California, and Mexico,
and it's just south of Los Angeles and Orange County.
If you are driving from LAX airport,
it could take somewhere between
two and three hours to get from LAX down to San Diego.
The County of San Diego
has a population of three million people.
The City of San Diego has a population of one million.
People who live in San Diego,
that makes a distinction to them,
the city versus the county.
People that are coming as tourists
generally say they are coming to San Diego
and refer to the whole county.
Things like Legoland,
that's in Carlsbad which is in fact a different city,
but it is in the County of San Diego.
So that's just important to know
if you're looking up San Diego hotels
on something like TripAdvisor,
and you wanna stay close to a certain attraction,
you might wanna look up what city
that particular attraction is in.
San Diego is also known as a city of villages
in that there's a lot of different neighborhoods
and each neighborhood has a different feel.
The second thing to know
before you go to San Diego
is about when to go.
And San Diego I think it's perfect
to come anytime of the year
because San Diego is most well-known
for having some of the most perfect weather
in all of the Continental United States,
but it depends on what activity you wanna do
as what times are better than others.
Certainly if what you wanna do
is come to San Diego Comic-Con,
then you should come in July.
That is when Comic-Con is here
and the whole Downtown area is really transformed
into a big pop culture, I don't know,
big pop culture mecca.
But if you're not coming for San Diego Comic-Con,
then you might wanna avoid July,
because when Comic-Con is here,
there's 130,000 extra people in the city,
and so hotel prices can be two to three times
more expensive than they are the rest of the year.
If you are coming to San Diego to go to the beach,
the best time to go to the beach is August and September,
that's when the water temperature
is going to be the warmest.
It'll be the coldest in December and January.
And some months that I'd say
if you're going to the beach
are not really that good are May and June.
San Diego is often known for having
what's called May Gray and June Gloom,
that those months are often
very cloudy in the mornings,
and actually aren't all that warm.
So if what you're seeking is warm at the beach,
that would be July, August, and September.
September is my favorite month actually
because most of the tourists have gone away.
Everybody from Arizona and Nevada who comes in,
they've all left to go home,
and so you'll have the beaches relatively to yourself
with nice warm weather and nice warm water as well.
Okay so you've decided you're coming to San Diego,
now let's talk about getting into San Diego.
The major ways to get into San Diego,
drive, take the train, or fly.
So we'll talk about those three options.
If you're driving into San Diego,
well, you're coming from three directions.
You're coming from the south which is coming from Mexico,
expect long waits at the border
if you're driving up from Mexico.
If you're coming down from Los Angeles from points north,
then expect a lot of traffic coming into San Diego
on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.
Pick a time other than that to drive in.
The 5 freeway gets pretty busy,
the 15 is a pretty good alternate to drive in,
it usually has less traffic coming into San Diego.
And if you're coming in from Arizona,
then you'll be coming on the 8 freeway,
that's the one that runs east or west.
Another good option is to take the train
if you're coming in from points north like Los Angeles.
The Amtrak runs almost hourly service into San Diego,
and it's a pretty nice ride that takes you along the coast.
Just be aware the Amtrak can often be delayed
so you have to have some patience to ride that.
The Amtrak is great to take into San Diego
if you're staying in Downtown
because it stops right in Downtown San Diego,
also there's a second stop in Old Town.
The final option is to fly into San Diego.
A great thing about coming into San Diego
absolutely is flying into San Diego Airport.
It's kind of known as one of the most
dangerous airports to fly into.
If you really wanna see what I mean,
sit on the left-hand side of the plane in a window seat.
When you're coming into San Diego,
your plane comes in right at about the level
of the buildings of Downtown San Diego.
It is a sight to be seen to look out your window
and see buildings the same height as your plane.
But it's great because San Diego Airport
is just 10 minutes from Downtown
so it's very convenient.
You don't have to take a train or anything like that.
But getting from the airport into the city,
well, you'll pretty much be taking
a taxi or an Uber or a rental car.
There's not much in the way of public transit
that runs to the airport.
The next thing to know before you go to San Diego
is about getting around San Diego.
One of the best things about getting around San Diego
as a tourist is San Diego's Trolley.
It's often known as the Red Trolley,
and there's a red one that's just over there.
During Comic-Con they've got them
decorated in different colors.
But this is a light rail system,
it runs around Downtown,
it goes through Mission Valley,
it goes all the way down to San Diego,
so the Trolley can be quite convenient for tourists,
though you should know that the Trolley
does not go to the airport
and it doesn't go to most beaches.
I mean depending upon when you watch this,
they are building an extension of the Trolley
that goes up to La Jolla
but that won't be open probably until about 2020.
People often ask if they have to rent a car
to come to San Diego,
and I think that San Diego
is actually a pretty good city
to take the Trolley
and also take Uber and taxi around.
Ubers are pretty plentiful,
so as a tourist you can get around
using public transportation.
The bus really is kind of so so in San Diego.
So depending upon whether you want to rent a car,
well, that depends on what you wanna see.
Before you come to San Diego,
you should know about the beaches and bays.
I mentioned this a little bit in the general section,
but one of the main reasons
that people come to San Diego is for the water.
San Diego has a lot of beautiful beaches
and a lot of beautiful bays.
The first thing you should know about beaches though
is I've got a whole separate video on beaches.
You can find the link in the Description
on my Five Best Beaches in San Diego
where I cover Ocean Beach, Mission Beach,
Pacific Beach, and La Jolla.
I'm probably missing one,
and there are like Black's Beach also
as the five best beaches in San Diego.
So but let's talk about bays a little bit.
San Diego has two major bays,
the first one, this one, San Diego Bay,
it's known as the Big Bay.
This is where all of the navy ships in San Diego port.
There's also a bridge way in the back.
There's this blue bridge that goes over there,
I'm not sure you can see it,
but that's the Coronado Bridge.
There's this island that's in the middle of San Diego Bay,
Coronado Island, and it's the North Island Naval Air Station
so that's where the aircraft carriers hang out in San Diego.
There's a second bay which is Mission Bay.
That's more of a recreational bay.
So that's for like sailing, jet skiing, things like that.
You can do all of that stuff on the Big Bay, San Diego Bay,
but if you want to do those kinds of water sports
like little water crafts,
check out Mission Bay.
And related to beaches,
San Diego's got a lot of them.
The five best, watch that other video.
One beach I would recommend
maybe not to go to is Imperial Beach.
That's the one right next to Mexico.
And so Imperial Beach can often be kind of polluted.
Just check the water conditions before you do go.
It's really interesting to actually
walk down there on the beach
because it's one of the most remote beaches,
particularly if you go to the Border Field
State National Park,
you can see the border fence
where it goes between San Diego and Mexico.
And there's a nature preserve down there.
But you might not want to swim close to the Mexican border.
The beaches kinda get cleaner as you go more north.
The next thing to know before you go to San Diego
is about hotels,
where to stay,
and I have four main recommendations
but it kinda depends on what you want to do.
My number one recommendation is Downtown San Diego.
Downtown San Diego has the largest collection
of hotels in the city,
pretty nice hotels.
The Marriott Marquis, one the signature hotels right here.
Also just this way is the Hyatt Manchester Grand.
I've got a review of that Hyatt Manchester Grand
in case you wanna watch it.
These are right on the harbor
so a lot of the rooms have pretty nice views.
Though the one caveat about staying in Downtown San Diego
is that parking is really expensive.
I think I mentioned that earlier.
So just factor that into your pricing.
If you want a little cheaper parking
and you're planning to rent a car,
then you can check out Mission Valley.
Mission Valley, it's about five six miles from Downtown.
The hotels there will be a little less expensive
and the parking will be cheaper as well.
Old Town, it's kinda between Downtown and Mission Valley,
another good area close to the airport,
hotels not quite as nice
but you can get a few more bargains in Old Town.
And finally my fourth recommendation
would be if you're visiting Legoland,
you might wanna consider staying up in Carlsbad.
One of my favorite hotels in all of San Diego
is the Park Hyatt in Carlsbad.
The Park Hyatt Aviara.
If you're interested in checking out that review,
the link in the description below.
It is San Diego's best resort.
The next thing to know
before you go to San Diego
is about food.
If you watch my videos a lot,
you'll know I'm a bit of a foodie,
but I'm a cheap foodie,
so I don't like my food to be too expensive.
So first let's talk about pricing
and then we'll talk about
some of my favorite things to eat in San Diego.
Food in San Diego is more expensive
than food in Los Angeles.
There's about a 30% food premium
on food in San Diego than in LA,
and where that premium gets more expensive
is in the beach areas,
and where it gets even more expensive
is in the Gaslamp District.
The Gaslamp District in Downtown San Diego
is the most expensive place to eat.
The restaurants here cater to the tourists.
They try to make themselves
look very very nice on the inside
and so they spend all of their money
on the rent and on looking nice
and not quite as much of it on the food.
So if you are eating in Downtown,
you want a sit-down place that won't break your wallet,
my favorite is the Old Spaghetti Factory right here.
It's actually a mini chain across the US.
They do really good spaghetti and meatballs.
If you want their unique dish,
check out the pasta with mizithra cheese.
It's kind of a Greek cheese.
It's been an institution in San Diego
in the Gaslamp forever.
Outside of the Gaslamp District,
if you want burgers,
my favorite burger chain anywhere is In-N-Out Burger.
They have tons of location across San Diego.
Shake Shack has opened a few locations here as well.
And because San Diego is just north of Mexico,
the Mexican food in San Diego is gonna be some of the best
you're gonna get anywhere in the US.
So make sure you eat in Mexican restaurants.
And the quintessential Mexican
food item to eat in San Diego
is the fish taco
ensenada style
which makes it a battered and fried fish taco.
If you're looking for inexpensive Mexican food
in the Gaslamp District,
check out Oscars Mexican Seafood.
It's located next to Petco Park.
They're on the higher end scale of seafood tacos,
but they are pretty delicious and cheaper than you'll pay
in any of the sit-down restaurants around here.
But the quintessential San Diego Mexican experience
is at a taco shop, another of these chains.
It's kinda known as the Berto's.
They started with Roberto's, Alberto's, Adalberto's.
If the restaurant ends in berto's,
you know it's a classic San Diegan taco shop food.
There's I think something like
over 50 or 80 taco shops in San Diego
that end with berto's.
It's pretty crazy.
San Diego also has a thriving
microbrew beer scene.
If you are into beer,
you'll wanna check out
a few of these breweries.
Some of the most well-known
are Karl Strauss and Stone Brewing,
but explore some of the smaller ones
and find a new favorite for yourself.
Speaking of beer, if you're looking for night life,
the Gaslamp District in Downtown has a lot of bars
that tend to the upper end club side of things.
If you're looking for something
more like high end evening cocktails,
the Gaslamp District have these restaurants
turned into nightclubs at night.
If you're looking for more of a bar experience,
Pacific Beach has the largest collection of bars
anywhere in the City of San Diego.
And if you like your bars more on the divey side,
then check out Ocean Beach,
you can totally do a dive bar call there.
The 10th thing to know
is about San Diego's neat neighborhoods.
San Diego is often referred to as a city of villages,
and all the different neighborhoods in San Diego
have a unique character.
San Diego is a lot more than
just the Gaslamp District,
SeaWorld, and Balboa Park.
So here are some of my favorite neighborhoods,
and I'll kinda start near Downtown and move my way out.
My favorite neighborhood near Downtown
is called Little Italy.
Little Italy is centered on a street called India Street,
and there's a lot of great Italian food in Little Italy,
gelato and things like that.
It's about four or five blocks
that's neat and worthwhile to explore,
and you can easily get there on the Trolley.
Just up the hill from Downtown Little Italy
is a neighborhood known as Hillcrest.
It is San Diego's heart for the LGBTQ community.
It's where San Diego's Pride Festival
takes place every year.
Lots of neat restaurants in the area
and a pretty walkable neighborhood as well.
You can't really take the Trolley here
so you better drive or take an Uber.
Just down the hill from Hillcrest
in the big valley is Mission Valley.
Mission Valley is known for hotels
on the famous street
called the Hotel Circle.
It's also home to a number of shopping malls,
Fashion Valley and Mission Valley shopping centers.
San Diego's Old Town neighborhood
is where San Diego all started.
It's now been turned into a historic state park.
There's a lot of attractions here
that show off what San Diego was like
way back when it was still part of Mexico.
And then on the other side of the airport
from all this stuff
is this big land mass
that goes into the ocean
known as Point Loma.
Point Loma has a lot of neat views.
From Point Loma head up on top
to the street called Catalina.
Why is it called Catalina?
Well, because you can see Catalina Island on a clear day.
All the way at the end of Catalina
is Cabrillo National Monument.
That's where you'll get some of the best views of San Diego.
And in Point Loma there's also San Diego's premier food hall
in what's called Liberty Station.
It's the old converted Naval Training Center
that's been converted into a mixed-use complex,
and there's a pretty neat food hall
where you can get your fix
of a lot of San Diego's gourmet food
and craft beers too.
That Stone Brewing, that popular brewery that I mentioned,
their major location is in Liberty Station in Point Loma.
And of course San Diego has a lot
of really neat beach neighborhoods,
Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla.
I'm not gonna talk about those here in detail
because I've got a separate video
about the best beaches in San Diego
where I cover those neighborhoods at length.
The 11th thing to know before you come to San Diego
is about what the major attractions are.
One of the biggest attractions in San Diego is Balboa Park.
Balboa Park is a 1200-acre urban park
right next to Downtown San Diego
that is San Diego's cultural heart.
It was established in 1915
for the Panama-California Exposition
to coincide with the opening of the Panama Canal.
There's lots of museums, lots of great architecture,
just a great place to spend
at least a half a day wandering around.
And in Balboa Park,
a hundred of those acres are set aside
for the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
It is one of the biggest and most famous zoos in the world
with over 3,500 animals including giant pandas.
Yes, the San Diego Zoo, that's where Topher came from.
And if you wanna see animals more in their natural habitat,
well, you can head about 35 miles
up north from the San Diego Zoo
to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park
where they've got animals in a much more open area
that you kinda take this train around
or these safari vehicles
to see the animals in a more natural habitat
and not just in cages and pens.
One of San Diego's most popular museums
is a little bit of a nontraditional museum
because it's one that floats.
It's the USS Midway Museum.
San Diego is a pretty big navy town
so you'll see lots of navy ships in San Diego Bay.
You won't be able to go on any of them except this one.
The USS Midway is the United States' longest serving
aircraft carrier of the 20th century,
and now it's been turned into a museum.
You can easily spend two hours
to an entire day on this ship.
And over the course of this ship's lifetime,
it has played home to 225,000 American sailors.
It is truly impressive that this thing
actually floats in the water.
Final major attraction I'll mention is Coronado.
Coronado is an island in the middle of San Diego Bay.
I mean it's technically connected
by a small piece of land
known as the Silver Strand,
but most people get there
via the iconic blue Coronado Bridge
that runs in the Coronado.
It's one of San Diego's most idyllic neighborhoods.
The beach in Coronado has been rated
one of the US's best beaches anywhere.
While it doesn't have a big bustling boardwalk,
it does have some of San Diego's
widest and whitest and softest sand beaches.
And Coronado is home to the Hotel Del Coronado,
a 130-year-old wooden hotel
that is on the National Register of Historic Places.
And I almost forgot about San Diego's two big theme parks,
SeaWorld and Legoland,
which is about 30 miles north
of Downtown San Diego in Carlsbad.
Well, thanks for watching.
If you enjoyed this video,
you might enjoy some of my other videos from San Diego,
Los Angeles, or the rest of Southern California.
You can click here or here to watch some of those.
You'll find more links in the Description
to like the best beaches of San Diego
or hotel reviews here.
And if this was your first time,
click on this yellow ball, subscribe,
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Well, I won't say goodbye
because I'll see you in the next video.