I visited San Diego last October due to a work meeting. As it was such a long way to travel I thought it would be a good idea to add on a few days holiday to explore the area with a friend who was coming along.

Getting There
There are direct flights to San Diego from London however at the time these were three times as expensive as a fare with stopovers in the US and with a friend coming I wanted our flights to be as cheap as possible. Our flights went from Heathrow to Washington where we changed planes for a flight to Chicago and then another change for a plane to LA, where we got our final plane to San Diego. This may seem too much for some, but for me it was great as the plane changing gave me a chance to stretch my legs. I think I would have found 13 hours cooped up in a plane too much! One thing I did ensure was that the route was sold as one fare (rather than book individual internal US flights myself) as I would be covered should one of the flights be delayed.

Where we stayed
Having researched extensively we decided to stay in the Gas Lamp quarter in downtown San Diego as this has the vast majority of restaurants and shops and also has good transport links to and from the airport. We stayed in a hotel called the Gas Lamp Plaza Suites and I thought the service there was excellent. The rooms were basically mini apartments and contained a double bed, sofa (which can be turned into a sofa bed), television with cable, a small kitchen with a microwave but no other cooking facilities, and an ensuite bathroom. The staff were very friendly and approachable and were always on hand to plan trips, hire cars and advise us on where to go and what to avoid. Continental breakfast was included in the rate and took place on the rooftop terrace with excellent views over downtown San Diego and the port.

Things to do
1. Gas Lamp Quarter
This is where all the restaurants, shops and entertainment is. The place is always buzzing right into the early hours so a hotel in the centre of this area may not be for everyone. In terms of cuisine there is something for everyone- Thai , Indian, Italian and Greek to name a few. A place not to be missed for desert is Ghiradillis chocolate and ice cream parlour! There are many shops in the area and also the Horton Plaza shopping centre which is worth a visit just to see the way it is built with it's various intersecting levels and walkways.

2. Balboa Park and San Diego Zoo
This park is home to a variety of museums such as the San Diego Natural History Museum, the automotive museum and the aerospace museum and gardens as well as San Diego Zoo. The parks Spanish architecture is gorgeous and reminded me of a recent visit to southern spain. This is worth a visit even if you don't intend to visit the museums. I'm not a huge museum fan and so decided to skip this and instead spend the time roaming the gardens (some of which have an entry charge of around $3). I would particularly recommend the Alcazar gardens modelled on some of the gardens in Southern spain and the Desert Garden with it's interesting variety of cacti. I also recommend visiting the zoo famous for its conservation work.

3. Old Town State Park
This is like a mini mexico with cute little markets selling crafts and some decent Mexican restaurants.

4. Sea World
This is great for a visit if you have kids to see the star of the place a killer whale called Shamu, who has become an icon for San Diego. There are a variety of shows to see such as the Believe show where Killer whales and their trainers perform choreographed routines. We spent a few hours there but got a little bored towards the end of our visit.

5. La Jolla
For me this was the highlight of the trip. This seaside community is one of the wealthiest areas in San Diego with multi-million dollar seaside villas. We hired a couple of bikes and a guide and went on a 2 hour cycle ride along some of the most stunning coastline and up to Mount Soledad. The houses we past on the way made me green with envy! We came back a second day to visit Torrey Pines State Reserve which has some not too difficult hiking trails that wind past the coast line with stunning views of the Pacific. The beaches in the area were beautiful and clean and would be great for surfing and water sports. It was not very touristy with very few shops and restaurants around, which is a contrast to most UK seaside areas. Getting here from downtown San Diego is a little difficult - we took a bus and had to get off and walk a fair amount. On our second visit we hired a car.

6. Shopping
Along with the gas lamp quarter San Diego has several large shopping centres and a couple of outlet centres too that are easily accessible via public transport. These include Fashion Valley, Mission Valley and Seaport Village.

General
Overall I enjoyed my trip to San Diego. The weather was perfect, around 25 degrees C with clear blue skies and dazzling sunshine but it got quite cool at night. Getting around downtown San Diego was relatively easy by bus or train which run regularly and late into the night. However travelling further afield is a little more difficult and if you wish to do so I recommend hiring a car. We didn't hire a car until the end of our trip (as I was worried about driving on the right!) and this is something I regret as I would have loved to visit Joshua Tree National Park! San Diego is fairly close to LA and it's fairly easy to combine your trip with a day trip to Hollywood, Universal Studios or Disney World. These can be organised with a coach company through your hotel. The place is definately worth a visit and I will be going back!

This review is also posted on dooyoo as user ms_123