Explore the best of San Diego in a day, with its spectacular Spanish colonial architecture, rich Mexican heritage, and seventy miles of coastline with a private guide on this full-day driving tour where you will have the opportunity to see its most popular highlights and stop at your favourite spots.
On your private tour, you will:
On this fascinating in-depth Private Full-Day San Diego Highlights tour, you will discover much about California’s second-largest city, from its ‘discovery’ by Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, to the indigenous Kumeyaay peoples who occupied the area 12,000 years prior to European arrival.
Learn about the settlement of San Dieguito and the cultural, socio-political and historical developments that powered it to a city of a population of 1.4 million. With a deeply embedded Mexican heritage, the legacy of San Diego’s place in the Mexican Empire from 1821 is a fascinating story.
An Italian community, established in Waterfront Park in the early 19th century, has also shaped the culture of the city. See for yourself why San Diego - or Sandie as the locals call it - is dubbed America’s Finest City.
On the San Diego Private Half-Day Highlights tour, you will visit several of the city’s major historical sites –including Cabrillo National Monument and Balboa Park, quaint neighbourhoods, and Coronado Island - a picturesque peninsula blessed by gorgeous beaches, tidal pools, and coves.
Soak up the buzz of the Gaslamp Quarter, the architecture of Old Town, and the sprawling green space of Balboa Park. San Diego offers plenty of mouth-watering options for lunch, from delicious fish tacos to homemade pasta, and your guide will happily direct you to their favourites in Old Town.
Visit a local beach, enjoy a laid-back hippy vibe and browse artisan trinkets before returning to explore the Gaslamp Quarter. At the end of the tour, your guide will drop you off back at your hotel or somewhere central of your choosing.
Please note that the Botanical Garden in Balboa Park is closed for major renovation until further notice.
With 266 days of golden sunshine a year, San Diego has bright skies and a mild climate benefit with gentle ocean breezes mitigating the heat.
On your private driving tour of San Diego’s beaches, you will:
Stretching from Oceanside to the Mexican border and from the beach east into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Cleveland National Forest, San Diego’s 70 miles of picturesque coastline boasts 33 gorgeous sandy beaches. Rugged bays and tide pools teem with barnacles, crabs and sea urchins and are home to seals and sea lions, while dolphins, whales and turtles can be spotted in open water.
Each beach has its own distinct Southern California beach culture, from skaters on boardwalks to palm-hemmed secluded sands and laid-back hang-outs where surfers rule the waves. Your Private Tour of the San Diego Coast and Beaches takes you straight to the finest coastal stretches to discover the heart and soul of the city where, literally, life's a beach.
Your tour visits Ocean Beach, with its laid-back rhythm. It has a vintage SoCal hippy vibe with surf shops, taco stands, microbreweries and dog-friendly sands. Here, you can enjoy a pit stop at one of the many beachside eateries, or wait until you hit the crashing waves of the Pacific Beach. Serious surfers head to Pacific Beach - or “PB” as the locals call it - for an electric party atmosphere, glowing bonfires and excellent swells.
Your final stop is La Jolla, a scenic stretch dubbed ‘Paradise by the Sea’ sheltered by a 300-ft rocky bluff that is home to seals, sea lions, numerous seabirds, lush beach flora and a wide sweep of soft honey-coloured sand.
Along the Point Loma Peninsula’s western shoreline, the 68-acre Sunset Cliffs Natural Park encompasses native coastal scrub, dramatic cliff formations, craggy caves, intertidal lagoons and mesmerizing panoramic ocean views.
The alabaster-white sands of Coronado Island, home to the haunted Hotel Del Coronado, boasts quintessential San Diego seaside allure, running along Ocean Boulevard and evoking the era of Marilyn Monroe, who famously filmed Some Like It Hot here in 1958. Next Seaport Village where a picturesque century-old harbourside boasts numerous seafood bistros and waterfront cafés.
Please note: Your guide will be happy to drop you off at one of the last beaches on the tour, so feel free to bring your swimsuits and towels to soak up the glorious San Diego sun!
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