Seaport Village

Discover the best of San Diego, with its spectacular Spanish colonial architecture, rich Mexican heritage, and seventy miles of coastline. On your full-day highlights 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, and 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. 

Discover the history and culture of America's finest city. On your private walking tour of San Diego:

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims to have discovered San Diego Bay in 1542, some 200 years before Europeans settled the area. In truth, however, the indigenous Kumeyaay peoples had been living in the area for as long as 12,000 years prior to any European ‘discovery’. Since then, millions of visitors have explored San Diego with its beautiful sun-soaked beaches and fascinating cultural heritage, no longer an uncharted paradise. Today, the city is home to a population of around 1.4 people, with San Diego - or Sandie as the locals call it - the second-largest Californian city.

On your tour, you will see several of the city’s highlights, including the Santa Fe Depot, an elegant railroad station built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Renowned for its soaring towers and tiled domes, this reminder of California's Spanish heritage reflects the resplendent Colonial Revival architectural style. Natural redwood beam ceilings hung with bronze chandeliers and plenty of natural light characterise the interior. 

You will also visit one of the city’s most elegant hotels – The US Grant Hotel, a building of Art Deco glamour that has welcomed guests for over 100 years. Famed as a Prohibition-era speakeasy, the lobby is adorned with Empire-era furnishings that reflect the style of Ulysses S. Grant Jr., who built the 11-story hotel in 1910 to honour his father, the nation’s 18th president. 

Visit the Gaslamp Quarter, where a buzzing collection of tequila bars, taco restaurants and funk boutiques forms the urban playground of the city. Next, pass by Petco Park, the sporting home of the San Diego Padres, and see Seaport – a picturesque century-old harbour-side. Your private-guided tour ends at the USS Midway Museum, where you will depart with your guide before climbing aboard for a self-guided audio discovery of the life of an enlisted sailor on this former US Navy aircraft carrier. 

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!