San Diego For Visitors

San Diego has lots to offer visitors and residents. You will never run out of places to see and things to do, especially outdoor activities. The top three main attractions are SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. You can visit downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter, visit the numerous beaches, or shop in Old Town.

If you are interested in architecture and historical buildings San Diego has a variety of places to see. Irving Gill was the first major architect to leave his mark on this city. He arrived here in 1893 and began designing buildings were designed to be integrated into the desert like landscape. You can see homes he designed in Uptown and La Jolla. The First Church of Christ Scientist is on the National Historic Landmark list and is one if his famous structures.

The Spanish Mediterranean style buildings can be seen throughout the city and one of the best known one is the Serra Museum at Presidio Park. Modernism swept through the city after WW II and can be seen throughout the downtown and business districts.

If you love to visit gardens, San Diego is a gardener’s paradise. A must see is Balboa Park that has many spectacular gardens of all types. You can visit the serene Japanese Friendship Garden and the Botanical Building and Lily Pond. You will also want to visit the thirty acre Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas. There are truly beatiful gardens and landscapes to admire througout the city.

If you are a military buff there are many opportunities here to learn about the military influence that made the city what it is today. One third of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet is ported in San Diego’s harbor. In the month of October, San Diego hosts numerous celebrations and events to honor the armed forces. You can see the popular Miramar Air Show which has aerial performances by the Blue Angels. The main military attraction is the USS Midway which is the home of the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. The Midway served from the end of WW II until the Gulf War.

The downtown area of San Diego offers a variety of things to do and see. You can enjoy the mordern architecture of the Horton Plaza shopping center or visit the turn of the century Gaslamp Quarter. The Seaport Village is designed to look like a New England seaport community and is a place to enjoy shopping and fine dining. There are also several harbor tours available so you can experience San Diego from the harbor.

San Diego is a unique and exciting place to visit or to relocate to. There is something here for everyone. No matter your interests you will find something to do here whether it be sunbathing and surfing on the numerous beaches or visiting the many different museums. It houses three of the best major animal parks in the nation. You’ll want to return again and again because there is so much to do here.

 

When You Visit San Diego

San Diego is a wonderful coastal city to visit and enjoy. It has a long and colorful past. There are several exciting places to visit and to discover the rich history of this area. The Old Town San Diego Historic Park is a great place to experience the history of early San Diego.

 

Visitors can get a glimpse into how this area was a joining of two cultures which turned San Diego from a Mexican pueblo into an American settlement. You will be able to see original and reconstructed building from that period. There are five original adobe buildings that are a part of this historical park and are now museums, shops and restaurants.

The park has many historical buildings to visit. The mansion La Casa de Estudillo was built around a beautiful garden and courtyard. There is the Mason Street School which was California’s first public schoolhouse. You can visit the San Diego Union Printing Office, which is the city’s oldest surviving newspaper office. There are many things to explore and see hear.

Mission Trails Regional park is one of the largest urban parks in the nation. There is over 5,800 acres to explore and it includes two lakes, the San Diego River and the Old Mission Dam. You can visit the 1,592 foot Cowles Mountain which gives you a scenic view of the area. There are many trails to explore and an abundant of bird life.

Heritage Park is an 8 acre county park which is dedicated to the preservation of Victorian architecture. You can visit seven original 19^th century homes that were moved to the park. These homes are now the home to a bed and breakfast, and other novelty shops. At the entrance to the park you can see the Temple Beth Israel which was originally built in 1889 in classic revival style.

If you would like to learn more about the people and cultures that first settled in this area you should visit the Junipero Serra Museum. This museum is perched on a hill above Old Town and is a Spanish Mission styled structure. The museum offers exhibits on Native American, Spanish and Mexican people who first settled here. You can visit the tower which overlooks the city and you can see for miles. There is also a park surrounding the museum where you can walk the trails or have a picnic.

The Whaley house was built in 1856 and was the first two story brick house to be constructed in this part of the country. There is an urban legend that this house is a designated haunted house. As many as 100,000 people visit each year to see for themselves. There are many interesting and unique artifacts here. You can visit and maybe you will see one of the four spirits who are said to haunt the structure.

San Diego and the surrounding areas are wonderful places to visit and to learn about the diverse cultural that makes up this coastal city.

 

San Diego Zoo

If you are thinking about what to do in San Diego there is one top destination that ranks as one of the best of most suggestions. The famous San Diego Zoo, situated in San Diego California is one of the best zoo’s in America and is also highly rated internationally. For many visitors the San Diego Zoo is one of the main attractions of San Diego.

 

The Zoo houses nearly 4,000 animals for visitors to see. Among the animals you can see at the Zoo, the entertaining pandas are no doubt the best known attraction. They are one of the main reasons why people like to visit the Zoo. Everybody loves watching the cuddly and playful pandas. You should check out when their feeding times are scheduled so you can see them at their most active.

 

As well as the pandas, the Zoo has a huge variety of animal species on display. There are giraffes, springboks, wildebeests and more from Africa. There are snakes from Asia and camels from Arabia. Pretty much any animal that you can think of will be represented.

 

The animals themselves have plenty of space to live in their enclosures. The San Diego Zoo is well known for its efforts to recreate the natural habitat in which the animals live. The Zoo is located in the garden-like environment of Balboa Park, one of the best public parks in North America. Both the animals and the people who come to see them enjoy the attractive gardens of the Zoo.

 

You can view the animals in several ways. There is an overhead cableway that gives a wide overview of the zoo from above. If you are keen on photography the view from the upper level of the double decker bus tours gives you a clear view right into the animals enclosures. You are, of course, free to walk about the Zoo as you wish, but it is a good idea to try to follow the scheduled feeding times of the different animals.

 

Even if you are planning a beach vacation in San Diego, you should make sure you spend a few hours at the Zoo. Especially if you have not visited a zoo before, a visit to the San Diego Zoo will be a memorable family outing.