Visiting San Diego in a couple weeks! What to do??? (Oceanside: hotel, dorms)

[Daniel_T]

Hi there, looking for some free things to do in San Diego while I am there. Visiting for two days and an on a VERY TIGHT budget. I have to use my Southwest Airlines ticket or else it will expire. I am putting an ad on craigslist for a place to stay so hopefully that will be covered but would like to take lots of photos in the city.

Anyone who might know of any walking tours would be appreciated! thanks,

Daniel

[kettlepot]

Will you have any kind of personal transportation? And when you say you would like to take photos of the city, do you mean buildings/neighborhoods (old or new?), nature, or people?

[Daniel_T]

Hi, I will be using public trans. the entire time. I might even come for just one day. Fly in from Tucson in the morning and leave in the evening. I want to take photos of downtown skyscrapers, the beach, Coronado Bridge, and some surrounding neighborhoods if I have time. Safe ones anyway! Thanks,

Daniel

[f_m]

Well, I suppose you could try couchsurfing.com.

[Lindsay&Matt]

When I visited a friend in LA, we went to Point Loma, or Cabrillo park, which, if I remember correctly, was near San Diego. We were there last December...and it was beautiful!

[PHItoLAX]

You can go and hike Torrey Pines. Absolutely stunning vistas and I believe parking is only $8 for the day. Go about an hour or so before sunset for max effect.

[oddstray]

There is a public transport airport shuttle that goes from the airport to downtown. But if you're only here for a day or so, it sounds like you won't have much luggage. The airport is at the north end of the main bay, and you could take your camera out as soon as you're out of the airport and walk from the airport, along Harbor Drive, to get photos of downtown. Towards the southern end of downtown you'll start to see the Coronado Bridge.

Then if you have time, walk up to Balboa Park. You'll be walking through some of the downtown neighborhoods on your way to there.

Alternately, from downtown take the ferry across to Coronado. Get photos of the bridge from the ferry, and wander around Coronado. The beach outside the Hotel Del Coronado is one of my favorites.

[skeke]

From the description of your time here I would go to the gaslamp from the airport. Gong down Harbor from the airport you get great skyline views and some nice water pics. Great building photo ops in the Gas Lamp, walkability, public transportation. You could end up taking a trolley to Old Town, different kind of photo ops. You could head to
Seaport Village and catch the water there. Balboa Park is another option.

[Rquincey]

Hey there, there's so many things to do in San Diego for free. Here are a few of my recommendations:

1. See a concert at Spreckels Organ Pavilion: Spreckels Organ Pavilion concerts are also always free. Check out free Sunday afternoon organ concerts June - August from 2-3pm. Spreckels Organ Pavilion also puts on the International Summer Organ Festival, with free concerts on Monday at 7:30pm throughout the summer months.


2. Take a Free tour of Balboa Park: Balboa Park also offers four free tours of the park, leaving from in front of the visitor center. The Architectural Heritage Tours are scheduled on the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30am. The Offshoot tours are scheduled every Saturday at 10:00am and lead by trained volunteers. Tour themes include Balboa Park history (1st Saturday of the month), palm trees (2nd Saturday), other trees in the Park (3rd Saturday), desert vegetation (4th Saturday) and tour del dia (5th Saturday).


3. Balboa Park Museums free days: Every museum in Balboa Park is free to the public one Tuesday of each month! Centro Cultural de la Raza, Natural History Museum, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the Model Railroad Museum are free on the first Tuesday. The Museum of Photographic Arts and the Museum of San Diego History are free on the second Tuesday. The Museum of Art, Museum of Man, Mingei International Museum, Japanese Friendship Garden and the Art Institute's Museum of the Living Artist are free on the third Tuesday. The Air & Space Museum, Automotive Museum and Hall of Champions Sports Museum are free on the fourth Tuesday.

4. Olympic Training Center: Visitors are treated to a birds-eye view of the campus from the Olympic Path, where they can see training fields and tracks, athlete dorms, and Otay Lake Reservoir. Free tours are offered daily starting at the Copley Visitor Center. You can purchase Olympic souvenirs (and support the athletes) at the Olympic Spirit Store.

5. Reuben H. Fleet Science Center: On the first Wednesday of every month, The San Diego Astronomy Association sets telescopes up at the Rueben H Fleet Science Center to offer guests a great (and free!) view of our solar system.

6. Timken Museum of Art:The Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park is an unusual display of artwork from the collection of two sisters, Anne R. and Amy Putnam. It's always free.

These are just my recommendations, there are so many things to do there for free. Here's more info: Your Destination Guideâ„¢ to San Diego, CA - Free in San Diego

[buffy888]

Not free, but fairly inexpensive - if you want pics of beach areas outside of San Diego, you can take the Coaster train to Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, or Oceanside...