San Diego Guide
San Diego General Info
- Map of San Diego neighborhoods
- Frommers has a brief intro to San Diego neighborhoods
- Frommers, Getting around San Diego

Where to stay
- La Pensione Hotel in Little Italy (north-west downtown). This is a nice budget ($70) hotel on the edge of downtown.
- Gaslamp Plaza Suites is a great old builing in the heart of downtown. Quite a nice place, but the prices start at around $120.
- Keating House in Banker’s Hill (just north of downtown). This Victorian Bed & Breakfast starts at around $95 for double.
- The Cottage is a homestead style B&B in Hillcrest (north of downtown). $75 for double, $99 for cottage.
- Beach Haven Inn is a block from the ocean and Mission Bay. They start around the $80 mark.
- If you want to stay at a hostel, this page seems to have some good info and reviews. USA Hostels (downtown) seems to have a good rating.

Things to do
- Take a hike at Torrey Pines State Reserve. Great spot to wander for a few hours, the beach is great here as well.
- Snorkel, swim, or lay on the beach at La Jolla Cove.
- Visit Villa Montezuma. This is an amazing historic house near downtown.
- Cabrillo National Monument. This monument is on Point Loma and offers a great view of San Diego.
- Balboa Park is a must visit. I love the botanical building.
- The view from the top of Mount Soledad is worth a trip.
- If you want to see some of the desert, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and Stonewall Peak are good places to start.
- San Diego 3-for-1 Pass – unlimited admission to the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, and SeaWorld for up to five days
- Birch Aquarium at Scripps (La Jolla) is quite nice

Favorite places to eat

Golden Hill
- When you are craving some not so light cooking, Humberto’s Taco Shop (1015 25th St).
- Pizzeria Luigi makes some fantastic NY style pizza (thin crust) by the slice.
- Influx Cafe has some great granola.
- Decent food and a great patio; Krakatoa.
- Cook your own burger at the Turf Supper Club.

Sherman Heights (just south of Golden Hill)
- Chicano Perk has an amazing patio. It is like going to Costa Rica.
- The fantastic El Comal. I love the meatball soup (el bondigas).
- Island Spice has some good Jamaican cooking.

Downtown
- Cafe 222 is a great little breakfast place.
- The Mission SOMA – one of my favorite breakfast places has made it down to east village.

North Park (just north of Golden Hill)
- Mama’s Bakery & Lebanese Deli, simply put, the best Lebanese food I have found in San Diego.
- Soltan Banoo (Caspian Cafe), nice place, nice people, and some good persian food.
- The Mission – North Park is one of my favorite breakfast places.
- The Linkery has some of the most affordable prices for delicious hand made cuisine. They even blog!

Hillcrest (north of downtown)
- Bread & Cie has some fantastic bread. I love to get a breakfast plate and go to the park.
- Extraordinary Desserts is not cheap, but they have some pretty fanatastic stuff.
- Region Restaurant – not buget eating, but great local and sustainable food

Old Town
- Best Mexican food in town: Casa De Bandini. Unfortunatly, they lost their lease :(

La Jolla
- Bahia Don Bravo (5504 La Jolla Blvd) has some of the best fish tacos in town.

Linda Vista
- Bale French Sandwich Shop has fantastic Vietnamese sandwiches for a couple bucks.
- Get a nice bowl of pho at Pho Hoa-Huong.

Imperial Beach
- Oasis Ice Cream Parlor has the best popsicles in San Diego. No contest.

The farmers markets are always a good bet to find some good food. I enjoy the Hillcrest market.

Local Event Sources
- San Diego CityBeat.
- San Diego Entertainment section of the local paper.
- SD Reader, a free weekly paper. Now with twice as many plastic surgery ads.