If you're visiting San Diego and want to take a tour, you've got plenty of options. Whether you like to be on land, sea or up in the air, there's sure to be a tour for you.
TOURS BY LAND
A great place to start is with one of the trolley tours that go around town in an old fashioned trolley car. They are open air so you can enjoy that fresh sea breeze. You can pick it up at various points around town including Old Town, Seaport Village, the Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park, the zoo and now even Coronado.
There are also various bus tours that can take you around town, and into Tijuana Mexico for a little shopping. "San Diego Scenic Tours" is one such company, and they'll pick you up from your hotel.
"Where You Want To Be Tours" offers a double decker bus tour around town.
TOURS IN THE BAY
For those who prefer to be out on the water for the whole tour, there are harbor cruises, sunset cruises, brunch cruises and dinner cruises available. All of these go out around San Diego Bay on a large yacht. See pleasure boats, maritime ships and the San Diego skyline. Most of the bay tours leave from the downtown harbor waterfront near the cruise ship terminal. "San Diego Harbor Excursion" and "Hornblower Cruises" are two such companies.
For whale watching season, you can take a cruise on a ship with indoor or outdoor seating out beyond the bay into the open waters of the ocean. Don't forget the Dramamine!
OR BOTH
Ever been on an amphibious vehicle? They can drive on the land and in the water. The "San Diego Seal" tour does a ninety minute narrated tour on one of their Hydra Terra boats. You can catch one from Seaport Village on the Embarcadero.
WINE COUNTRY
There are also limousine services that will take you up to Temecula Valley for a little wine tasting. It's about 90 miles northeast of San Diego. Bring a picnic lunch or arrange to have them to stop at one of the wine country restaurants and be back in San Diego for dinner!
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Want to impress someone? "Another Side Of San Diego" offers unique tour experiences around town, from a brewery tour to a bicycle tour on Coronado to nightlife tours to helicopter tours to private Sea World tours.
"San Diego Insider Tours" has a surf culture tour, which takes you to four local beach communities and immerses you in the local scene.
WHERE TO BOOK YOUR TOUR
You can often book these tours online in advance. Just do a search for the tour you are interested in to find the website or phone number.
Additionally, most every hotel will have a rack of local tour offerings and maybe even a coupon. Check with your concierge, who can help your book it as well.
