World City Guide

Tours of the City

Tours of the City
Walking Tours
The Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation, William Heath Davis House Museum, 410 Island Avenue, Downtown (tel: (619) 233 4692; fax: (619) 233 4148; e-mail: gqhf@aol.com; website: www.gaslampquarter.org), has several fascinating tours of the Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s oldest neighbourhood. Self-guided tours cost US$2 and guided tours US$3-8. The guided tours leave from William Heath Davis House Museum on Saturday at 1100 and take approximately two hours.

San Diego’s Old Town Boosters, Robinson Rose Historical House and Museum, 4002 Wallace Street (tel: (619) 469 3174; fax: (619) 220 5421; website: www.ot-boot.com), offers guided tours of the Old Town’s 19th-century historic neighbourhoods and national park – often by guides dressed in period clothing. Attractions include an Early American pioneer cemetery, one of the Old Town’s oldest churches and a haunted house. Many of the Old Towns stately early American Victorian houses were relocated to the area some years ago and are now open for public viewing. One-hour tours cost US$5 or US$22 for a tour with lunch and fashion promenade. Tours depart from Robinson Rose Historical House and Museum (also the Information Centre for Old Town).

Bus Tours
Gray Line/Coach USA (tel: (619) 491 0011; website: www.coachusa.com/sandiego) offers a four-hour ‘City Tour’, taking in La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, the Embarcadero, Balboa Park, downtown and Old Town, for US$26. They also offer scheduled tours to many of the attractions, including SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Legoland, Disneyland, Universal Studios and shopping trips to Tijuana. The tour picks up passengers every half an hour at various locations throughout the city. Regular stops include the Old Town, Sea World, Harbor Island, Gaslamp District, Horton Plaza and the San Diego Zoo. Visitors may wish to call the bus company to confirm pick up locations nearest to their hotel.

Other Tours
San Diego has built its reputation on its seaports, so it stands to reason that a visit would not be complete without a guided tour of the Bay. There are several options open to visitors, such as whale-watching excursions to viewing Californian grey whales or romantic dinner tours complete with dancing and a gourmet dinner. When in season (mid-December through March), Hornblower Cruises and Events (tel: (619) 686 8700; e-mail: sd@hornblower.com; website: www.hornblower.com) offers three-and-a-half-hour whale-watching tours, costing US$25. One- or two-hour harbour tours are also available for US$15 and US$20 respectively. Tours depart from the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal, Harbor Drive. The Birch Aquarium at Scripps (tel: (858) 534 3474; e-mail: aqminfo@aquavelva.ucsd.edu; website: www.aquarium.ucsd.edu) provides narrated whale-watching tours.

For personalised sailing tours, Classic Sailing Adventures (tel: (619) 224 0800 or (800) 659 0141; website: www.classicsailingadventures.com) offers romantic sunset sails for two to six passengers. Their four-hour whale-watching cruises depart daily at 0830 and 1300 December-March or (only 1300 April-November). In the summer season, there is also a shorter champagne sunset cruise, which sails at 1730-1930. Cruises cost US$60 and depart from Shelter Island Marina.