Impossible not to surrender to its infinite attributes
Nobody who has visited San Diego you will disagree with me: It is a destination where you want to stay and live. Although it is true that the southernmost city of California It has been in the background for years, crushed by the popularity of neighbors like Los Angeles, there are few people (I wonder who they are) who, once they visit San Diego, do not end up in love with its infinite attributes.
With more than 250 days of sunshine a year, a thriving food scene (at prices that have nothing to do with LA), beaches packed with surfers, and attractions like its zoo and the museums of the sprawling Balboa Park, they just needed to catch up. in craft beer for show the world that the growing popularity of the city has stopped being a trend to become a reality. And it was time.
relaxed and calm
And although it is difficult to gauge the ego of a city that calls itself "the best city in the United States", the reality is that San Diego has always lived parallel to certain tourist circuits that passed by this destination where it seems that they live in an eternal vacation.
Relaxed, calm and flanked by a good handful of coastal towns with a high dose of personality, the difficult thing in San Diego is, today, decide what not to do in a city where there is something for everyone. Here are some suggestions.
GAS LAMP QUARTER
San Diego's Gaslamp District is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city and also one of its most famous. Many things stand out in this area, but at first glance it is its architectural charm that shines above any other attraction.
The streets, through which you can and should walk, are full of 19th century buildings restored but keeping all their original essence.
Oh yeah. Here we find shops, restaurants, theaters, galleries and even nightclubs where you can indulge without fuss in cocktails and craft beer, the latest trend in the city.
It's Gaslamp Quarter, the architecture impresses
It is true that it is a tourist neighborhood, possibly the most touristy in San Diego, but it is also one of the prettiest, possibly the prettiest.
The Pendry Hotel (a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts) has just opened its doors here, whose art deco building occupies almost a block within the vibrant Gaslamp. And now you can not ask for more.
BREAKFAST CHILAQUILES
In the arduous task of finding the best breakfast in town, it didn't take long for me to realize that the Mexican influence in San Diego is very high, hence breakfast burritos are the order of the day even though this is the United States.
It was here that I realized how much I had missed some good chilaquiles and that all the ingredients that make them up (poached eggs with green sauce, Cotija cheese, cilantro, tortilla chips and red onion) They pair perfectly with orange juice and American coffee. , especially if they are enjoyed in Provisional , a cafeteria restaurant with uninterrupted hours and an overwhelming gastronomic offer located in the ground floor of the pendry hotel . If it's Sunday and we feel like brunch, the meal comes paired with a complimentary Mimosa.
The best fish tacos (yes, yes, I'm still talking about breakfast) are at ** Oscars , a restaurant specializing in Mexican food that has several branches in the city.** The only bad thing about all this is that around the corner home you have to make do with a simple toast for breakfast. Collateral damage.
BALBOA PARK
Craft beer, nature, sun, art (more than 16 museums) and history come together in Balboa Park, the largest urban park in San Diego.
Here you can do many things, but above all you have to have a drink outdoors in the Panama 66, perfect for a stop along the way on any tour of this huge park.
and precisely this open-air center for culture offers many different itineraries , so my advice is to choose the one that best suits your tastes and previously select what to visit because, this is not a set phrase, Balboa Park is humanly unfathomable.
In my case, and since my thing is architecture, I opted for a tour of the most emblematic buildings in the park, in which the Spreckels Organ Pavilion stands out, designed in 1915 by self-taught architect Harrison Albright, who was also responsible for the downtown US Grant Hotel. The pavilion is in Italian Renaissance style, with semicircular colonnades and intricate designs with allusions to nature.
The city's zoo is also located here, Listed as one of the best in the world, it is quite an attraction in San Diego.
LITTLE ITALY
And if the Mexican influence in San Diego is notable, the Italian is not far behind either. In fact Little Italy is one of the most charismatic and beloved neighborhoods in the city and also the place to enjoy the best Italian gastronomy. More would be missing.
There's nothing pretty about this quaint neighborhood (you can't have it all), but It is the place to go to eat a delicious pasta. In addition, on Saturday mornings there is a nice local farmers market where you can also buy food (pay special attention to their panini) to take away.
In Little Italy you will only find one problem: that It is impossible to decide which restaurant is the best. So I make your job easier so that everything goes smoothly, confirming that civic 1845 It is the place where you have to book. It is not the coolest nor the most comfortable (fight for one of its few tables on the terrace), but everything is forgotten when they serve you his prawn and burrata risotto. Save room for dessert a spoonful of their creamy tiramisu will transport you directly from San Diego to the heart of beautiful Italy. You are warned.
The place to book in Little Italy
CROWNED
It's time to leave the city and to do so by escaping to the city of Coronado is one of the best plans. This mythical island is today a bastion of hotels, resorts and restaurants facing an endless beach.
The best way to get there is by car crossing the lavish Coronado Bridge, a vertiginous structure that connects the island with the city and, although much less impressive, there are also ferries that depart from the port.
In Coronado, everything that isn't baking on the beach is baking on Orange Avenue, full of shops, restaurants and mansions everywhere.
In this iconic vacation destination there is a patriotic aroma of the American way of life that reaches its peak in the ** hotel del Coronado .** More than an icon of the destination, here you do not have to stay or even eat (it does not stand out for neither of the two things) , You cannot miss a visit or a photo in this Victorian bastion of Californian hospitality. Your Instagram will thank you.
Hotel del Coronado, a factory for making 'likes'
MISSION BEACH
Surfers in particular and athletes in general, as well as lovers of the good (and Californian) life are welcome to one of the most spectacular beaches in San Diego: Mission Beach.
Here life is what happens in the arena where you live a lot of beautiful people wanting to have a good time and that they surely live in those beach houses that you cannot stop photographing while you sigh.
Most of the action in Mission Beach is centered on Belmont Park , at the intersection of Mission Boulevard and West Mission Bay Drive, where the most fun you can do is ride the roller coaster (it was originally built in 1925 but today, thank goodness, it has been restored) inside a busy amusement park.
South Mission Beach offers an even bigger beach and a slower pace than living in the bustling Belmont Park area.
If you practice diving, near the coast there are a series of shipwrecks, placed here to create an artificial reef that over the years has turned out to be quite an interesting dive for lovers of the deep sea.
Mission Beach
PENDRY SAN DIEGO
I remember thinking as soon as I arrived: “a hotel with a vending machine full of Moët & Chandon can never be a bad hotel”. Et voilà, it's not that it wasn't a bad hotel, it's that it was one of the best hotel experiences of my life. And I type this sentence without messing up my hair.
The recently opened Pendry is a large hotel, with more than 300 rooms, but its large size is barely noticeable because the spaces are well dimensioned, the ceilings are high and, I cannot explain why, even if the hotel is full, as it was in my case, you hardly ever come across other guests.
This changes if what we are talking about is its swimming pool and its outdoor jacuzzi, since the space is so nice that Here you want to stay until sleeping. Although, and this is another of the strong points of the hotel, the beds in the rooms are surprisingly comfortable, as are the showers.
The Pendry has a modern hotel line focused on design and clearly focused on the millennial public where what really matters prevails: beds, showers and sexy spaces where one feels better than good.
At turndown time they leave you a couple of macarons on the edge of the bed and the minibar is so complete that you could easily survive a couple of weeks without having to step foot on the street. If you also ask for a room on the upper floors, the stay is accompanied by the spectacle that it means to see sunset in San Diego. I already told you that it was one of my best hotel experiences, right?