San Diego Day Trips from Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the city of artists, San Francisco the city of bohemians and Sacramento the city of conquerors, but San Diego is the city of all of them at the same time. Located on the Pacific coast, it represents with its opulence the Californian spirit and worships it with its large parks, art galleries and numerous museums.

Visiting San Diego is one of the best things to see and do on your trip to Los Angeles. Separated by almost 200 kilometers, it is possible to know it in day trips that include visits to other nearby cities such as Santa Barbara and La Jolla.

Here are the best alternatives to get to know San Diego with one of the excursions from Los Angeles.

On these excursions with round trip transfer and hotel pick up in Los Angeles you will embark on a trip to Southern California, where you will get to know San Diego on a guided tour of its historic center and emblematic sites of the city such as Balboa Park, which houses the local zoo.

In San Diego you will get to know a city with a Latin atmosphere, just a few kilometers from the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the way back you will also visit Coronado Island where you will find the renowned Coronado Hotel, which was used as a set for several famous movies and is considered the largest wooden U.S. building in the country.

If you visit Los Angeles in the summer you will be able to see a clear sunset over the Pacific on the return trip from San Diego and also enjoy the mild weather, ideal for boat rides in the city.

Details of interest

• Price of the excursion... Approximately 225 euros per person, including round-trip hotel pick-up and drop-off, the assistance of an expert local guide and the boat ride to Coronado Island.
• Duration of the excursion... Between 10 and 12 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... One of the most complete one-day alternatives to visit San Diego from Los Angeles.

Group tours are very common on the California coast so a private tour to visit San Diego from Los Angeles can be a good option if you are traveling with other people.

On these tours you will get to know the historic heart of the city and other representative points, such as Little Italy and Balboa Park, which houses the zoo and 17 museums.

On these private tours you can also visit Santa Barbara, located just outside of Los Angeles, which is one of the most exclusive places on the West Coast of the United States, especially in the Montecitos area.

You will have the assistance of an expert local guide throughout the tour and you will travel in the comfort of a private vehicle, which allows you to travel more comfortably than in Los Angeles hop on-hop off tour buses or public transportation.

On the way back to Los Angeles you can also choose at an extra cost to visit Coronado Island to see the Coronado Hotel and get one of the best views of San Diego. This private option is also ideal if you are visiting Los Angeles with children.

Details of interest

• Price of the tour... Approximately 220 euros per person in groups of 10 visitors, including round trip transfer with hotel pick-up in a private vehicle and the assistance of an expert local guide.
• Duration of the tour... Between 8 and 10 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... It is the most cost-effective and comfortable option if you are traveling in a group because in addition to visiting San Diego you will also visit Santa Barbara.

On this full day tour from Los Angeles you will discover San Diego from the perspective of its main sites.

You will visit Balboa Park, the Coronado Bay Bridge, the Gaslamp Quarter and take a guided tour of the city's historic downtown on a trip that starts on a train from Los Angeles to Oceanside, where you board a bus to San Diego.

On these tours you can also visit La Jolla, a city halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego noted for its beaches and golden sunsets and turf racing. The return is by bus to Oceanside, where you take the train back to Los Angeles.

On the way back to Los Angeles you can visit some of the best museums in the city or take a helicopter tour, which is one of the best things to do in the city at night.

Details of interest

• Price of the tour... Approximately 175 euros per person including transfers by train, bus to and from San Diego and the assistance of a local guide.
• Duration of the tour... Between 10 and 12 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... It is the best option to get to know the Californian coast and La Jolla.

If you are looking for an economical option or are touring the California coast on your own in a rental car, a self-guided tour might be the best alternative for traveling the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to San Diego.

With this option you can drive at your own pace and modify the itinerary proposed by the audio guide.

In these self-guided tours you can start the excursion from Los Angeles to San Diego, while you learn the stories and secrets of the places you visit along the way.

When you arrive at your destination you will get to know the historic downtown, Balboa Park and its peculiarities and also the outskirts of the city that marks the border between Mexico and the United States.

These tours have an approximate duration of 4 to 5 hours, but they can be ideal if you are planning a stay of a few days in Los Angeles. If that is your case, here is a list of what you can see and do in Los Angeles in a 3-day visit.

Details of interest

• Price of the tour... The self-guided tour has an approximate cost of 10 euros and applies per vehicle, not per passenger.
• Duration of the excursion... Between 4 and 5 hours.
• Advantages of this tour... It is the most economical alternative and allows you the autonomy to manage your own pace, especially if you are visiting Los Angeles for a short stay.

You can book the tours in advance online or book them once you are in the city.

If you plan to visit Los Angeles during the Christmas or peak season months, I recommend that you book tours in advance to avoid last minute price increases or sold out tours.

Keep in mind that you can also save time and money by pre-booking attraction tickets in case you want to get into some of the sites on the tour that are not included, as many times you can get discounts or reduced rates.

The answer depends on the tour you choose, but keep in mind that the distance between Los Angeles and San Diego is about 200 kilometers, so all tours are full day tours, except for the self-guided tour which lasts 4 to 5 hours, although you will have to add to that time the duration of the return trip.

The San Diego tours that also include visits to other sites, such as Santa Barbara, La Jolla, Coronado Island and other Pacific Coast cities, have an approximate duration of between 8 and 12 hours, so you should take this into account, especially if you are planning a short stay in the city or if you plan to travel to Los Angeles in winter, when the days get shorter and it gets dark earlier.

On all tours you will see San Diego, which is one of the cities on the border between the U.S. and Mexico and you can tour the historic downtown area, Balboa Park which houses the zoo and the most famous neighborhoods.

Most tours also include visits to other cities that are halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego.

For an extra cost, some excursions also include a tour of Coronado Island, which is known for the Coronado Hotel, the largest wooden building in the United States. You can also experience the opulence of Santa Barbara, which is located just outside of Los Angeles.

On the train excursion you can also visit La Jolla, a picturesque seaside town with beautiful beaches and golden sunsets, and is characterized by turf racing and summer homes.

San Diego is one of the most characteristic cities on the West Coast of the United States, so if you have the chance to take some time to tour it at your leisure, I recommend you do so.

It is a city that will call your attention for its colonial houses and its historic center and also for the Latin atmosphere that floods its streets, since the border between San Diego and Tijuana is one of the busiest in the world.

I also advise you to check what is the best time to visit Los Angeles, and if you plan to travel during the summer months or high season book your tickets in advance as they tend to sell out or can go up in price if you book at the last minute.

The answer will depend on the tour chosen, but full-day tours to San Diego and other cities halfway from Los Angeles cost on average between 175 and 225 euros per person, so they are not particularly inexpensive tours.

The cheapest option is the self-guided tour, which costs 10 euros per vehicle, not per person, although keep in mind that this option will only have the navigation scheduled for the tour you purchase.

If you buy your tours in advance online you can get discounts and if you travel with children in many cases they can access reduced rates, although the conditions will depend on each tourist service provider.

During the trip from Los Angeles to San Diego you will be able to visit some of the most representative sites of the West Coast that are usually included in the tours, such as Santa Barbara, whose visit is equivalent to a tour of the homes of Hollywood celebrities, La Jolla and Coronado Island.

In San Diego you will be able to visit the main sites of the city such as the historic downtown, Balboa Park and the most picturesque neighborhoods of this Latin bastion on the border between the United States and Mexico.

San Diego, along with Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco is one of the main points of the U.S. West Coast, so if you are visiting Los Angeles you can not miss this city that is one of the reference sites of the Latino population in the United States.

It is also a city with a great colonial history, with historic neighborhoods and a large number of parks and gardens that will leave you in awe.

On the way between Los Angeles and San Diego you can also visit other interesting cities, such as Santa Barbara, La Jolla and Coronado Island, which is home to one of the most special hotels in the United States, built entirely of wood.

You can tour San Diego on your own, but on a guided tour you can save time and money and also have the permanent assistance of an expert guide who will tell you about the local stories and show you the best places on the West Coast.

If you want to visit San Diego from Los Angeles on your own in a rental car I recommend you to do it with the self-guided tour, which will take you through the best roads of the Californian coast and the most representative sites of the city once you arrive at your destination.

In the self-guided tours you can also modify the itinerary to include intermediate stops in other cities of your interest along the way.