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San Diego, California THE BASICS www.TrustedTours.com

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Weather
In one word: ideal. People living there know it; visitors love it; flowers blooming everywhere show it. Sunny San Diego’s weather is delightfully steady year-round, not too hot or too cold. In the coldest months, December and January, daytime temperatures rarely fall below 66°; in the warmest, August and September, they rarely rise above 78°. Nighttime temperature drops to 49° in January, and rises to 67° in August.

In forecaster terminology, San Diego has a “microclimate.” Tucked as it is between the cool Pacific Ocean and the sun-scorched desert, with mountains in between, in the winter choice of weather is but a short drive away. Wetsuit-clad surfers catch waves in the Pacific, cacti bloom in warm Ana-Borrego Desert, and snow caps the Laguna Mountains. It doesn’t rain much in Southern California: November through March averages about 1 ½” per month; in April through October there is hardly a rain cloud in sight.

 

Seasons
Visitors can enjoy San Diego any time of year. Seasonal changes are slight, reflected primarily in clothing choices: a sweater (and maybe a jacket or sweatshirt) over long pants in the winter; short sleeves and shorts in the summer. There can be a chilly rain on some winter days, making a jacket necessary. The land/sea temperature differential in the spring and summer causes morning fog banks to billow in along the coast and light layering is a good idea. By noon it will burn off, and you’ll shed the layers.

Summer is peak tourist season and is particularly popular with families. In spring and fall venues are not as busy, and it’s a wonderful time to visit. Every month heralds outdoor events. April is Little Italy’s annual ArtWalk, the area’s largest outdoor art festival. May celebrates Fiesta de Cinco de Mayo featuring re-enactments, mariachis and margaritas in Old Town. Everyone goes to the 3-week long San Diego County Fair in Del Mar in June. July brings the Summer Pops to the Embarcadero and August and September are the best beach months. In September, the music happening, Street Scene, is so popular it takes place in Qualcomm Stadium. October’s Fleet Week is the nation’s largest military appreciation event. In December, downtown dresses up in holiday finery and the harbor sparkles during the nightly Parade of Lights.

Population
An estimated 2005 population of 1,244,540 ranks San Diego as the 8th largest city in the US, but it does not feel like as its population mass is broken up in geographic pockets. Although the city’s median age of 33.5 classifies it as young, in San Diego youth is but a state of mind. Regardless of age, San Diegans are vibrant, vigorous and active, an attitude attributable to the year-round ideal weather and glorious landscape. San Diego is also “smart” city! Over 40% of its population has a masters degree or higher, due, in part, to the large number of biotech companies headquartered in the area.

Size
The city of San Diego is 324.3 square miles in size. San Diego County covers 4,526 square miles, with 90% of its 2.8 million people living within 30 miles of the coast.

Transportation
- Car: Have a good map and detailed directions before you go as the tangle of freeways can be frustrating. Route 8 is San Diego’s main east/west artery; Route 5 the north/south artery. Many sites in the city enjoyed by visitors are off the 5. Parking in downtown San Diego lots is relatively easy, except during special events, and there is metered parking on side streets. Beach parking in the summer is almost impossible in the free lots near the main beaches.
- Public Transportation: The San Diego Transit Company runs a bus system operating through the city and county, however, getting to a destination may take longer than you want. The red, electric San Diego Trolley runs to various points downtown and all the way to the Mexican border. Call each for information or, stop by the Transit Store downtown at 102 Broadway for maps and information.
- Aboard the Old Town Trolley Tours® of San Diego: A great way to see the city and get around when you first arrive is on an informative narrated tour aboard Old Town Trolley Tours® of San Diego. Not to be confused with the transportation-only red electric San Diego Trolley, this orange and green, propane-powered Victorian trolley on wheels with great viewing windows provides a wonderful narrated tour of all the important points in San Diego, including Coronado and Balboa Park, and gives you the option of hopping off at any of the 10 stops along the tour route to explore on your own. When you’re ready to resume the tour, simply hop back on the next available trolley.

Accommodations
Accommodations in the San Diego area reflect the character of the communities in which they are located.

Downtown has restored historic gems and bold contemporary structures, each adding to the urbanscape in a unique way. All sophisticated, they are, for the most part, brand hotels. In addition to Coronado’s crown jewel, the lavish, rambling beachfront Victorian-era Hotel Del Coronado, whose red-shingled peaked, turreted and dormered roofline makes it the most recognizable landmark in San Diego, the small community has other historic, architecturally significant, elegant early 1900 mansions converted into hotels.

Interesting, elegant and upscale European-style small hotels dot the village streets of La Jolla; Old Town’s more moderate hotels and motels are terraced into the hills around Hotel Circle. Just west, Mission Valley’s brand name contemporary hotels are convenient to upscale malls, restaurants, and Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Point Loma’s resorts are on man-made peninsulas jutting out into the bay; and the recreational aquatic vacation mecca of Mission Bay offers full-service resorts.

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