Discover where to eat, shop, live, play, work, stay, travel.
Instant Access to 1000 Things to do in San Diego, Attractions, Maps, Tours
All categories are hot linked for instant access including the Table of Contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS,
Airports,
Attractions
Banquets & Catering,
Birthdays, Eat Free
Coupons/Deals,
Getaways,
Jobs,
Kid Free Meals
Maps
Mexico,
Micro Breweries,
Military,
Neighborhoods,
Museums
Real Estate,
Relocation,
Recreation,
Restaurants,
Shopping,
THINGS TO DO,
Weddings,
Wineries
Here’s 1000 MORE FREE & Fun Things to do
MOST VIEWED PAGES DAILY Click on Text To SEE
- 1 Eat Free On Your Birthday In San Diego
- 2 1000 San Diego things to do
- 3 Where Kids Eat Free in San Diego
- 4 Tijuana Border Parking & TJ Shuttle
- 4 50 FREE San Diego Tours
- 6 Gusher Farmacias Offers Up to 50% Off
- 7 Tourismo Express RT Shuttle to Tijuana
- 8 Mexicoach: Safest Travel into Mexico
- 9 50 FREE San Diego Maps & City Tour
+ 50 Maps & Tours
Where to Stay
Top 10 Burger Joints
Antique Districts
56th Annual City Guide
Explore the City via 50 Diy Map Tours by Land, Air, Sea
SanDiegan.com 56th year is the Original & Trademarked City Guide used by Millions
Google (circa 1998) was launched 3 years after we established our website, making us an internet pioneer. Millions of newcomers, visitors & residents have used our 56 annual online & print city guides. Google categorizes us as an authority site like it does The New York Times.
City of San Diego Rewards Barry with a San Diego Day
The San Diego Mayor and the City Council gave Barry a “Barry Berndes Day” on January 14th, 2018. This award was in recognition of Barry’s over 50-year devotion to showing millions of newcomers, visitors, and residents San Diego via the SAN DIEGAN, SanDiegan.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & LinkedIn.
Have fun Exploring the city via 650 pages of Content
How to Navigate this Huge Website EASILY & Fast
(1) Click here for instant access to 50 suburbs & city walking & driving tours with maps. (2) Click on the Barry Icon at the top left corner of every page to return to the home page. (3) Click on the little box with the arrow in it in the right corner to instantly return to the top of any page. (4) Content is roughly organized & HOT-LINKED in alphabetical order.
50 FREE DIY Essential City Map Tours By Land, Air, Sea
Barry Knows RESTAURANTS
450 Restaurant Reviewes
BARRY KNOWS RESTAURANTS & He has reviewed 10,000
Barry is an internationally acclaimed restaurant reviewer. He has dined in 10,000 restaurants, so far, & has selected 450 for your review. Barry goes unannounced, pays for his own meals, eats three meals at one sitting, and inspects the kitchen. This is your assurance that you will receive an equal or better meal than he enjoyed.
SEARCH 450 Restaurants
Search By Name, Location, & Cuisine – Hot-Linked
#1 RANKED & Most Recommended
#1 Ranked EAT FREE on Your Birthday 90 locations
#1 Ranked Where kids Eat FREE 83 locations
#1 Ranked 10 Best Burger Joints
#1 Ranked Curbside Takeaways 70 locations
#1 Ranked San Diego Banquets & Catering 200 locations
Most Recommended
Casa Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant
Eat & Play at Dave & Busters
Harbor Sunset Dinner & Dancing Cruise
Marine Room: Dining at High Tide
Sunday Brunch Le Fountainebleu
Top of the Market Seafood Restaurant
The Charthouse in Cardiff By the Sea
“Enjoy San Diego’s Best” One-Restaurant-at-a-time.
Barry has literally dined in 10,000 restaurants over the past 56 years. He goes unannounced, he pays for my own meals, and inspects the kitchen. Unlike a Yelp reviewer, he is a professional reviewer. He always eat three meals at one sitting, and NEVER ORDERS HIS OWN MEALS.
America’s Biggest Asian Restaurant Row
The Kearney Mesa Convoy District is home to the Biggest and Best Asian Restaurant Row in America. It’s literally 1.5 miles long and filled with over 100 award-winning restaurants. Get this, they are literally next door to one another.
Banquets & Catering
If there is a wedding or special event in your future, then do what thousands of locals do, visit this page. The SanDiegan.com reviewed recommendations include impressive wineries, elite golf course clubhouses, classy yacht clubs, prestigious hotels, and awesome restaurants with breathtaking ocean views.
Best Breakfast & Brunch 75-Personally Reviewed Venues
All 75 SanDiegan.com recommended breakfast and brunch restaurants have been personally reviewed. Expect a delicious dining experience while discovering the Best of San Diego.
Best Burger Joints–Top 10
#1 RANKED. HOT-LINKED! An American passion is a constant search for the best hamburger. Here at SanDiegan.com, you’ll find the Top 10 Best Burger Joints in San Diego.
Best Lunch & Dinner Venues 175-Reviewed
As San Diego’s Dean of Restaurant Reviewers, Barry only recommends the best reviewed restaurants. He goes unannounced, paying for my own meals and insect the kitchen. San Diego is an awesome restaurant town.
Best 70 Curbside Takeaways
HOT-LINKED for quick access is the SanDiegan.com recommended BEST Curbside Takeaways places. Barry only recommend personally reviewed restaurants vs. a list of unknown places.
Best Restaurants By Name, Location, & Cuisine
Top 10: Mr. A’s Sky High views & French cuisine
Top 10: Harbor Sunset Dinner & Dancing Cruise
Top 10: Top of the Market Seafood with Bayview
Eat FREE on your Birthday
Kid FREE MEALS
BARRY KNOWS SAN DIEGO
See San Diego with San Diego’s Resident Expert
His 1000 BEST San Diego things to do, are all reviewed.
BARRY KNOWS SHOPPING
SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP
Barry and his staff walk the malls, tour the stores and provide the insight only a local knows.
Best Factory Outlet Centers in San Diego.
City Lights Year-Round Christmas Store.
Baja Duty FREE Shopping at the Tijuana Border.
Home Buying,
Car Buying
11 Farmers Markets
Shop Antique Districts
There are three antique districts in San Diego. One is in the beach town of Ocean Beach and steps from the ocean. Another is in east county’s Historic La Mesa, which is also home to antique car shows and their popular annual Octoberfest. Then there is Adams Avenue Antiques, which is centered around 30th St. in North Park. All are fun to explore.
Shop 5 Factory Outlets 21 Malls, + Biggest Swap Meet
#2 RANKED. HOT–LINKED! San Diego has three awesome factory outlet centers, where you can literally shop till you drop!
BARRY KNOWS TIJUANA
Exploring this international city is fun. Bargain shop Downtown Tijuana, Rio Tijuana and Hidalgo Mercado. Purchase duty-free French perfume. Bring back a bottle of duty-free liquor. Save up to 50% off on meds at Farmacia Gusher. Dine in world-class Tijuana Restaurants. Click on the headline above to view Tijuana chapter.
PARK SAFE at Border Station Parking & take the RT Shuttle. See Tijuana Restaurants, Shops, Hotels.
TRAVEL ALERT Park SAFE at U.S. Border take RT Tijuana Shuttle
Your American Insurance is NOT VALID IN MEXICO. If you get into an accident, you and your car will be detained in the county jail in Mexico until the guilty party pays the damages. Plus, the long waits in crossing the border on your return from Tijuana, which often takes hours. The recommended tried and true solution is to take a sleek (No Hassle) round-trip-shuttle bus service from the Border Station Parking lot to Tijuana and back to your car. This is a 24-hour-a-day fenced and attended lot. Click on this link for a detailed explanation and map. For info on Tourismo Express RT Shuttle Bus to Tijuana click on this hot-link.
Best Tijuana Parking at U.S. Border & RT Bus Shuttle
#1 RANKED. HOT-LINKED. Border Station Parking is the best place to park your car on the U.S.A. side of the U.S./Mexican Border. Border Station Parking (428-9477) is at 4570 Camino de la Plaza. in San Ysidro.
SAVE 32 to 50% on Meds
Barry Knows Baja – All Personally Reviewed
#1 Ranked. Wine Tasting adventure in Valle de Guadalupe.
Romantic Escape to Ensenada, Mexico.
Dine in great Seaside Restaurants.
Where to Buy Mexican Insurance.
Best Eat FREE On Your Birthday in San Diego
You may not live to be 100, but everyone should have 100 birthdays. Eating in multiple restaurants for FREE during your birthday month is what local restaurant owners are encouraging you to do. Eat FREE on your Birthday in San Diego is FUN and Highly Recommended.
Kids Eat FREE Places in San Diego 7-Days a Week
There are dozens of restaurants in San Diego that want to offer your kids a free meal on specific days a week when an adult purchases a meal. This is a win-win offer you should not pass up for enjoying Kids Eat FREE Places in San Diego 7-Days a Week.
Kid-Friendly 40 Things to Do
HOT-LINKED. You are one click away from instant access to 30 fun activities just for kids. Plus, kid-friendly restaurants, where kids eat FREE every day, and where kids eat FREE on their Birthday.
BARRY’S BREWERY TOUR
Best Micro-Brewery Tour
San Diego is the Microbrewery Capital of the World. It can boast such a claim because they have won more blue ribbons at world competitions than any other city. The SanDiegan.com tour includes three of the top microbreweries in the U.S.A. They are Stone Brewery, Ballast Point Brewing Company & Coronado Brewery. Plus, my self-guided tour shows you four popular neighborhoods with maps and great places to eat.
50 suburbs & city walking & driving tours with maps.
The SanDiegan.com Tour of the historic maritime museum is a must. It’s fun to climb aboard its fleet of ships. Then visit the USS Midway aircraft carrier, dine in fabulous bay front seafood restaurants, wander through fascinating shops at Seaport Village.
Sightsee 24 Nearby Travel Trips
Sightsee Sunny San Diego by Land & Sea Tours
See San Diego by AIR
San Diego by Land with 50 maps
See San Diego by SEA
sailboat San Diego Bay cruise,
Hornblower sunset dinner & dancing harbor cruise.
Best Embarcadero tour of ships, museums, dining
Best 14 Historical Museums
Best Las Vegas-Style Casinos are 15 min. from Downtown
Two casinos are only 15 freeway minutes from downtown San Diego. They are JAMUL CASINO & Sycuan Casino. Our SanDiegan.com Las Vegas-style casinos offer top-notch gaming venues along with nationally acclaimed entertainment, and dining alternatives galore 24 hours a day. Five casinos even boast luxurious hotel accommodations. One casino even has a BIG factory outlet.
Churches
Click on Churchfinder.com for an extensive and informative list of over 100 places of worship. Since San Diego is often referred to as Paradise on Earth, it should come as no surprise that locals love to worship their God.
Coupons and Deals
Hotels
If you’re NOT staying in a spectacular oceanfront hotel like La Jolla Shores Hotel or a romantic San Diego Harbor view hotel like Kona Kai Resort & Spa on Shelter Island, then staying in a good Sandiegan.com recommended hotel with excellent access to the rest of the city for a lot less money makes good sense.
Museums(94)Attractions
Balboa Park is San Diego’s Cultural Center and is home to 17 museums, live theatre, a merry-go-round, and more. The San Diego Museum of Art has a great app as well. Plus, SanDiegan.com offers a wonderful walking tour with three easy-to-follow maps. Don’t miss seeing historic Old Town San Diego, where California’s history began. Admission to Old Town including parking is FREE. My SanDiegan.com easy-to-use map includes where to enjoy a delicious meal with a frosty margarita, and while dining you’ll be serenaded by the sounds of strolling mariachi bands. Ole!
RELOCATION
RELOCATION ESSENTIALS:
Within 10 Days of Relocating to California, you must obtain a California Driver’s License Here’s How
RELOCATION SanDiegan.com Repairs & Remodeling
If you’re NOT a fix-it man, the next best thing is knowing where to find the help you need, especially if you’re a newcomer. These recommendations are the result of actually using each one of these journeyman craftsmen. So saying YES TO RECOMMENDING THEM IS EASY.
Home Depot is unquestionably the best hardware store with multi-locations countywide.
Jack-of-All-Trades and Master-of-All. Chepy Flores is an excellent journeyman master carpenter with 45 years of experience and the skill and know-how to fix or build whatever you want. Skills include: cutting and laying saltillo tile, stucco, especially fogging, spray painting, & carpentery. Call Chepy Flores (707-298-0930). He’s a local, born and raised in San Diego and knows what quality is and isn’t. He is a hard worker & easy-to-work with. Reasonable rates. He can’t be overly recommended
Electrician Consider yourself Lucky when you when you can get the services of Bill Watt (1-619-398-7628). He’s an electrician with over 40 years of experience. His knowledge ranges from a standard fix it job to trouble shooting Solar. Of course, he’s easy to work and offers reasonable rates. He cannot be overly recommended!
Roof Repair, it’s Shake, Shingle & Roll Roofing. He’s the best! For low-priced
Junk Removal contact junkbustersinc.com or toll-FREE 1-844-464-586) Ask for the ($99) SPECIAL.
Tree Care Lucas Lemcke Tree Service (619-316-5242) [Lemckelucas@hotmail.com]. They are licensed and bonded and low priced for excellent professional service. It’s not uncommon for entire neighborhoods to use this same tree service.
Saltillo Tile Installer No less spectacular is the beautiful artistic tile work by Steve Cumper (858-292-0651) a 30 + year seasoned professional. With a business slogan that “No Job is Too Small” you can finally beautify your bathroom, kitchen and floors the way you have always wanted them to be. Steve is your guy! He is a great guy to work with, and his prices are fair and reasonable.
Garage Doors East County Garage Doors to the rescue (619-599-6866) [eastcogaragedoors@gmail.com]. Toby has 30 + years of experience and can spot the problem almost the minute he walks into your garage. Working with the owner of any business makes a big difference with the service you get.
Upholstery Call Sabino Galvan (619-864-3374). Sabino came highly recommended to me, and I couldn’t be happier. Get a low price for the highest quality. All you need do is go online and purchase the fabric you love, and take your desired furniture along with the fabric to him. Why not get what you want vs. buying something almost as good and paying more?
RELOCATION Real Estate: Home Buying, Apartments, Condos, Retirement, Where to live
For 56-years Sandiegan.com has been everyone’s choice for the insider information of what each suburb has to offer.Also review the top builders and mega apartment complexes. My hands-on experience includes having actually lived in nine different suburbs in San Diego County while growing up in San Diego. Reading the over 20 neighborhood chapters with walking and driving tours is a must for getting to know the lay of the land. A great source of San Diego stats is realestateusnews.com
Accounting Services
The cornerstone of a savvy business and household is having an accounting firm to do your taxes in California. Easy to recommend is Kornfeld & Associates at 2067 1st. Ave. in downtown San Diego 92101 (619-563-8000) or email Casey@kornfeldca.com. This is a full service accounting firm with the expertise to do your business as well as personal income taxes.
Free San Diego Relocation Assistance
HOT-LINKED. Also, refer to the SanDiegan.com home buying, renting, condos, apartments and office space. Click on this tab Commercial.com for assistance in finding office space. I’ve used Pacific Coast Commercial for office space with great success.
Relocation Newcomer Military Assistance
Many locals served in the military in San Diego. So, I’ve been on every military base. I know the San Diego you want to know! Be sure to make full use of the Housing Referral Office for your branch of service. They are staffed with military wives, who are committed to your family having a smooth transfer. The Housing Referral Office is a big help.
JOBS – JOBS – JOBS
As a newcomer be sure to review Sandiegan.com Real Estate, Neighborhoods, Jobs, and Shopping chapters. If you’re in the military read the extensive Military chapter accessing it via the Navigational Bar in the laptop version. Your research should include using the suburb maps with walking and driving tours to give you the lay of the land to discover the uniqueness of each suburb.
Relocation Newcomer Car Buying Guide
San Diego’s big car dealerships are grouped together regionally from the South to the North. The Mile of Cars mileofcars.com in the South Bay boasts of having 5,000 cars and 18 dealerships. They cater to the military at the Naval Bay at 32nd Street and Latinos south of the border in Mexico. The next concentration of dealerships is in Mission Valley along Highway 8. East of Mission Valley is the city of El Cajon, which is home to a host of dealerships along El Cajon Blvd. The remaining three multi dealerships are in Poway, Escondido, and Carlsbad. They cater to soldiers stationed at Camp Pendleton. The biggest single dealership with multi-locations and an excellent reputation is the Mossy Automotive Group with 7 locations offering Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagon, Honda, Mitsubishi, Infiniti, and El Cajon Ford. I have bought and leased several cars from Mossy. So, I can attest to their high quality.
Relocation Online Universities/Colleges
Click on the headline for a list of the Best Online Schools in San Diego. San Diego is a college town with over a dozen colleges and universities. Plus, being a military town as well there are a lot of perks for military families to take full advantage of the extensive online alternatives available to get their degree while in San Diego.
RELOCATION Suburb, City, & Neighborhood Search
San Diego is paradise on earth. Just ask a local. Yet, no two suburbs are the same. Aspire to live in the coastal zone as near to the ocean as possible, especially if you are single. I have spent the past 54 years creating chapters with a map of all of the great places to live. A review of the many cities and suburbs listed in the Neighborhood tab is essential. Read each suburb chapter before you tour them. San Diego is also home to awesome new home builders including Shea Homes, McMillin.com, and Pardee Homes offer extras like solar. See the Real Estate Chapter within SanDiegan.com.
Sports and Recreation
Oh my gosh! For outdoor activities galore finding over 1000 Best things to do in San Diego os very doable. Also, featured above in alfa order is 1000 FREE things to do in San Diego.
HOT-LINKED Everything from Sky Diving to Sailing or just Basking in the Sun is what makes discovering my San Diego Best of San Diego, Ca. is a 365 days a year playground. What to do is never a problem when there are over 1000 Best San Diego things to do featured in SanDiegan.com.
Barry’s Travel Getaways
Virtually every year online travel magazines rank San Diego as the top Travel destination worldwide beckoning 36 million visitors here to relax and enjoy the moment. Here is a local and regional travel list nearby world class travel destinations in nearby.
Travel Getaway to Catalina
A super romantic SanDiegan.com getaway 26 miles off of the California coast from Dana Point via a sleek ferry is a romantic getaway almost incomparable. The island was once owned by Wrigley chewing gum millionaire William Wrigley.
Travel by Air, our Major Airport is 2 min. from downtown
San Diego is a happy 10 airport county with the San Diego International Airport at Lindbergh Field being the busiest air travel destination. It’s just 2 miles from downtown San Diego. The second busiest airline destination is North County’s McClellan–Palomar Airport. The third major airport (while technically not in the U.S.A) is Mexico’s Tijuana International Airport. Travelers can actually get to the airport from the U.S. to Mexico and back via a short walking bridge.
Travel to San Diego By Car
YOU DEFINITELY NEED A CAR to see the over 1000 Best things to do in San Diego. Preplan getting a car (if you didn’t arrive by car) at the airport or train station. A cheaper way is via Dirt Cheap Car Rental. They rent slightly used cars mostly to foreign exchange students and savvy visitors, who don’t need a brand new car to impress people they don’t even know.
Travel via Cruise Ship
Dozens of cruise ships make scheduled stops in San Diego at the beautiful downtown San Diego Cruise Ship Terminal. A stopovers enable you to discover a great deal of the Downtown area..
Wedding Venues, Rehearsal Dinners, Wedding Receptions
Locals rely on us for San Diego Banquets and Catering, Wedding, Rehearsal, and Reception venues, Military weddings, rehearsal dinners, and receptions venues. My recommendations include impressive wineries, elite golf course clubhouses, classy yacht clubs, prestigious hotels, and awesome restaurants with breathtaking venues and ocean views.
BARRY KNOWS WINERIES
Navigate three nearby wine region includes visiting the best wineries and dining in gourmet vineyard restaurants, over night laces to stay (if you wish) and sightseeing. Locals love their day or weekend getaways to the wineries, and so will you.
Wine Tours in San Diego
There are literally 166 wineries in San Diego County. Many wineries are freeway close. San Diego wines have also been served at the White House. Also impressive is the fact that there are two viticultural areas (AVAs) in San Diego County. The oldest wine-growing region is the freeway close to San Pasqual Valley near Escondido. It’s home to the Orfila Vineyards and Winery, with more blue ribbon awards. than any other winery. Here too is the promising Rancho Guejito Vineyard. The other wine-growing region is in Ramona, boasting 30 wineries.
40 Temecula Wineries
HOT-LINKED! Freeway close to Temecula is a famous wine-growing region. It’s also one of my highly recommended things to do in my San Diego Best of San Diego, Ca. There are more than 40 wineries you can visit 4 are must-visit wineries. I have also chosen two excellent restaurants to dine in. Plus, two excellent vineyard hotels I have personally stayed in and one is a French chateau. The map is excellent and includes a tour of Old Town Temecula and new Temecula
Ensenada Mexico is home to 200 Valle de Guadalupe Wineries
Sixty-eight miles south of the U.S. border near the small romantic seaport town of Ensenada. Wine tasting in Mexico also means dining in gourmet restaurants while sampling their’s wines against the backdrop of sweeping vineyard views. It’s an amazing experience and well-worth the journey. Be sure to read the Ensenada chapter and study the map. Definitely buy Mexican auto insurance.
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