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Photo by Pat Turpen, © 2004, all rights reserved
It should be obvious that our primary goal is to get everyone to San Diego
to enjoy Convergence. At the same time, we love our city and hope that everyone will stay
a few days beyond the event to explore what it has to offer. Therefore, we have compiled
a long list of things to do and places to see. Obviously, not everything to do is necessarily
related to the Goth scene, but that's no reason why you can't have fun checking out our city.
We hope that you will take some time to explore and get to know the place we call home and
maybe come to understand why we love it so.
San Diego is a major tourist destination with a huge number of things to do and see.
With environments as diverse as the beach, mountains, and desert all within a relatively short drive,
San Diego is famous for its outdoor activities. Lying on the border with Mexico, it is a gateway to
another nation and way of life. It is a place steeped in history; as the first Spanish settlement in
what is now the state of California, there are many historic places to visit. Los Angeles and all it
has to offer lies just a couple hours away via a scenic drive along the Pacific coast.
Balboa Park, the World Famous San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and the San Diego Wild Animal
Park all offer interesting and fun things to do. The downtown area offers the historic Gaslamp District
that was the economic and cultural heart of San Diego's "New Town" in the late Nineteenth and early
Twentieth Centuries. The Gaslamp District has risen from decades of neglect and decay to serve as a center
and showpiece for the revitalization of the Downtown area.
At the Embarcadero lies the San Diego Maritime Museum where you can take tours of
several historic vessels including the oldest operating iron-hulled sailing vessel in the world.
The museum also offers the opportunity to sail for an afternoon on an authentic early 1800s style
sailing vessel. The waterfront area is home to the USS Midway museum, Seaport Village, harbor
cruises, and public art installations.
No matter what you like to do, there is a wide selection of things to choose from
here in the seventh largest city in the United States. We believe that its eclectic mix of history
and modernity and the diversity of cultures found here make it a unique and lovely place to visit.
We invite you to stay for a while and see why we call this place America's Finest City.
- Balboa Park - Set aside by the city leaders in 1868
as a public park, Balboa Park comprises 1200 acres of museums, gardens, and exhibits. Most of the current
buildings were constructed for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition commemorating the opening of the
Panama Canal. It is a wonderful place to spend a day wandering from one museum to the next and there are
plenty of scenic places within the park to have a picnic. The following list shows the diversity of
attractions and activities hosted by the park:
- San Diego Zoo - Covering more than 300 acres, this
is one of the largest and best zoos in the world where you can see giant pandas, polar bears, tigers, bonobos,
koalas and much, much more.
Photo by Martin Fredrickson,
© 2001, all rights reserved
- San Diego Wild Animal Park
- An extension of the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park provides a very different experience where you can
see animals living in large groups in shared enclosures.
- Gaslamp District - Offering shopping, dining,
cocktails and more in the heart of San Diego's historic downtown.
- Old Town San Diego - Established by Jesuit missionaries,
this is where European settlement of California began. Old Town offers historic landmarks mixed with shopping and dining.
Photo by Martin Fredrickson,
© 2004, all rights reserved
- San Diego Maritime Museum - Home of the Star of India, the
oldest operating iron-hulled sailing ship in the world. The museum is also home to the Californian, a replica
of an 1847 revenue cutter that holds the title of official tall-ship of the State of California.
- Torrey Pines State Reserve
- A beautiful natural park that is one of only two places in the world where the rare Torrey Pine grows.
This park lies atop a bluff overlooking the ocean and
Black's Beach
below. The reserve is a peaceful and scenic place to spend a day hiking.
- Mission San Diego de Alcala - The oldest Roman Catholic
church in California. Founded in 1769, this church still hosts an active parish with regular services.
- Point Loma Tide Pools - Located on the property of the
Cabrillo National Monument and near the Coast Guard
Light House Station, the tide pools provide a unique look at the shoreline ecology of Southern California.
Photo by Pat Turpen,
© 2004, all rights reserved
- Sea World
- The home of Shamu, this theme park exhibits marine life of all sorts.
- Golf Courses- Yup, we said golf. We have a large number
of great courses scattered all around the area. Several of the courses are world class and regularly host
professional golf tournaments.
- Cabrillo National Monument - This park commemorates
the landing of Juan Cabrillo at San Diego Bay in 1524. It also holds the 1854 lighthouse, a nature trail and
tide pools.
- Legoland - A theme
park dedicated to that classic toy... Lego.
- Coronado - Home to the
Hotel Del Coronado, the largest wooden Victorian style building in the world. Coronado is a great
little seaside town across the bay from downtown San Diego.
- Julian - A sleepy little gold mining town in the mountains east
of San Diego. Now famous for its apples and apple pie, it is a fun little place to get away and shop in the numerous stores.
- Cuyamaca Rancho State Park - Near the town of
Julian, the area encompassed by the state park was once the summer refuge of the local native peoples.
Crisscrossed by numerous hiking trails, the park is a great place to spend a day away from the city.
- San Diego Railroad Museum - Explore the history of the
"Impossible Railroad"
and take a ride on a train through the wild back country of San Diego County.
Photo by Martin Fredrickson,
© 2004, all rights reserved
- Seal Tours
- A unique amphibious vehicle tour of the San Diego Bay and surrounding areas.
- The Firehouse Museum
- The building that now hosts this museum was originally San Diego's Fire Station #6. Located in the
Little Italy area, it
hosts historical fire fighting equipment and displays chronicling fire fighting in San Diego.
- Little Italy
- This section of the Middletown is the historic center of Italian settlement in San Diego. It offers several
great restaurants and a number of shops.
- Computer Museum of America - For the geeks, located
downtown on C Street.
- La Jolla Cove - A scenic
beach inhabited by sea lions. An excellent spot to go scuba diving or snorkeling when the surf is low.
- Downtown La Jolla - San Diego's equivalent to
Beverly Hills, for those with richer tastes & deeper pockets - art galleries, boutiques and five-star dining.
- Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego - With two locations, one
in Downtown San Diego and the other overlooking the ocean in
La Jolla.
- Sport Fishing - Everything from local half-day excursions
to lengthy long-haul fishing trips off the coast of Mexico.
- Torrey Pines International Glider Port
- Try your hand at hang gliding or paragliding or just watch an incredible sunset from high above the Pacific Ocean.
For those feeling a bit more adventurous,
Black's Beach, San Diego's unofficial nude beach, lies below the cliffs of the glider port.
- Black's Beach - San Diego's
unofficial nude beach. Access is difficult so be prepared to either hike in from the beaches to the north or south,
(the safest option) or to climb down the cliffs from the
Torrey Pines Glider Port, (NOT recommended).
- San Diego Harbor Excursion - Take a cruise around San Diego Bay
and see the many faces of the harbor.
Photo by Pat Turpen,
© 2004, all rights reserved
- The San Diego Padres at Petco Park
- See the National League West Padres play Major League Baseball in their brand new Downtown ballpark.
- U.S. Olympic Training Center - One of several
such centers around the nation, this center supports training in the sports of archery, canoe/kayak, cycling,
field hockey, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, and track & field.
- Hot Air Balloon Flights - Take an evening flight
and drink Champagne as you watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
- Seaport Village - Shop and dine in this nautically-themed
area near the San Diego Convention Center.
Photo by Martin Fredrickson,
© 2004, all rights reserved
- San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum
- The USS Midway served the United States Navy for 47 years. It now rests alongside Navy Pier in San Diego Bay and
has been converted to a museum dedicated to the history of the Navy's carrier ships and the veterans who have served
on them.
- California Surf Museum - Everything you ever wanted to know
about surfing
- Quail Botanical Gardens - A horticultural preserve
dedicated to conservation of rare and endangered plants from around the world.
- Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum - Located on Marine
Corps Air Station Miramar, this museum displays significant aircraft used by the United States Marine Corps from
World War 2 to the present day.
Southern California is blessed with a diversity of activities. Los Angeles lies a couple of
hours by car to the North of San Diego and offers the excitement of Hollywood, and numerous other things
to do and see. Inland lies Temecula and Perris Valley with wineries and sky diving, there are scenic
drives, amusement parks, museums and more.
Photo by Martin Fredrickson,
© 2004, all rights reserved
- Disneyland - As evidenced by the
annual Bats Day event, Goths and Disney can mix to make for
a fun day.
- Knott's Berry Farm - Once upon a time they really did grow berries
here, now it is a great amusement park with some cool rides.
- Universal Studios -
A mix of theme park and behind the scenes movie magic.
- Hollywood - Home to a large part of the movie industry in the U.S.
- Disney's California Adventure
- Disney's newest offering celebrates the State of California.
- Temecula Valley Wine Tours - Temecula lies north of San Diego
in an inland valley. The valley produces a number of fine wines with 19 vineyards operating in the area.
- The Getty Center - The Getty houses an incredible collection
of art and photography.
- Griffith Park - Home to the Los Angeles Zoo,
the Griffith Observatory and a number of other attractions.
- RMS Queen Mary - This retired historic ocean liner now serves as
a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach Harbor. Also on display is a Soviet Foxtrot class diesel-electric submarine.
- Los Angeles Fashion District - Everything from
finished clothing and accessories to bolts of cloth and everything you need to make your own fashions.
- Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Southern California's best collection of roller coasters.
- Pacific Coast Highway - Rent a car and take a scenic drive along the
California shoreline.
- Santa Catalina Island - Visit the enchanting town of
Avalon on this mostly unspoiled island off the coast of Southern California.
- Sky Diving- Head north to Perris Valley to jump out
of a perfectly good airplane.
Another nation and a different culture lie just a few miles to the south of Downtown
San Diego. With some simple, common sense precautions, Mexico can be a fun and friendly place to visit,
shop, dine, party and sight see. Be sure to try some Puerto Nuevo style spiny lobster, some street tacos
or some wonderful ceviche along with all that Mexican beer and tequila.
- Tijuana - A major city of Mexico that literally touches the
border of the United States. Tijuana caters to all sorts of tourists with myriad shops, restaurants and bars.
- Rosarito Beach - A more relaxed resort town about 20 miles south
of the border. It offers a multitude of activities from shopping to golf to horseback riding to surfing.
- Puerto Nuevo - A small village south of Tijuana that
has made a big business of Pacific spiny lobsters. $14 US will get you a complete lobster dinner with a unique Mexican flair.
- Ensenada - A fishing port about 75 miles south of the border.
Famous for its sport fishing and for being the place where the Margarita was invented. A little further south is
La Bufadora.
- Tecate - This sleepy Mexican country town is best known
for its brewery which produces Tecate Beer. About an hour drive from Downtown San Diego, Tecate gives a glimpse into
Mexico that the more raucous towns south of San Diego do not afford.
Page Last modified: May 13 2007 22:47:27.
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