Though many cities feature one animal attraction, San Diego boasts three: the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park and SeaWorld. The zoo is justifiably world-famous with many of its animals frolicking in natural environments. For example, the inhabitants of "Gorilla Tropics" live among waterfalls, open meadows and natural-looking rocks. The zoo is also one of a few in the world that houses pandas.
At San Diego Wild Animal Park, you're seat-belted into a vehicle that travels an 1,800-acre wildlife preserve populated by free-roaming elephants, giraffes and zebras. If you prefer the denizens of the deep, SeaWorld displays exhibits of sharks, manatees and penguins in between shows involving killer whales and dolphins.
You'll find the expected picnic areas, playgrounds and fountains available in any other park. But in Balboa Park, which bills itself as the United States' largest urban cultural park, also encompasses 15 major museums, making it a multi-day destination all by itself.
For an overview of your host city, visit the Museum of San Diego History. This treasure trove of time showcases artifacts from the city's Native American past through 21st-century present. The Model Railroad Museum depicts 28,000 square feet of layouts in O, HO and N scales. The Japanese Friendship Garden offers quiet contemplation in 2 acres of wisteria arbors, bonsai exhibits and a koi pond.
Traces of San Diego's Mexican past decorate its architecture and color its street names. But you'll encounter a unique concentration in Plaza del Pasado, a shopping mall that recreates California from 1821 to 1872. You'll listen to mariachi music, dine on handmade tamales and tortillas, and marvel at nearly 30 historic buildings.
For a taste of modern Mexico, you can take a bus or light rail across the border to Tijuana, which is Mexico's second largest city. You'll need your passport but you can enter the country by either taking a convenient bus tour or crossing over the pedestrian bridge. You don't want to take your car because of the terrible congestion at customs and the crazy drivers south of the border.
