San Diego Gaslamp & Embarcadero Tour
San Diego is an open-air museum. Let’s explore it together sightseeing with a Downtown Gaslamp & Embarcadero Waterfront San Diego tour.
The Gaslamp Quarter and the Embarcadero Waterfront is the front yard of our picturesque city. Enjoy a seamless glide as you experience spectacular views of San Diego’s breathtaking harbor and majestic skyline. This pinnacle of all San Diego city tours provides intrigue, adventure, and time in the sparkling sunshine.
Taking you to the colossal convention center, the highly acclaimed PETCO park, the dazzling harbor, the enchanted marina, cobblestone pathways, and Victorian buildings, our tour guides will ensure you receive the most stunning photo opportunities. Create a treasure trove of lasting memories and a full photo album after San Diego sightseeing.
Enhance your knowledge and learn current and historical San Diego facts, while you enjoy scenic vistas and iconic buildings.
1. The San Diego Convention Center
111 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA
Our sightseeing in San Diego starts at the awe-inspiring San Diego Convention Center, which, with over 1,000,000 square feet of flowing, maritime-themed architecture, is a marvel in itself. The Convention Center is located near the historic Gaslamp District, San Diego’s hot-spot for shopping and nightlife!
A large portion of the convention center is accessible to the general public. Climb the steps of the convention center to the top for some of the most breathtaking views San Diego has to offer. The breathtaking view of the San Diego bay on one side and the magnificent view of downtown San Diego on the other.
2. The Gaslamp District
1330 Market St, San Diego, CA 92101
The highly acclaimed Gaslamp District is a mecca for tourists who want to get to the heart of San Diego. The Gaslamp District catapults you back to San Diego’s origin in the 19th Century. Built in the post-Civil War years, the area is a thrilling mishmash of architectural styles.
The Florentine Italianate and Romanesque Revival buildings emerge amid the area’s dominant Victorians, many of which are listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The shops, restaurants, and nightclubs draw the majority of visitors to the Gaslamp. Boutique shops selling unique items coexist with T-shirt shops and souvenir vendors. Horton Plaza is the neighborhood shopping center. When your energy runs out, there are over 70 restaurants and clubs where you can refuel.
3. The Gaslamp Quarter Sign: Historic Heart of San Diego
614 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
Hear about the audacious beginnings of a once risqué, downtown San Diego. Our guides will share tales of how this area of 94 pristine historic buildings boomed as a red light and gambling district.
4. Petco Park
100 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
Home of the San Diego Padres. Crack! Even when empty, the bowl seems to reverberate with echoes of the bat hitting the ball square and the fans cheering Padres’ baseball legend Tony Gywnn home. Concourses opening to the street make this ballpark a bold departure from those in most cities.
5. Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge
After rolling past Petco Park, our next stop on the tour is the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge. This artistic structure is truly a unique exhibit in this open-air gallery.
The pedestrian bridge is a relatively new addition to the San Diego scene; it crosses the train tracks as well as six lanes of traffic on Harbor Drive. It is a shining, futuristic, space-age marvel that ranks among the world’s longest bridges of its kind.
6. Heart of the Gaslamp
Next, our journey continues deeper into the heart of Gaslamp District, to the enchanted 5th and market intersection, where the last standing original gaslamps are placed on all four corners of the intersection. A great photo opportunity and historical significance of downtown San Diego.
7. The Horton Grand Hotel
311 Island Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
The Horton Grand Hotel The hotel’s Italianate Victorian architectural style is as ornate inside as it is outside. Once Wyatt Earp’s lodgings, the hotel provides admirers a glimpse into the history and a ghost story as well!
This historic hotel in San Diego has a storied past full of glitz and intrigue. The Horton Grand Hotel, originally two buildings, was rebuilt in the 1970s when it and another building, the Brooklyn-Kahle Saddlery Hotel, were scheduled to be demolished as part of a city restoration. Historians struggled to save the hotels and were successful, resulting in both buildings being dismantled brick by brick and later rebuilt into a single magnificent hotel.
8. San Diego Children’s Museum
200 W. Island Ave, San Diego, CA, 92101
As the tour continues, we have now made it to the magical San Diego Children’s Museum, where the mission is to inspire children to learn about our world through exploration, imagination, and experimentation.
The New Children’s Museum is a new type of children’s museum, with the mission of stimulating children’s imagination, creativity, and critical reasoning through inventive and engaging experiences with contemporary art. There’s always something new to discover with a variety of interactive installations and hands-on activities!
9. USS Midway Aircraft Carrier / Museum
910 N. Harbor Drive San Diego, CA 92101
No San Diego Segway tour would be complete without the USS Midway. This behemoth aircraft carrier turned into a museum once served our country. Now it stands in the San Diego Harbor. The beautiful picturesque landscape here is another perfect photo opportunity for your group as the San Diego City tour exploration continues.
The USS Midway Museum is one of five aircraft carrier museums in the United States, and the only one on the West Coast. The ship was moored at the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego on January 10, 2004, and opened to the public on June 7th of that year. It quickly became a popular tourist destination, attracting over a million visitors per year from all over the world.
10. San Diego Maritime Museum
1492 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101
The San Diego Maritime Museum’s home is the bay itself, with a stunning collection of 12 historic ships standing side by side. Glide by the smooth sails and intricate rigging of the Star of India, built in 1863. Next to it, the HMS Surprise stands just as majestic as when it served as the set of films, Master and Commander and Pirates of the Caribbean.
The intriguing floating museum at the Embarcadero includes six landmark ships and two submarines: the Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, the steam ferry Berkeley, the steam yacht Medea, the San Diego Harbor Pilot, as well as an actual Soviet-era diesel B-39 submarine and the deepest-diving submarine ever, a retired diesel research submarine named the USS Dolphin.
11. Seaport Village
849 West Harbor Dr. San Diego, CA 92101
This Seaside shopping mall is nestled between the harbor and the San Diego Convention Center. The spectacular site is full of quaint and unique shops stocked with apparel, souvenirs, art and live music for entertaining tourists. Seaport Village has something for all tastes and styles.
When it’s closed and no one is around, Seaport Village San Diego may appear to be a regular shopping center, but when the sun comes out and it’s time to play, this place is a traveler’s delight. Seaport Village San Diego is packed with great entertainment, attractions, shopping, and dining options that, when combined with an excellent San Diego Harbor view, make it the place to be every summer.
12. Embarcadero Marina
Embarcadero Marina is a fantastic spot for quintessential San Diego views of the bay, boats, airplanes, and downtown skyline. To the south, you can see the spectacular Coronado Bridge, and the magnificent Coronado Island, which is well known for its scintillating white sand beaches.
Embarcadero Marina Park North, located in the heart of Downtown San Diego, is a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. With plenty of green space and stunning views of San Diego’s vibrant waterfront, this park is ideal for relaxing or hosting your next private event.