I visited San Diego for the first time at the end of March with my boyfriend. Since we just had a…read morelong weekend scheduled there, we wanted to maximize our time to sightsee as much as possible. I found the scenic tour through San Diego Ride & Tours on TripAdvisor and booked it for Friday, March 27, about a month in advance. The cost at the time was roughly $80pp.
The meeting spot was about a 10-minute walk from our hotel, which was convenient. Our mini van was full and the group was a great mix of friendly folks from around the country. Jim was our tour guide, and my boyfriend was so pleased that he bought his book online when we got home. He was genuinely interesting to listen to and is definitely in the right field.
The tour took us through Little Italy, past expensive homes on a hill, to La Jolla's Children Pool where we saw seals. We spent about 12 minutes there before heading to Mt. Soledad for some pretty views. We spent about 12 minutes there as well. From there, we traveled to Old Town San Diego for a quick visit - again less than 15 minutes, which permitted time to do some light shopping and that was all. We drove past allegedly the most haunted home in America as well as Heritage Park's Victorians.
After that, we headed to Balboa Park. I think we had maybe 15 minutes there, which was just long enough to know I wanted to return on my own (which we did - multiple times). From there, we went to Coronado Island. I think we had 20 minutes tops there, which provided time to see the Hotel Del quickly as well as the beach and some famous folks' homes. We passed by the Gaslamp Quarter and some cool murals on the way back to the meeting spot.
Traffic did impede our times at each spot. On TripAdvisor, it said the stops would be longer - La Jolla - 20 mins, Old Town and Balboa - 25 mins each, Coronado - 30 minutes. Since all of us on the tour mentioned not having set plans afterward, I wish we could've gotten slightly closer to those times as it did feel rushed to me. I think they should add a disclaimer on TripAdvisor explaining that times at each location will be cut if there's traffic.
Another reason why I docked a star is that the tour was advertised as having waters and snacks included. One bottle of water was provided once the others on the tour asked about it. In terms of snacks, Jim plucked some fruit off a tree for us in Old Town. It was tasty but I guess I was expecting more in way of snacks.
All in all, I had a really good time and was able to see more in a couple of hours than I would've been able to see on my own. For that, the tour was worth it.