A Day on the Old Town Trolley in San Diego

The warm breeze blew through the windows as the open-air car glided through San Diego.  It was great to be back in the southern California city’s near-perfect weather.

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I used to visit San Diego just about every year.  I have dear family there, and for a while maintained a relationship with a local reporter.  But this was my first visit since lockdown, and my first solo trip ever.  I was spending a few days before meeting up with family and boarding a cruise to Mexico.

I decided to reacquaint myself with the city by taking a tour on the Old Town Trolley.  It was a relaxed and informative way to explore the city’s historic sites and vibrant neighborhoods.

Old Town Trolley Tours provide transportation to popular sites in eight places around America.  It’s a fun way for American-history lovers to pinpoint sites to explore more later.  Day-time tours are hop-on/hop-off, meaning that you can ride all day, disembarking and re-boarding to explore as many of the stops as you like.  The tours are narrated, and the conductors fill you in with important information, humorous anecdotes, and trivial tidbits about each of the stops.  You can buy a one- or two day ticket.

I used a GoCity Explorer pass.  A GoCity pass provides access to lots of sites, tours, and activities at a given destination.  It’s available in 31 places around the world.

The Explorer Pass gives you access to your choice of two to seven sites over a period of 60 days.  In San Diego, one of the options with the Explorer pass is a two-day ticket for the Old Town Trolley.

There is also a (misnomered) All-Inclusive Pass, which gives you access to as many sites as you can see over your choice of one to seven days, but the Old Town Trolley Tour is not one of the included options in San Diego.

As of this writing, Rakuten is giving 1 percent cash-back on GoCity pass purchases.

Stops on the Old Town Trolley Tour

There are 11 stops on the Old Town Trolley Tour in San Diego.  You can start and stop your tour at any of them.  The Tour covers 25 miles, and riding time is about 100 minutes.

Five of the stops have ticket booths:

• Stop A – Old Town
  4010 Twiggs Street
• Stop C – Embarcadero
  1004 North Harbor Drive
• Stop D – Seaport Village
  825 North Harbor Drive
• Stop F – Gaslamp Quarter
  4th and Island Avenue
• Stop I – Coronado – Orange Ave.
  1107 Orange Avenue

I started at Seaport Village, a short walk from my hotel.  A polite representative scanned my GoCity pass, and handed me a receipt, a map/schedule, and a sticker to wear.

A few minutes later, the Trolley arrived, and I climbed on board for a ride covering the following stops:

Seaport Village — Stop D

Seaport Village is an open-air mall along San Diego Bay.  It features dozens of shops and restaurants.

Marriott Marquis and Marina — Stop E

This upscale hotel boasts two pools, several restaurants, and (you guessed it!) a marina.

As of this writing, Rakuten is offerring 1.5 percent cash-back on Marriott bookings.

Gaslamp Quarter — Stop F

The Gaslamp Quarter is a historic neighborhood with lots of Victorian buildings, boutique shops, and a vibrant night life.  It takes its name from its gas-lamp street lighting.

The neighborhood houses one of my favorite hotels in San Diego, the historic U.S. GRANT, where my reporter friend and I used to nibble and tipple at the Grant Grill Bar & Lounge.

East Convention Center |
Petco Park and Hilton Bayfront — Stop G

The San Diego Convention Center features lots of indoor meeting space and outdoor terraces with beautiful views.

Petco Park is the home stadium of the San Diego Padres; I’ve enjoyed several baseball games there with family.

Hilton Bayfront offers a spa, a pool, several restaurants, and spectacular views.

Barrio Logan — Stop H

Barrio Logan is a Mexican-American neighborhood known for its public art, including massive murals.

Coronado | Orange Avenue — Stop I

Coronado is a peninsula in San Diego Bay.  It boasts the spectacular Coronado Beach.  The Trolley stops at Mc P’s Irish Pub & Grill.

The peninsula is perhaps best-known for the Victorian Hotel del Coronado.  The Hilton-affiliated resort has hosted presidents from Benjamin Harrison to Ronald Reagan and celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Charles Lindbergh.  It has been the setting for movies including Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe.  I’ve spent splendid summer days and Christmas Eves there.

Balboa Park | Zoo — Stop J

Balboa Park is an enormous cultural oasis in San Diego.  It features Spanish Colonial Revival structures built for the Panama-California Exposition, a two-year celebration of the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914.  I’ve visited Balboa Park several times and enjoyed exploring its science museums and the world-renowned San Diego Zoo.

Little Italy — Stop K

Little Italy was settled in the 19th century largely by Italians and Italian-Americans who worked in San Diego’s then-robust tuna industry.  Today the neighborhood boasts Italian markets, art galleries, and lots of cultural festivals.

It also has plenty of places to eat, including three Michelin/Bilt restaurants:

• Born & Raised
• Herb & Wood
• Juniper & Ivy

Old Town Market — Stop A

Old Town San Diego is a historic neighborhood that was the site of the first European settlement in modern-day California.  I’ve visited several times.  The trolley stops at Old Town Market, which features dozens of kitschy shops.  The neighborhood also boasts lots of Mexican restaurants.

Since it’s the first stop on the Tour schedule, I had to hop off and change to a different trolley for the ride back.  So I decided to spend a few hours exploring.

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park recreates life in 19th-century southern California.  It features original buildings from 1820-70.  There are several shops and museums.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant accommodated 19th-century stage-coach travellers.

It reopened as an operating venue in 2010.

Mormon Battalion Historic Site

In 1846, President James K. Polk called for midwesterners to join the U.S. Army, which was then heavily engaged in the Mexican-American War over territory in the West.  In response, hundreds of followers of Brigham Young and the Latter-day Saints movement formed the Mormon Battalion.  They marched nearly 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego.  They improved pioneer trails along the way.  Some helped build Fort Moore in Los Angeles; others helped build Sutter’s Mill in northern California.  The Mormon Battalion Historic Site commemorates their contributions.  It features an interesting video, historical artifacts, and demonstrations on gold panning and brick-making.

Whaley House

Whaley House is the oldest brick building in southern California.  It was built in 1857 as the home of Thomas Whaley and his family.  He was born on Manhattan in 1823, went to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, and finally settled in San Diego in 1851 and opened a store there.

The Greek Revival building has at times housed the Whaley store, San Diego county’s second courthouse, and the city’s first commercial theatre.  Today it is a museum open for tours.

After a few fun hours in Old Town, I boarded another Trolley for the ride back to the Bay.  Along the way, the conductor pointed out the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot, reminding me of the fascinating few days I spent at its sister boot camp on Parris Island, South Carolina.

Maritime Museum — Stop B

The Maritime Museum of San Diego features nine historic vessels:

• San Salvador, a replica of a 1542 full-rigged Spanish galleon
• H.M.S. Surprise, a replica of an 18th-century British frigate
• Star of India, an 1863 bark
• Berkeley, an 1898 steam-powered ferry
• Californian, a replica of a 19th-century topsail schooner
• Medea, a 1904 steam-powered yacht
• a 1914 wooden Pilot boat
• Dolphin, a 1968 submarine
• the 1968 PFC 816 Swift Boat

Embarcadero Marina — Stop C

The Embarcadero is a stretch along San Diego Bay.  The Trolley stop is close to the B Street Pier, where I would return in a few days to board my cruise ship.

But that’s another story.

The other places where you can enjoy Old Town Trolley Tours are:

• Boston, Massachusetts
• Key West, Florida
• Nashville, Tennessee
• St. Augustine, Florida
• San Antonio, Texas
• Savannah, Georgia
• Washington, D.C.

Continue your adventure in the West:

• Northern Utah
• Resorts World Las Vegas
• Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale