Tours and Transportation

San Diego’s Urban Adventures are an intimate way to get away from crowds and travel like a local to some of San Diego’s most coveted and beloved tourist spots. Locally owned and operated, the company offers both private tours and “create your own” tours, with no participant minimum – guaranteeing a personalized experience. Urban Adventures offers three new 2018 tour destinations, including Old Town Tequila and Tortillas, in which groups will have the opportunity to explore San Diego’s most historic neighborhood and gain insight into Mexican culture through architecture and cuisine, sampling homemade tortillas, authentic street tacos and tequila. Balboa Park Historic Highlights and Secret Spots tour takes guests through one of the largest urban cultural parks in the country, and highlights parts of the park some locals don’t know about. On the Coronado Bay and the Beachtour, groups will get a chance to take a short ferry ride to the island town and see how the U.S. Navy, multi-million dollar homes and enthusiastic beach dwellers co-exist, ending the tour at the famed Hotel del Coronado.

In April 2018, Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego added entry into 10 select museums with the purchase of each trolley tour ticket. The museums are conveniently located near five of the tour’s regular stops, an added value to the city tour. The museums include Old Town Railway Depot, Veteran’s Museum in Balboa Park and the San Diego Firehouse Museum in Little Italy among the 10 entries offered. Old Town Trolley’s narrated sightseeing experiences showcase the best of San Diego and Coronado, with stops that allow guests to hop on and off at ten designated areas. Offering flexibility, ticket holders can start at any of the convenient stops and enjoy the Old Town Trolley’s continuous 25-mile loop visiting 10 neighborhoods with 10 destination stops.

In March 2018, Out of the Ordinary Group & Team Adventures unveiled a “5 Bridges Walking Tour,” a guided walk through the neighborhoods of Balboa Park that includes viewing historic homes, footbridges over canyons filled with wildflowers, cacti, palm trees and bamboo forests. The 5 Bridges Walk starts in the Bankers Hill neighborhood near downtown, and three of the five bridges traversed are foot bridges without cars. The two-hour tour spans four miles at a relaxed pace without hills. Much like the “Secret Canyons and Bridges Tour,” a guided 4.5 mile fitness walk, the tour allows visitors to see residential neighborhoods in addition to Balboa Park. The company offers public and private options for booking these tours. 

Beginning April 2018, Edelweiss Airlines resumed operations of its seasonal nonstop flights from Zurich to San Diego on Mondays and Fridays through November 12, 2018. Flights are operated with a newly refurbished Airbus A340 with 314 seats—27 seats in business class, 76 in economy max (with 15 cm more legroom) and 211 seats in economy class.

In March 2018, Lufthansa Airlines began offering direct flights between its largest hub, Frankfurt, Germany, and San Diego on a year-round basis. The flight operates out of Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) five-times weekly. It leaves Frankfurt at 10 a.m. (Frankfurt time) and arrives at SAN at 1:20 p.m. local time. The return flight leaves SAN at 3:20 p.m. and arrives in Frankfurt at 11:40 a.m. (Frankfurt time, the following day). Flights operate every day except Wednesdays and Fridays. Lufthansa uses the 279-seat Airbus 340-300 aircraft on the route configured with business, premium economy and economy class cabins. The flight is co-marketed and sold in conjunction with United Airlines.

Hainan Airlines officially announced the launch of its first direct flight from Beijing to Tijuana, Mexico, beginning March 22, 2018. This new route represents the first nonstop service connecting Beijing to Tijuana, which then continues on to Mexico City. Flights depart Beijing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Once disembarked in the Tijuana Airport, passengers can use the Cross Border Xpress pedestrian connection to easily cross over directly from the airport to San Diego, providing Chinese travelers easy and convenient access to San Diego.