San Diego County

Besides San Diego, there are many smaller cities in the county. Listed here are the major ones:

• - A lovely beach town in North County that's the home of Legoland California, a theme park based on the phenomenally popular toy line, featuring thrill rides, a water park, and strikingly accurate Lego sculptures.
• - The largest city of the South Bay region. There aren't any major attractions here, although visitors will find a delightful nature center situated in the marshes of the bay and some good boating opportunities.

• - A beautiful island community just across the San Diego Bay from Downtown San Diego. Much of the island is given over to a major naval base, but you'll also find one of the region's cleanest beaches here as well as the gorgeous and historic Hotel Del Coronado.
• - A small, very pretty Bavarian style seaside town in North County, famed locally for its charming beach, its fairgrounds, and its horse racing track.
• - The largest city of the Inland region, El Cajon is largely suburban in character.
• - A small but picturesque beach town in North County with popular surf spots, beachside camping, coastal wetlands and a lovely botanical garden.
• - A large inland city of North County, mostly suburban in character but with a few minor attractions. The nearby San Pasqual Valley holds the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the expansive sister park to the San Diego Zoo that contains stunningly huge exhibits that resemble African savanna.
• - The largest city of the North County region, Oceanside offers a popular beach and pier, coastal wetlands, and the largest of the Spanish missions in California.

San Diego County covers a very large area (4,526 square miles, to be exact) with incredibly varied topography. The western half of the county is mostly urbanized, and includes the city of San Diego and its many suburbs to the south, east, and north. The climate of the western half is more moderate, due to its proximity to the ocean, giving San Diego its signature weather. The eastern half is mostly uninhabited or rural, contains snow-capped mountains, forests, and barren desert, and is prone to more extreme weather.

Like much of California, English and Spanish are the dominant languages in San Diego County. Typically, most businesses have at least a few employees who are bilingual in English and Spanish, and some people will be bilingual in English and Tagalog (mostly spoken by San Diego's large Filipino population). It is also common to see store signs printed in both English and Spanish, especially in neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations.

For detailed information on getting in to San Diego, see the Get in section of San Diego.

By plane

San Diego International Airport (SAN) is the only commercial airport in the county and is served by all major U.S. airlines, offering flights from cities around the country and some international flights to Mexico and Canada. General aviation pilots have several airports spread across the region to choose from.

By train

Amtrak's frequent Pacific Surfliner San Luis Obispo-Los Angeles-San Diego route serves San Diego County with several stops along the coast, stopping in Oceanside, Solana Beach, and at the southern end of the line at Union Station in Downtown San Diego, with a secondary station in Old Town San Diego.

By car

Three major interstate roadways, Interstate 5, Interstate 8, and Interstate 15, lead into San Diego County. I-5 runs from the north along the coast, I-8 comes in from the east through the desert, and I-15 leads in to San Diego from the northeast.

By car

In the western half of the region, a complex system of interstate highways and major roads connect the cities and neighborhoods of that half of the region. In the more rural Inland region, only I-8 and a small network of state and county roads run across the area.

By train

The COASTER commuter rail system runs along the coast of San Diego County north of Downtown San Diego, linking together most of the coastal cities and towns of North San Diego County with Old Town and Downtown San Diego. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner runs this same route, stopping in Oceanside, Solana Beach, and San Diego, but is less practical for getting around the county than the COASTER due to its high price.
In North County, the SPRINTER rail line runs east-west between Oceanside and Escondido. In San Diego, the San Diego Trolley light rail system links several cities east and south of San Diego to the metropolitan center, running east through La Mesa and El Cajon to Santee and south through Chula Vista to the USA-Mexico border.

By bus

The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and the North County Transit District (NCTD) operate public transit bus services in San Diego County. MTS serves San Diego and many of the surrounding cities, while NCTD serves North County. Service in the Inland region is pretty scarce.

• From San Diego County it's easy to make a quick trip down to Mexico. Tijuana lies right across the border from San Diego, easily accessed by car or the San Diego Trolley light rail service. For a more low-key alternative, drive to the small border crossing town of Tecate (home of the Tecate brewery).
• The many attractions of Los Angeles and Orange County are relatively easy to get to via a drive on Interstate 5 or along the Pacific Coast.
• There are no boats to Catalina Island (Avalon) within San Diego County. You'll have to go north into neighboring Orange County to the pier at Dana Point. By car, take I-5 to exit #79 Pacific Coast Hwy 1 (make reservations).
• Temecula Wine Country is located north of San Diego County along I-15 and makes a good day trip. There are about many vineyards (with tasting rooms) located fairly close to each other. One hour further is the mountain resort of Idyllwild which features shopping and outdoor activities in an alpine forest.