1. Head to one of dozens of  our gorgeous San Diego beaches - all free!  Swim, body surf or boogie-board.  You can read a book or people watch.  Some folks collect seashells or just chill.  No adult beverages are allowed on San Diego beaches. You can be assured of a fun, peaceful day at the beach.

2. Visit the mysterious La Jolla Cove.  Watch magnificent sunsets on the ocean below the coast beach hotels.  La Jolla Cove is one of the most spectacular natural settings in the world. You will discover  tide pools for exploring at low tide.  Take a trip down into "the" Cave (via the Cave Store). Explore a manmade tunnel. Go down until you enter the breathtaking Sunny Jim Cave.  You can also enter the cave from the sea (via kayak) along with the other six ocean-carved caves. Sunny Jim Cave is the only sea cave in California that you can access from a stairway. Sunny Jim Cave is so cool that the Encyclopedia Americana calls it one of the "must" sights in Southern California.

3. Visit downtown San Diego's Seaport Village.  You will enjoy hours of free entertainment.  Enjoy a leisurely stroll. Do some  window-shopping.  Explore 50 diverse shops.  Eat at 17 unique eateries and outdoor entertainment.  Find everything under the sun. Enjoy a laid-back day of hanging out in the grass. Watch yachts and ships go by on picturesque San Diego Bay. Take in the sights.  Absorb the unique atmosphere from one of the many bay-view eateries.

4. Bike or jog in the sunshine along Mission Bay Park’s trails. Joggers, runners and walkers share more than 20 miles of scenic running paths.  Wind through sunlight and shade near the shoreline past the Hilton Hotel.  Workout courses are at stations along the route. Mission Bay Park is the largest man-made aquatic park in the United States.  Here you'll find tons of stuff to do including paths for walking and jogging.  There are playgrounds for children.  It is one of San Diego's most popular locations to picnic or ride a bike. You can fly a kite or sail a model yacht.   Fire rings make it easy  to cook, bar-be-que and stay warm.  Friends and family gather here to launch colorful kites into the bay breezes.  It's a great place for a beach chair and a book. 

5.  Visit quaint Old Town.  Witness the living legacy of San Diego history.  Wander through historic buildings. Explore a real blacksmith shop. Look inside Seeley Stables and the oldest schoolhouse in San Diego.  Many folks visit Old Town for shopping.  Shops carry beautiful  crafts and leather goods. You will love  the big platters of tacos and enchiladas. Wash  them down with a margarita. Poke around inside historic buildings and imagine life in early California.

6. Enjoy weekly concerts at 2 p.m. on Sundays at the historic Spreckels Organ Pavillion in Balboa Park.  The Spreckels donated the world's largest outdoor pipe organs  to the City of San Diego.  The date was 1914 for the Panama-California Exposition. Today organists play traditional favorites, waltzes and show tunes on enormous 32-foot pipes.

7.  Stroll through the trendy and historic San Diego Gaslamp Quarter and view the renovated turn-of-the-century Victorian architecture.  Historic buildings and hotels have been relocated to Gaslamp  from other parts of the San Diego; their nineteenth century architecture restored to its former glory. Restaurants, shops and clubs occupy former brothels and saloons.  The nightlife is throbbing and vibrant 365 days a year.

8. Look at the stars and planets from Balboa Park on the first Wednesday of every month. The San Diego Astronomy Association sets up many of their big telescopes so that you can see the moon, planets, nebulae and globular clusters - up close and persona.

9. Take a scenic drive to Mt. Laguna. Once there, hop out of your car for an invigorating hike and enjoy the fresh mountain air whispering through the pines. The mountain is the perfect playground for hiking, mountain biking, camping, family activities, star gazing or just relaxing. Spend a night in the clear air of the Laguna Mountain Lodge.

10. Walk back in time more than 130 years in Julian, a century-old gold mining town in the Cuyamaca Mountains. Julian's history begins with the 1870s gold rush. See where gold was discovered, shop in stores housed in historic buildings (some dating back to the 1870s). Sleep in a romantic B&B or historic hotel.  Hike and picnic amid oaks and pines. Ride down Main Street in a horse-drawn carriage. Pick up a free map at the Chamber of Commerce for a self-guided walking tour of the area’s historic sites. Enjoy a slice of homemade apple pie – a Julian specialty!

11. Put on your hiking shoes and head to Torrey Pines State Park.   Walk gorgeous trails while watching daring hang-gliders sail the strong winds that sweep along the coastline cliffs. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve remains one of the wildest stretches of land on our Southern California coast.

12. Rollerblade, skateboard, bicycle or people-watch  the Mission Beach Boardwalk.  It's a 3-mile boardwalk along the ocean. It rivals Venice Beach in Los Angeles for eye-popping sight, sounds and events.

13. Visit Mission Trails Regional Park to explore the historical and recreational areas of San Diego. Stop at the Visitor’s Center and learn about the wonders of nature and the people who once lived on the land.  The park has 45 miles of natural hiking and biking trails.  The park is nestled between San Diego, Santee and La Mesa.  Mission Trails Regional Park covers almost 5,800 acres of mountains, lakes and valleys.  

14.  Climb Cowles Mountain in Mission Trails Regional Park for awesome  views of downtown San Diego.  At 1,592 feet, it is the highest point in the city of San Diego. The main trail to the summit is a popular hiking destination.  Hundreds of people a day walk up to a breath-taking 360 degree panorama of San Diego County. The hike to the top is 1.5 miles long and an elevation change of about 950 feet.

15. Kayak, scuba dive or snorkel in LaJolla Cove, home to some of the clearest waters on the California coast as well as miles of protected underwater preserves to explore. The La Jolla Underwater Park and Ecological Reserve consists of several habitats.  Here you will find rocky reefs, sandy flats, kelp beds, and two underwater canyons. A "look-but-don't-touch" ecological refuge, the reserve is an ecological haven

16. Stroll through Balboa Park, the nation's largest urban cultural park. See spectacular gardens (seven are free daily). Marvel at the gorgeous Spanish Colonial Revival hotel architecture. The park is home to 15 major museums. It also has renowned performing arts venues and the San Diego Zoo.  An always-changing calendar of exhibitions, plays, musicals and concerts ensures a fun time for all in a beautiful park-like setting. Some of the museums are free on Tuesdays. Del Mar Hotels can be expensive. 

17. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in LaJolla has a phenomenal collection that includes more than 4,000 works created after 1950, representing all media and genres: painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, video, film, and installation. 

18. Explore the tidepools along the coast in Point Loma, La  Jolla and Swami's Surf Beach in Encinitas at low tide. Get up close and personal with flowery anemones, scampering shore crabs, elusive octopus, spongy deadman's fingers and many other cool sea creatures. Check the newspaper or use the tide calendar or tide tables if you are staying at Solana Beach Hotels.

19. Drive to the top of Mt. Soledad in La Jolla. Marvel at sweeping, 360-degree views of San Diego and its hotels.  Look over the gently curving La Jolla coastline and Mission Bay. Crowning La Jolla's highest point in solemn majesty is "The Cross" of Mt. Soledad. It is a lasting memorial to the dead of the World and Korean Wars.  A cross of California redwood was first placed on Mt. Soledad in 1913.

20. Visit the beautiful  Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  Experience the natural beauty of the desert. A desert garden just outside the Visitor Center building provides extensive insight into the vegetation.  There are many plant species identified and explained on interpretative plaques. The desert garden also includes a pupfish pond. Pupfish evolved from conditions during the Ice Age.  They  have adapted to living in today's desert.  The 600,000-acre park is one of the largest in the country.  Each spring the desert explodes into a rainbow of colors as the wildflowers blossom.

21.  Carlsbad and Encinitas have world-class beaches.  For example, Carlsbad State Beach runs from Tamarack Avenue all the way along the beach to downtown Carlsbad.  There’s sandy beach below and a great sidewalk along the bluff tops for sunset viewing and people watching.  To the south you will find South Carlsbad State Beach (the locals call it South Ponto - a famous surf break). You will find a state campground on top of the bluff overlooking the ocean with stairs to the beach below. World class surf contests are held here.

22.  The Carlsbad Flower Fields are wonderful (spectacular!) in the spring from March through May.  Here you can walk through 50 acres of beautifully colored  fields all framed by the blue Pacific Ocean. The flowers are located at 5704 Paseo de Norte Drive.

23. Carlsbad hotels consist of all the big chains including Motel 6, Carlsbad Days Inn, Carlsbad Holiday Inn, Carlsbad Courtyard by Marriott and Encinitas Bed and Breakfasts.

Inn At Moonlight Beach is rated one of the The Top Ten California Vacation Destinations in Southern California by Inland Empire Newspaper.  The Pasadena Weekly names us the Twelve Best California Road Trips.  Our Encinitas hotel is more lovely than Solana Beach Bed and Breakfasts, Carlsbad Bed and Breakfasts or Encinitas Hotels. More romantic than Carlsbad Hotels in Encinitas CA.  Compare our prices  to the Del Mar Beach hotels or the Cardiff Lodge.  We are more romantic than any Solana Beach accommodations and are known as the San Diego Beach Bed and Breakfast. 

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Telephone Us For More Information: (760) 561-1755