San Diego This Winter?

My hope when I visited San Diego last year was to find that Valhalla of winter getaways, a place with warmth, water, and a vibrant urban culture—without having to fly all day and speak another language. San Diego offers the right mix. You can’t argue with the weather: Winters are not hot, but they are reliably sunny and days in the 70s are plentiful. You can’t argue with the setting: San Diego has more beachfront than any other California city. You can’t argue with the amenities: Some of America’s best resorts are here.

But it’s not Valhalla. Scratch the surface, and you’ll find that San Diego is really several cities, each offering indulgences, but not the total package. If you visit this metropolis—roughly the population of the Twin Cities—you need to focus on your priorities from the outset, lest you find yourself driving endlessly on the city’s congested freeways in search of the amenities your chosen base lacks.

ORIENTATION
San Diego County sprawls from the Mexican border to well beyond the city’s northern limits. The city’s downtown and inner core are rebounding from several attempts at gentrification, the most recent of which seems to have finally taken. Sparked by the lovely, well-integrated Petco Park baseball field, condos and stylish hotels are filling the historic core. North of downtown, the yuppified Hillcrest/Uptown neighborhoods are anchored by the city’s jewel, Balboa Park, which boasts San Diego’s legendary zoo, most of its best museums, and charming architecture.

The downtown waterfront is shared by the U.S. military and commercial development and lacks appeal in many places. The convention hotels that line the beaches here are not true resorts and will not satisfy those looking for a resort experience. For that, you need to travel by ferry or on a circuitous freeway to Coronado, an island shared by the military and many retirees and empty nesters. Or you can head up the mainland coast to the well-heeled suburb of La Jolla and environs for a more upmarket, old-money experience. Coronado is to La Jolla as Bloomington is to Wayzata.

Arguably the area’s best resorts are well inland, in the region’s northern fringes. They are splendid destinations, but more than an hour from the city’s amenities in rush-hour traffic. It isn’t practical to stay there and participate fully in the urban experience, so you do have to choose.

FOR THE BEACH LOVER
Although close to the city center, much of Coronado is paved over, and its resorts are dated and crowded. The century-old Hotel Del Coronado, though charming, is of another era and too small and full of day-trippers to satisfy folks expecting a Scottsdale or Laguna Beach–type experience. 619-435-6611

Instead, migrate up the coast to La Jolla, a bustling burb that caters to San Diego’s elite and upscale vacationers with great shopping, good restaurants, and a walkable beachfront. La Jolla lacks a true resort, but if you want to stay right in town, the ocean-view Hotel Parisi has a modern, serene ambience that compares favorably with the oceanfront dowagers that dot Prospect Street. 858-454-1511

Close by, but sitting in splendid isolation, is the Lodge at Torrey Pines. A modern beachfront resort built in turn-of-the-century Craftsman style, it sits on six acres, adjacent to the famous namesake golf course and the Torrey Pines State Reserve, which has a great beach and forests for hiking. The lodge’s restaurant, A.R. Valentien, serves California cuisine in a relatively formal setting and is regarded as one of the region’s best. 858-453-4420

A wild card option is Tower 23, a new, contemporary beachfront hotel between San Diego proper and La Jolla. The stunning boutique facility features high-tech, minimalist rooms and suites. My caveats are its youthful and less-than-assured staff and the adjacent stretches of public beach, tacky strip malls, and commercial chain store developments. If your room only faces the ocean, however, you’ll be delighted. 866-869-3723

A visit to this area should include a stop at the Salk Institute, the renowned, private biological research facility founded by Jonas Salk. The minimalist, modern structure was designed in the 1960s by acclaimed architect Louis Kahn and is the architectural highlight of San Diego. Tours are available by appointment and well worth the time. 858-453-4100

The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown La Jolla is strong in works by postwar California artists. Warhol, Stella, and Rauschenberg are represented as well. 858-454-3541

FOR THE GOLFER/SUN SEEKER
Excluding Torrey Pines, the area’s best golf courses and resorts reside in the so-called “North County,” near the communities of Oceanside and Carlsbad, the latter of which offers a charming, quasi-rural feel, though suburban development is beyond every hilltop. The coastal influences are not felt here, meaning there’s little fog and the winter temperatures are well above the coastal standard. If you’re looking for a spa-and-sun vacation, with some golfing, a little shopping, and a lot of relaxing, I’d head here, understanding that San Diego is neither proximate nor convenient.

There are two impeccable resort choices in these parts. The modern Four Seasons Aviara offers the typical FS amenities and high standards of service and also has one of the legendary chain’s best links—an eighteen-hole Arnold Palmer course. Nearby, the historic La Costa Resort has been thoroughly renovated since the days when my grandparents traveled there to diet, of all things. It boasts two PGA courses, a championship tennis facility, and a spa, co-managed by the Chopra Center, with a unique array of medical and mind/ body therapies. The resort’s Spanish– style accommodations are slightly more minimalist and modern than the lush, traditional Four Seasons’. 760-603-6800, 800-854-5000

If you’re here in summer, the nearby Del Mar Thoroughbred Club offers seven weeks of the closest thing in the United States to an English horseracing experience. Opening day in July is the city’s social event of the summer. North of here, but still south of the resorts, is the suburb of Solana Beach. Its Cedros Design District has several blocks of stores catering to home-and-garden–decorating aficionados and is well worth an afternoon. 858-755-1141

FOR THE URBANITE
The city’s bustling downtown, though not without seedy pockets, is alive and vibrant, packed with stylish nightspots and urbane boutique hotels. I stayed at Kimpton’s Hotel Solamar, a delightful facility with a hip vibe, a great terrace pool with a lively bar, and quirky yet comfortable rooms. It’s convenient to the burgeoning East Village District and the city’s “trolley” light-rail line, making it an unbeatable choice. Don’t miss a meal at nearby Cafe Chloe, an all-day French spot with great small plates and a fun atmosphere. 877-230-0300, 619-232-3242

Downtown will occupy you for only so long, so head to Balboa Park, the city’s showpiece, studded with Spanish-style buildings dating from the city’s 1915 exposition celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal. Today, it houses the San Diego Zoo as well as the city’s most renowned museums, including the San Diego Museum of Art and the Museum of Photographic Arts, among many other options. Don’t miss lunch or dinner at The Prado at Balboa Park, serving eclectic, Latin-tinged California cuisine on a wonderful outdoor patio. Shoppers should visit the adjacent Spanish Village Art Center, home to thirty-plus tile-roofed galleries and studios, where artisans create original works. 619-239-0512

Although I am generally neither a fan of B & Bs nor Victoriana, I can’t say enough nice things about the Britt Scripps Inn. On a residential street just steps from the park, the fully redone Victorian provides a luxury hotel experience on a small scale that includes central air, full and delicious breakfasts, and afternoon wine and nibbles. My only qualms were an awkward system for guest parking and the occasional difficulty of finding inn staff. The nearby Hash House A Go Go is a fun, informal stop where you can get enormous portions of heartland fare at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 888-881-1991, 619-298-4646

Finally, if you’re interested in a bit of wild California while still in the city, drive past the airport to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument, which connotes the first European visit to the region by Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo in 1542. This windy, rugged spot overlooking the city is the starting point for the Bayside Trail, a two-plus-mile cliff-side path that rambles past everything from fragrant coastal sage and historic lighthouses to cacti and lizards. 619-557-5450

PRACTICALITIES * Northwest and Sun Country fly nonstop to San Diego, though Los Angeles International Airport, about a two-hour drive away, often has lower, less-restrictive fares and a wider array of flight times. * San Diego is pleasant any time of year, but thick ocean fog descends on the city in late spring (“June gloom”). The city’s only rain falls November through April. Coastal San Diego is rarely hot and almost never cold. * The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau covers the entire region and is a great resource. 619-236-1212 * Fodor’s annually published guide to the city covers Oceanside to the Mexican border and proved to be a great and complete tool for planning my visit.