San Diego | Feb 13 - Feb 18, 2025

Sunny San Diego & Southern California Highlights

Soak in the Southern California sunshine, Pacific Ocean breezes, and the vibrant energy as we delight in the area’s dazzling scenery and iconic vacation attractions.

Soak in the Southern California sunshine, Pacific Ocean breezes, and the vibrant energy of San Diego as we delight in the area’s dazzling scenery and iconic vacation attractions such as the San Diego Zoo, Pacific Surfliner train ride, Palm Springs, and the USS Midway Museum.

Named “America’s Finest City,” San Diego is renowned for its idyllic climate and 70 miles of pristine beaches, but it also boasts charismatic neighborhoods such as the Gaslamp Quarter, Point Loma with the Cabrillo Monument, historic Spanish Old Town, Heritage Park Victorian Village (filled with 1890s homes), and Coronado Island. These neighborhoods have unique identities that combine to create a city rich in exploration. We will discover them all.

February 13-18, 2025

 

Package Includes:

  • Round-trip airfare from Raleigh-Durham International Airport or Charlotte Douglas International Airport
  • Five nights’ hotel accommodations
  • Eight meals: five breakfasts and three dinners
  • All sightseeing and admissions per itinerary
  • Professional tour director
  • Our State host
  • Motor coach transportation
  • Hotel transfers
  • Baggage handling at hotels
  • Wine and beer reception

 

Itinerary Highlights:

  • Five nights in San Diego
  • San Diego city tour
  • USS Midway Museum
  • San Diego harbor cruise
  • Palm Springs city tour
  • Temecula Valley wine tasting
  • San Diego Zoo with guided bus tour
  • Pacific Surfliner train
  • Mission San Juan Capistrano

 

Accommodations:

Five nights in San Diego: Embassy Suites San Diego Bay/Downtown or Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Old Town

 

 

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Arrival
Thursday, February 13, 2025

Arrive in sunny San Diego, meet your tour director, and transfer to your hotel for five nights in “America’s Finest City.” San Diego is known for its Mediterranean climate and coastal scenery. San Diego has also come to be known as “The Craft Beer Capital of the World,” with more than 150 breweries, taprooms, tasting rooms, and its own beer, the West Coast IPA. Tonight, enjoy a wine and beer reception featuring local beers, followed by a welcome dinner at an Old Town restaurant with your fellow Our State travelers.

Meals: Dinner
Overnight: Embassy Suites San Diego Bay/Downtown or Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Old Town

 

Day 2: San Diego City Tour • USS Midway Museum • Harbor Cruise
Friday, February 14, 2025

This morning, enjoy a San Diego city tour to see the waterfront, downtown, Gaslamp Quarter, Point Loma with the Cabrillo Monument, historic Spanish Old Town, Heritage Park Victorian Village (filled with 1890s homes), and Coronado Island.

This afternoon, visit the impressive USS Midway Museum. The retired aircraft carrier was in service from 1945 to 1992 and saw action in both the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Later, enjoy a San Diego harbor cruise featuring a narrated tour that takes you under the Coronado Bridge and past military ships, waterfront landmarks, and marine life for an up-close, in-depth look at San Diego’s beauty and fascinating history. Dinner tonight at a local restaurant is included.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight: Embassy Suites San Diego Bay/Downtown or Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Old Town

 

Day 3: Palm Springs • Temecula Valley Winery
Saturday, February 15, 2025

Today, travel to the desert to visit Palm Springs. Upon arrival, enjoy a Palm Springs city tour that takes you through the “Old Movie Colony,” Las Palmas, Racquet Club Estates, and more to view celebrity homes claimed by legendary stars like Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Sonny & Cher, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Liberace, Nat King Cole, Dinah Shore, and others.

Enjoy leisure time for a bit of shopping and lunch on your own in downtown Palm Springs. Later, relax and enjoy the scenery as you travel to the picturesque Temecula Valley to visit a local winery for a wine-tasting experience.

The Temecula Valley features more than 40 wineries offering award-winning wines due to its micro-climate of morning mist, midday warmth, and cool ocean breezes. Return to your hotel for an evening at your own pace.

Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Embassy Suites San Diego Bay/Downtown or Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Old Town

 

Day 4: San Diego Zoo
Sunday, February 16, 2025

This morning, drive through scenic Balboa Park enroute to visit the world-famous San Diego Zoo, housing 4,000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on 100 acres of beautiful gardens. During your visit, enjoy an open-air double-decker guided bus tour around the massive and iconic zoo, known for its immersive exhibits and endangered-species breeding efforts. The late afternoon and evening are at your leisure to enjoy San Diego.

Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Embassy Suites San Diego Bay/Downtown or Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Old Town

 

Day 5: Pacific Surfliner Train • San Juan Capistrano • La Jolla
Monday, February 17, 2025

All aboard the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train for coastal views on your ride from downtown San Diego north to San Juan Capistrano. The rail experience travels through the famous Camp Pendleton Marine base.

Arrive and explore the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano, established more than 200 years ago. Famous for the annual Return of the Swallows, the mission is the “Jewel of the California Missions.”

This afternoon, travel by motor coach south along the famous beaches of San Diego and pass by Torrey Pines Golf Course. Then stop in picturesque La Jolla for leisure time to wander, shop, or maybe visit the famous La Jolla Cove. Tonight, your farewell dinner is at a local restaurant in San Diego.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight: Embassy Suites San Diego Bay/Downtown or Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Old Town

 

Day 6: Departure
Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Today, transfer to the airport and fly home with wonderful memories of your time in sunny San Diego and SoCal.

Meals: Breakfast

 

Tour Rates:

Regular rate: $3,649 per person based on double occupancy
Booking discount*: $3,549 per person based on double occupancy
Single supplement: $900

*Make your final payment by check prior to the final payment due date and receive a booking discount of $200 per couple or $100 per single.

 

For Reservations & More Information:

Premier World Discovery
Melissa Grant
(877) 953-8687, ext. 238 (Pacific Standard Time)
mgrant@premierworlddiscovery.com

For more information on physical requirements and what to expect on an Our State trip, click here.

 

Explore More

Get excited for your trip and learn more about your destination with our curated list of books, films, music, and more.

Read:

Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Giesel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones (2019) — Award-winning biographer Brian Jay Jones delves into the life of Theodor Giesel — better known as Dr. Seuss — who drew inspiration from his sunny San Diego home for some of his children’s books. A tree in the La Jolla neighborhood, where he lived from 1948 until his death in 1991, inspired The Lorax.

I Cover the Waterfront: Stories From the San Diego Shore by Max Miller (1932) — A special reporter for the San Diego Sun chronicles his experiences covering the waterfront’s lively characters in a collection of humorous, sometimes cynical essays that was adapted into a 1933 film and inspired a song of the same name by Billie Holiday.

My Seven Years in Captivity: Tales and Misadventures in the San Diego Zoo by Bill Seaton (2006) — In this lighthearted collection of stories, a former public relations director for the San Diego Zoo recounts some of his funniest experiences, from hosting a gorilla birthday party to introducing Lassie to sea lions. 

 

Watch:

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004; Paramount+, Netflix, YouTube) — Will Ferrell stars in this irreverent comedy about an all-male news team at a San Diego TV station that gets a new female anchor who threatens to take the spotlight.

Some Like It Hot (1959; rent online) — Filmed primarily at San Diego’s historic Hotel del Coronado, this Academy Award-nominated comedy classic — starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon — is about two male musicians who disguise themselves as women and flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit.

Top Gun (1986; Paramount+) — The U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Top Gun, was based in San Diego until 1996. The city’s military presence sets the stage for this critically acclaimed film about the elite students there, starring Tom Cruise.

The Zoo: San Diego (2021; Discovery+ and free online) — Go behind the scenes at the San Diego Zoo to better understand the animals that live there, the people who care for them, and the zoo’s conservation efforts around the world.

 

Listen:

Amazing Wildlife: A San Diego Zoo Podcast (2021-present; Apple Podcasts, iHeart, YouTube) — San Diego Zoo Wildlife Ambassadors Rick Schwartz and Marco Wendt discuss the lives of the animals at the zoo, conservation efforts around the world, and wildlife heroes in this engaging podcast.

Michael Franks — Singer-songwriter and smooth jazz musician Michael Franks was born and raised in San Diego’s La Jolla neighborhood before embarking on a 50-year music career that included more than 20 albums and collaborations with Art Garfunkel, Bonnie Raitt, Patti LaBelle, the Carpenters, and many more.

The Road to Escondido by Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale (2006) — Both Clapton and Cale have spent time in northern San Diego County — Clapton had a mansion in the city of Escondido in the 1980s and ’90s — inspiring this collaborative album that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2008.

Plus, enjoy these songs inspired by San Diego: