This is a city where traditional tourism hotspots – sandy beaches, verdant parks, world-class museums and fine-dining restaurants – rub shoulders with haunted houses, Victorian carousels, outdoor art trails and, um, permanent memorials to fallow deer.
Balboa Park’s Hidden Gems
Spend any time at all in San Diego and you’re bound to see at least a little of Balboa Park. And why not? This is where you’ll find San Diego Zoo – widely considered one of the best in the world – plus the quite excellent San Diego Museum of Art, Natural History Museum and Air & Space Museum. But you came here for quirky, right? So quirky, dear reader, is what you shall have. Hit up the eye-popping exhibits at the Museum of Us for anthropological treasures that include one of only six Ptolemaic children’s coffins known to exist, as well as the notorious Lemon Grove Mummies. Lighten the mood with a zen wander through the Japanese Friendship Garden, which turns pink with cherry blossoms in spring, and unleash your inner child on the charming Victorian carousel, a menagerie of ever-revolving beats that includes stately horses, fierce lions and – because why not? – a dragon.
Last but by no means least, don’t miss your chance to catch a show at the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world. Free-to-attend performances at the century-old Spreckels Organ Pavilion, an elaborate confection in the Italian Renaissance style, take place every Sunday at 2PM.
Get Spooked at Whaley House
It’s the stuff slasher movies are made of: house said to be built on the site of an old gallows sees subsequent inhabitants meet grisly ends across several decades. All this familiar plot requires now is a hapless investigator (i.e. you) to step inside and become the star of your very own horror flick. So what are you waiting for? The Whaley House has been called ‘the most haunted house in America’ by LIFE magazine, so you know it means business. Step inside for an evening tour with your spooky expert (g)hosts and discover the true story of this notorious San Diego building.
A Date With The Del
Hotel del Coronado – affectionately known as ‘The Del’ is a San Diego institution, set on Coronado Island with commanding views of the bay and Point Loma. The Del’s distinctive terracotta turrets and white wooden buildings inspired the Emerald City in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and have been attracting A-listers – think Madonna, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable – since Victorian times. But you don’t have to be a celeb to enjoy it: just spread your towel on the golden sands of Coronado Beach and chill to the sounds of the gently rolling surf. And keep your eyes peeled for local legend The Sandcastle Man, an award-winning wizard of beach-based construction art, going about his elaborate work.
Oh, deer!
There are many reasons to visit pretty Presidio Park in Mission Hills, not least the epic tower that crowns the Junípero Serra Museum, offering sweeping views across the park’s manicured lawns to the Old Town and beyond. But if you’re looking for quirky things to do in San Diego, look no further than the Memorial to the White Deer of Mission Hills, a peaceful hilltop monument to Lucy (for that was her name) who roamed these here glades for a decade in the 60s and 70s. Why was she so special, I hear you ask? Well, fallow deer are not native to the area, so locals took this snow-white beauty to their hearts, and there was outrage when she was accidentally killed by rangers in a rescue operation gone wrong. Some say you can still see her ghostly silhouette up here at Inspiration Point at sunrise and sundown.
Spruce Street Suspension Bridge
Head for heights? Get yourself down to the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge, a somewhat inconspicuous concrete’n’cable footbridge in residential Bankers Hill that also happens to be one of the most hair-raisingly quirky experiences in town. This feat of 1912 engineering spans the lush Kate Sessions Canyon just west of Balboa Park and remains incredibly well-concealed despite its epic 375-foot length. Prepare for a bit of a bumpy ride on breezy days, when the bridge shakes and shimmies in the wind. Just because it’s designed to do precisely that doesn’t make it any less terror-inducing, so be sure to steady those shattered nerves in the brewpubs of nearby Hillcrest afterwards.
Tip-Tip Topiary
Gardening enthusiasts might think they’ve taken ‘leaf’ of their senses at Harper’s Topiary Garden in Mission Hills, a hedge art extravaganza at which even Edward Scissorhands might raise an appreciative eyebrow. Owners Edna and Alex Harper have spent years preening, pruning and primping their bushes into a menagerie of beautifully coiffed creatures including a whale, a dinosaur, a Buddha and a whole herd of elephants. It’s endearing, whimsical, charming and totally bonkers all at the same time. Do Not. Miss.
Al Fresco Art
The sunny suburb of La Jolla is where it's at for some of the most eye-catching outdoor art in San Diego. Get your quirk on for a walking tour of the Stuart Collection, which includes more than 20 unique al fresco sculptures and installations, all centered around the La Jolla campus of the University of California in San Diego. Take the short walking trail and brace yourself for a whole host of eye-popping oddities, such as Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star, a tiny cottage that teeters precariously atop an otherwise unassuming college building, and Bear, Tim Hawkinson’s oversized (not-so) cuddly toy constructed from eight huge granite boulders.
Good Old-Fashioned Family Fun
The jewel in the crown of Mission Beach, Belmont Park is an old-fashioned seaside amusement park par excellence, guaranteed to charm (or scare) the pants off anyone who steps through its hallowed gates. Can you even say you’ve been to San Diego if you haven’t taken a ride on the Giant Dipper at least once? No, you cannot. This beautiful wooden roller coaster has been here since the park opened a century ago, and is still going strong today. There are also bumper cars, carnival games and a traditional carousel, in case you prefer your thrills a little more sedate.
To The Lighthouse
Our brief journey through San Diego’s quirkiest attractions concludes at the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, a historic monument 20 minutes’ drive south of Ocean Beach at the tip of the peninsula. Take a peek inside where, with luck, you might find yourself face to face with a sailor or serf – volunteers in period costume there to reenact memorable moments from the lighthouse’s 170-year history. Visit between December and April for some of San Diego’s best whale-spotting opportunities and note that the lighthouse tower is only open to visitors twice a year: on August 25 and November 15.
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