Lonely Planet - Lonely Planet 48 Hours in San Diego: City Trip from USAs Best Trips Travel Guide

If youre cruising into town on I-5, exit at Washington St for a pit stop at Bronx Pizza. Yeah, Tony Soprano is on the wall, Donald Trump, a few boxersbut youre here for the pie not the pictures, and they know it. Order up at the counter, grab your slice at the window and be on your way; no fuss, great slice, fuggitaboutit. San Diego may be easy to navigate, but theres a lot we gotta see.

First up is the Embarcadero, where a lineup of historic ships ends at the massive USS Midway Museum. Though Top Guns Goose and Maverick may spring to mind at the sight of this floating city, theyre no match for the aircraft carriers docents the real thing who love dishing about life on board. This tour is living history at its best, with engaging first-person accounts on the audio tour through the engine room, brig and tiny compartments. Hoist yourself up the Island Superstructure towering over the 4-acre flight deck and imagine the captain and flight control choreographing a high-stakes ballet of fighter jets, helicopters and 1000 crew on a 69,000 ton ship heaving atop the sea.

Sightlines into Petco Park are so good from Altitude Skybar at the Gaslamp Marriott that youd hardly blink if a well-spun homer dropped into your beer. Fire pits, sleek couches and burly bouncers exude LA cool, though an easy-going crowd keeps pretension at bay. But times they are a changing in the 16-block Gaslamp Quarter, with rapid-fire openings of boutique hotels and velvet-rope clubs marking a second, youthful wave of gentrification, which is amping the weekend intensity in this former red-light district. Voted 2008s Best Seafood Restaurant by San Diego Magazine in three polls, swanky Oceanaire Seafood Room is a cherished Gaslamp gathering spot cruising in luxury-liner style. Lawyers and bankers from downtown towers chatter elbow-to-elbow at the oyster bar, or move to red booths while nibbling on ultra fresh halibut, snapper and mahimahi prepared with seasonal flair. White leather banquettes set an equally chic tone at Confidential (Andrew Firestone is an investor), open since 2006 and leading this second, high-octane wave of revitalization.

If youd like a room with a stripper pole at new-but-naughty Ivy Hotel, just ask. This adult playground spins a loud, Vegas-party vibe, especially on weekends, and its already hosted A-listers from Brad Pitt to Eric Clapton. Of Ivys three nightclubs, firepit-and-cabana dotted Eden San Diegos largest rooftop bar draws the most ogles from nearby condo dwellers enjoying Rear Window-esque views of the action. Dont ask for a mint after breakfast at Hash House a Go Go, back in Hillcrest. With its heaping skillets of hash, massive flapjacks and hearty gourmet scrambles, a wafer-thin mint could push you over the edge. Walk it off on bamboo-lined pathways at the new, 3-acre Monkey Trails & Forest Tales inside Balboa Parks sprawling San Diego Zoo. Conservation-minded signs dot multilevel walkways, where face-to-face encounters beware the gremlinlike mug of the Wolfs guenon arent uncommon. Oohs and ahhhs mark the always-popular Polar Bear Plunge, Panda Discovery Center and Koala Exhibit and the 35-minute tour on the double-decker Express Shuttle provides an efficient orientation for first timers.

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The lobster BLT at C-Level Lounge (880 Harbor Island Dr) is so good youd step on your mothers face to get to it. Its a BLT made with lobster, bacon and avocados, and comes with a little cup of lobster bisque to dunk it in. Its just amazing. Get it with Deborahs mai tai. C-Level is on Harbor Island and it has panoramic views of downtown.

Brian Murphy, San Diego

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Spanish-Colonial pavilions add a dash of romantic flair to an afternoon of museum hopping in Balboa Park, a 1200-acre urban retreat home to gardens, theaters, 15 museums, the zoo and a very large outdoor organ. For sheer density of Old Masters, drop by the Timken Museum of Art, where the impressive Putnam collection includes works by Rembrandt, Rubens and Czanne. Theres always something intriguing at the white-walled Museum of Photographic Arts: from 1850s daguerreotypes to MRI images, exhibits embrace photography in all its forms.

Give that tan a workout with a short drive west from Balboa Park on I-8 toward the citys main beaches, an introduction to which best starts with the fish taco, the citys most famous contribution to Americas culinary lexicon. While the foundation never varies a soft tortilla topped with fish, salsa, cabbage and special sauce every beach bum has a favorite based on taste, location and sometimes affordability. With one exception. The fish tacos at fun-lovin