San Diego vacation spots

Thinking about going to San Diego right before Christmas. Besides the breweries what else should we visit? I heard the Zoo is great and of course the beaches.

What is best hotel for the price to stay at? We are looking for one nearest the city center, so we do not have to rely on transportation. Is there adequate public transportation?

We may rent a car for a day to visit Hollywood. Any ideas for there?

zoo is cool. depends on what beach you end up going to. i really don't like anything south of torrey pines but if you're just going for a stroll, you may wanna think about la jolla shores or mission beach.

as far as breweries go, dont miss ballast point. and pick up a sixer of their sculpin IPA. its amazing, but expensive and you may not be able to find it. i found it at a bevmo for 14.99, bombers are 7.99 so its kindof a steal. pizza port (port brewing) is cool but their food is mediocre. the bottle shop at port brewing is epic but their weekday hours are like 5pm-8pm, so plan accordingly if you wanna do that. stone is definitely worth the trip north to escondido and the trip out to coronado for coronado brewing is also worth it but Ive not been there for food, just the beer.

seriously, don't even kid yourself about san diego public transit. it's practically non existent. rent a car, and that way you can stay farther away from the city center. as far as hotels, youve got a lot of options, just hit up hotels.com. anything downtown/in the gaslamp will be fine, anything in del mar or la jolla will be great but more expensive. pacific beach is okay but I don't personally care for the scene there.

as for going to hollywood, it's definitely an all day trip, but theres so much to do in LA anyway that its almost best left for its own trip. dont really know my way around LA as much as san diego though

Thank you for all of the information. Are there many breweries in the gaslamp district?

There is a Rock Bottom brewery for sure and I think there might be a few others. Stone Brewery is in Escondido and IMO its worth the trip. Foods a tad pricey but the tour is fun and the beer is good.

I second the rental car and not going to LA ideas.

The zoo is fun, if you like zoos. There is an aircraft carrier downtown that you can go on.

There are lots a good restaurants in North Park and Ocean Beach.

Just plan your whole trip around this map
http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=sandiego

You definitely will need a rental car to experience SD
Downtown will definitely be more fun to stay at....but pricier, Maybe look at places in Mission Valley? Might be a little cheaper than downtown.....but still pretty close. MV is also very central to all the major freeways to get you to where you need to go.

All depends on what your major focus is on for your trip....

Look at Hotel Circle to stay, it's north of down town by a few miles. Right by there is Old Town, Mission and Fashion Valley malls (shopping - I would avoid that during the holidays), Balboa Park, a Gordon Biersch, Home Brew Mart/Ballast Point brewery and tasting room. Hotel Circle is also easy for access to North Park/Normal Heights for places like Toronado and Blind Lady Alehouse.

I enjoy the zoo, only been a couple of times, and the rest of Balboa Park is really nice - there are a bunch of museums, etc. There is the Old Town Trolley that runs around a good chunk of San Diego and allows you to get on and off at various stops. I highly recommend it as it gives you a good snapshot of the local area and what there is to do, so if you're around for a few days you can see where you want to go back and visit and if you're here just for a day or two you get to see a fair amount of San Diego:
http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/
You can pick it up in Old Town and I occasionally see them picking people up at hotels on Hotel Circle, so you can check into that too.

Can't remember if it's open during winter, but the Naval Yard has regular tours of the USS Missouri by the bay, the Yard House is the best spot for beer downtown (bar-none!), Stone is an absolute must-do, and spend a day walking through Carlsbad (aka Carlsbad-by-the-Sea, section is a few blocks from the ocean).

Also, if you plan on going through Encinitas, make a dinner stop at Sushi House on ECR. Sit at the bar, ask for John, and have him make you his Rainbow Roll. You'll thank me later.