Downtown Situated on the bay, downtown is a hub of business and nightlife and has many tourist attractions amongst its gleaming office and hotel towers. |
Balboa Park-Hillcrest Located in the heart of the city, Balboa is a massive urban parkland, home to many amazing museums and the renowned San Diego Zoo. Next door is Hillcrest, a trendy urban neighborhood. |
Old Town-Mission Valley The site of the first Spanish settlement in California, Old Town today is a historic district popular with tourists sitting at the foot of Mission Valley, a major commercial center. |
Point Loma-Ocean Beach Located on a scenic peninsula curving around the bay, this area offers gorgeous views of San Diego, beautiful coastline, and quiet, laid-back beach neighborhoods. |
Mission Beach-Pacific Beach Two extremely popular beach communities with plenty of shops, restaurants, and nightlife, alongside a man-made inlet known as Mission Bay that is home to Sea World. |
La Jolla An upscale beach community and the home of some of the most picturesque coastline and lovely beaches around, an exceptional aquarium, the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). |
Mid-City A set of neighborhoods in the heights east of Balboa Park. There isn't much in the way of tourist attractions out here, but one can find trendy districts with locally-oriented restaurants, shops, and theaters. |
Northeastern A large region of the city composed of many suburban neighborhoods stretching far inland to the hills of the north, with a few scattered tourist attractions including the popular Safari Park. |
San Ysidro Home to the world's busiest land border crossing, where one can travel between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. |
In addition, there are many communities and suburbs in the San Diego area that are not actually part of San Diego (such as Coronado). See the San Diego County article.