San Diego Travel Forum

Hello,
I will be passing through LA in May and have just one whole day free. I would love to visit San Diego Zoo. Does anyone know if this is possible in a day with travel time? I found a tour that has LA hotel pick ups on viator.com which might be an option, but it seems to also be a guided tour of the zoo. I really just need transport to and from the zoo from an LA hotel and could do my own thing once there.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you!

I think you would be pushing it unless you can connect with a commuter flight to San Diego Airport. The flight took only about 30-40 minutes but you do have to leave from a different Terminal and we just missed one because of "Security" and had to wait an hour. From there you could get to the Zoo by bus and or trolley.
Another time we took the airport shutttle to Anahein where we got a train - I think it was the Amtrak Pacific Coastliner - and I think the total journey time must have added up to 3 hours - so you could spend 6 hours just travelling depending on connections.

Depends on what "passing through LA" actually entails.

Will you be sleeping two nights in LA?

-If the answer is "yes", then I would approach the trip to SD, perhaps you can contact the tour and determine if you can "do your own" and meet them some place at a certain hour.

-If you are not sleeping two nights in LA, it would be out of the question. Travel on the freeways can be too unpredictable, even taking some of the newer toll way.

You can take the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train from LA to San Diego. Departure at 720am, arrive 1010am, or depart at 830am and arrive 1120am. The last return train departs San Diego at 555pm and arrives Los Angeles at 855pm. Roundtrip is $58.00. This is certainly doable.

yvr ... how would she get from the train station to Balboa park? Is there a shuttle? This would add a little more time, which again, would be OK as long as she does not have a flight to catch at the end which will require 2-3 hours before the flight, and at the very least an hour to get out of the airport.

>>>..how would she get from the train station to Balboa park?

The Santa Fe Depot is on Broadway downtown, a few blocks east is the "hub" for the bus system. One of those buses has a stop at the Zoo entrance.

However, the question, as mentioned already, is what do you mean by one whole day free?

If you found a tour from your hotel to the SD Zoo and back within your time frame then, I'd say take it. Usually those tours give you enough time to see a major portion of the place. In any case, you would not be able to see the whole Zoo in one day, it's just too big.

My guess is that the tour you found is not planning to guide you through the Zoo, rather it is including a "Zoo tour bus ride" with the ticket purchased. This is something that you would benefit from because it would give you a grand view of what is offered and ideas of which parts you'd like to spend more time at. Another thing is that they offer "on & off" privileges from the bus. This will get you from one section to another and save walking time.

If the tour you found fits into your time frame, I'd suggest that as your best option as every aspect of the transportation will be guaranteed and you will have stress free time to enjoy the Zoo.

Well Nomad 7820, an easy answer to your questions, a taxi could whisk her to the zoo, a bus could also take her to the zoo, and to find out how long a bus would take one could check the San Diego transit website and do a little travel planning from it. You mention flights in your reply, but I don't see anything in the original post that mentions anything about flying or airports, so this must be conjecture on your part?

No - but I suggested a connecting commuter flight from LA. The airport is close enough to Santa Fe Train Station and other transport -buses and trolleys to get to the Zoo..
We arrived in San Diego that way once but as I also pointed out any delays like just missing the connection will make it a lon round trip.

yvr ... yes, my original posts had a couple of "if's".

Point about train, was to add the time to get there and find the taxi, not meant as any challenges re. the train.

Thank you all for your advice.
I will be staying 2 nights in LA (don't know where yet), but have a very early flight out of LA the next morning so would definately need to get back to LA after the zoo visit.
I had condiderd the train option.. but thought since I would need to get to and from the train both ends it might take too much time out of my day... I realise the zoo is a big place.
Thanks again!

Take the tour and then just find out what time to meet back and go off on your own. If the tour gets you to the zoo and you don't have to mess with getting from the airport or train depot that seems to make the most sense. The tour probably includes the zoo admission which is like $40. You can see the majority of the zoo in six hours.