GPS City Guide

San Diego sits at the southwestern corner of the continental United States, where the Pacific Ocean, the US-Mexico border, and more than 450 years of recorded history converge. Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo first sailed into this bay in 1542. Spanish missionaries and soldiers followed in 1769, establishing California's first European settlement here. The city changed hands from Spain to Mexico to the United States by 1848, then grew from a dusty frontier town into one of America's great cities — shaped by the US Navy, two world's fairs, waves of immigrants from Italy, China, Mexico, and beyond, and a relentless Pacific sunshine that makes everything look deceptively easy. This tour visits 40 stops across Old Town, downtown, Balboa Park, the beaches, Coronado, and the border — a full sweep of the city's geography and its layered past.