This is how you make the most of 36 hours in San Diego, the South Californian city that’s a stone’s throw from the Mexico-United States border, writes Freda Moon. Dripping with flowers, adorned in murals and fronted by gorgeous beaches, San Diego in the United States is almost too pretty to be taken seriously. It excels at being underrated and overlooked.
But that’s changing fast, as new hotels, restaurants and arts institutions, including the US$85 million ($143m) Rady Shell, the San Diego Symphony’s summer stage, add depth to a city already flush with arty neighbourhoods. Despite the changes, tradition holds strong in the “birthplace of California” (San Diego was the first permanent European settlement on the West Coast). The beloved Balboa Theatre, a former vaudeville venue, turns 100 this year, and Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ — the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ, over a century old — continues to draw crowds for free public concerts (every Sunday at 2pm).
READ MORE: Planning a trip to California, US: What to do in LA for first-timers.
