One look at San Diego’s glimmering skyline at night with swaths of color dancing off the surface of San Diego Bay, and you’ll get an idea why they call this place ‘America’s Finest City.’ On this marvelous night tour, expert guides will navigate you to romantic panoramic views as you cruise past notable landmarks on our trolley, experiencing this city from a completely different viewpoint. San Diego remains one of the most gorgeous places in the United States whether the lights are on or off.
Your 100-minute journey kicks off with a drive through the West Coast’s premier entertainment district, known as the Gaslamp Quarter. Famed for its vibrant nightlife, bright lights, and Victorian architecture, this unforgettable urban playground will captivate your imagination. Then, we’ll headto Balboa Park, one of the largest outdoor cultural centers in the US, with its stunning buildings, fountains, and statues glowing bright, transformed at night, and equally as remarkable in the evening as theyare during the day.
From Balboa Park, we’ll drive to the top of the Coronado Bridge for more spectacular sights, including the lights coming in from Tijuana, Mexico, the bay, and downtown San Diego. We’ll make a 15-minute stop at Coronado’s Ferry Landing,a perfect photo-op location, to take in the stunning beauty of the San Diego city skyline visible from across the bay.
Then, you will re-board the trolley and headfor San Diego’s Little Italy. From its humble beginnings as the epicenter of the world’s tuna fishing industry to the high-spirited tourist destination of today, Little Italy is a chic, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, packedwith trendy cocktail bars, brewpubs, and restaurants with bustling patios.
From there, we’ll make our way to the Embarcadero’s Bayfront views. You’ll see the Historic County Administration Building, the Maritime Museum’s Star of India, the USS Midway Museum, Seaport Village, the Headquarters, and also the Navy’s aircraft carriers across the bay.
And with that, you will have experienced America’s Finest City in another light, something you won’t soon forget.
An overview of the awesome views you’ll be enjoying.
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From the magnificent display of lights illuminating the most elegant architecture in the city in Balboa Park to the famous Gaslamp Sign and Hotel Del Coronado, here’s a taste of things to come.
Not one of the now extinct native civilizations that occupied the area that would later be known as San Diego had ever laid eyes on a European until the year 1542. In that year, Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo set sail on an expedition from Mexico and reached his destination several months later. The area was claimed for the Spanish Crown and named after San Diego de Alcalá de Henares, a monk. Over two centuries later, Gaspar de Portolå established a military base, or presidio, and life for the settlers happened within those walls until the 1820s when the area known as Old Town was in its infancy. In subsequent years, the city would experience exponential growth thanks to the introduction of the Santa Fe Railway and, by the 1940s, had over 200,000 residents. With the U.S. Navy having been firmly established there in previous years, WWII ushered in even more growth and San Diego’s land area and population each nearly quadrupled between 1950 and 2000. San Diego’s founding has been regarded as the birth of California itself.
The night time is the right time to get in some quality time at the many restaurants and evening diversions San Diego has to offer. Here are just a few of them.
*Reservations are required. Guests must check in with our sales rep at the ticket booth 30 minutes prior to departure. Late check-in may result in forfeited reserved seat. First to check-in, first seated. Reservation based tickets are non-refundable. You may reschedule up to 24 hours in advance of tour time by calling 619-298-8687.
TOUR DURATION
Approx. 1 hour and 40 minutes* long.
The tour includes one 15-minute photo-op stop at the Coronado Ferry Landing.
BOARDING LOCATION
500 Kettner Blvd.
Seaport Village
Next to Malibu Farms
DEPARTURE TIME
See online reservations for specific tour dates and times or call us at 866-754-0966.
Please dress appropriately as there may be cool temperatures at night.
Part of the tour involves walking, so wear comfortable shoes.
We offer a complimentary shuttle from Old Town at 4010 Twiggs Street to Seaport Village and from various hotels to Seaport Village on select days. For more information, click here or call 619-298-8687.
Download our San Diego City Lights Night Tour brochure.
Paid parking is available at Seaport Village. Allow 30 minutes to find parking.
We request a 24-hour advance notice for accessible trolleys. Please call customer service at 629-208-0200.
“New Night Lights Tour – We really enjoyed the new Night Lights Tour, which had only been operating for two weeks. Since we had enjoyed the daytime tour earlier, which follows the same route, we were pleased to find that the night time sights allowed the driver to introduce us to many different buildings that were not particularly noticeable in the daytime and tell us about their history. The 20-minute stop on Coronado Island was well-timed and appreciated. We had time to stroll along to the beach to get night time views of Coronado Bridge and Downtown San Diego. Although we had learned about many of the historic buildings earlier on the day tour, they appeared quite different at night, and the tours were different enough to make them both worthwhile” – C.G.