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California

A San Diego New Year Celebration

Program No. 21195RJ
Warm your spirits in the California sun with San Diego’s trademark holiday cheer! Celebrate the New Year by enjoying the area’s award-winning food, wine, parks and much more.

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Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone? 800-454-5768
Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Dec 28 - Jan 2, 2025
Starting at
2,649
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Dec 28 - Jan 2, 2025
Starting at
3,479

At a Glance

Celebrate the New Year in the perfect year-round climate of San Diego. With the city festively decorated for the holidays, revel in exceptional adventures. Be exhilarated by an exploration of the historic Gaslamp Quarter at the doorstep of your hotel — the palatial US Grant. Plunge into Balboa Park and its 100-acre zoo and explore the charming seaside towns of La Jolla and Coronado. Epicurean New Year frolics begin at the Grant with a festive dinner continuing with a brunch onboard a harbor cruise while taking in the city skyline. Be warmed by the California sun and good cheer! Celebrate in style with elegant, high-end accommodations and meals at several fine restaurants.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking up to two miles on varied terrain; stairs, standing, board a ferry boat.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Unfold the city’s roots from Cabrillo Monument breathtaking vista point on to the charming mission and time-honored Old Town and a harbor cruise.
  • Experience the museums, art centers and Moorish architecture of Balboa Park and see the famous zoo lit up for the holidays.
  • Stay at the elegant US Grant Hotel, an emblem of incomparable sophistication with legendary style.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Profile Image
Maria Mitrani
Maria Mitrani was born in Italy, then lived in Canada, the United States and France. She finally settled in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, where she has been living since 1976 with her husband and three children. She has a bachelor’s in Italian and art history from the University of California at Berkeley. Since 1985 she has led learning adventures through different parts of Mexico and is a specialized guide for Baja California. She is one of the owners and founders of Andiamo.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Maria Mitrani
Maria Mitrani View biography
Maria Mitrani was born in Italy, then lived in Canada, the United States and France. She finally settled in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, where she has been living since 1976 with her husband and three children. She has a bachelor’s in Italian and art history from the University of California at Berkeley. Since 1985 she has led learning adventures through different parts of Mexico and is a specialized guide for Baja California. She is one of the owners and founders of Andiamo.
Profile Image of Esther Mitrani
Esther Mitrani View biography
Esther Mitrani was born in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, then worked in San Francisco for three years in human resources in high-tech. Missing her home, she return to her native city. Esther has been guiding since 1994, and joined the family business in 2002 as an organizer and tour leader. She is an eager traveler, and she loves sports and languages.
Profile Image of Isabel Sanchez
Isabel Sanchez View biography
Isabel Sanchez was born in Ensenada Baja California, Mexico. She began working as a group leader at a young age in the mid 1980s in her hometown. In 1998, she moved to Southern California where she continued her career as a successful group leader specializing in the Sonoran Desert as well as the Mojave Desert. In the fall of 2004, Isabel began leading groups through San Diego, Calif., the peninsula of Baja California, and the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
San Diego Then and Now
by Nancy Hendrickson
A photographic approach to San Diego history comparing same site, different time period.
Gateway to Alta California: the expedition to San Diego, 1769
by Harry Crosby
A thorough historical account on the 1769 expedition through northern Baja California's unexplored wilderness to San Diego crafted by an artful and incisive historian.
San Diego, Jewel of California Coast
by Charlene Baldridge
A visual tour of San Diego's favorite attractions, including the area's colorful history, arts and culture, and endless outdoor activities.
San Diego An introduction to the Region
by Philip R. Pryde
A historical geography of the natural environments and human development of San Diego County. A tecnical but simple approach.
Walking San Diego
by Lonnie Burnstein Hewitt and Barbara Moore
An inviting description of the trails and the wildlife for those who enjoy to explore the parks and the surroundings of the city by foot.
The Navy in San Diego
by bruce Linder
How the navy came to San Diego and became a turning point in the establishment of the city.
Photo Secrets San Diego
by Andrew Hudson
A complete overall guide of San Diego's most attractive sights with good visual support. In addition, it is especially helpful to photographers.
San Diego Legends
by Jack Scheffler
Pleasant reading about the events, people and places that made history.
San Diego Gaslamp Quarters
by Gaslamp Quarters Association and San Diego Historical Society
San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, established as New Town, was the bustling anchor of the commerce for the developing city. Nearly 200 striking images tell the story of the area's early boom and bust, the saloons and bordellos of infamous Stingaree Town, the urban decay of the 20th century, and the rebirth and restoration over the last 30 years.
The Story of New San Diego & it's founder Alonzo E. Horton
by Elizabeth MacPhail
The good and the bad of San Diego history are brought out in numerous instances. The "Fairest of the Fair" was not always a model city-in the boom period of the 1880s there were sixty-four groceries but seventy-one saloons-implying that drinking was of greater concern than eating. The one hundred and twenty "bawdy houses" suggest other diversions of great interest to the early settlers. Gambling was rampant, with that television hero of "law and order" Wyatt Earp the owner of three such establishments. South of H Street was the Stingaree District, our local Barbary Coast, where many of the above institutions flourished ". . . in spite of sporadic efforts (not too strenuous) to tone things down when complaints got too numerous."





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If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
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