Traveling to San Diego

If you’ve never traveled to San Diego before, then you may have some questions about the best way to get there, and how to get around the city while you’re there (including how to get to and from the ballpark). This chapter will cover advice on how to get to and from San Diego, and from the airport to your hotel, and our Local Transit chapter will tell you how to get to/from the ballpark.

In this chapter we’ll cover the following:

• Flying to San Diego
• Train to San Diego
• Driving to San Diego
• Renting a car
• Getting to your hotel via rideshare, taxi, and bus

Flying to San Diego

Despite having only one runway, San Diego International Airport (SAN) is surprisingly efficient. There’s also the added bonus of it being right downtown, abutting the harbor (and surrounded by palm trees!). This means the airport is only about a 15-20 minute drive to the ballpark. There is massive construction going on at Terminal 1 (of 2) for the foreseeable future, so know that things can get cramped, especially for Southwest passengers.

But keep in mind: San Diego is a secondary airport, meaning that there are no airlines that are hubbed here. If you’re traveling to/from cities on the west coast, you should have little difficulty booking an evening flight following an afternoon game. But if you’re flying to anywhere east, getting a late afternoon/early evening flight could be a challenge. Be sure to check your flight options before buying game tickets or booking any nonrefundable hotels, as you may find that catching an afternoon game and getting back home on the same day just isn’t feasible. 

From our experience, for a 1:10pm game on Sunday, as long as you’re staying somewhere near the ballpark, you should be able to walk back to your hotel, grab your bags, jump in a rideshare, and be at the airport in time for a 6:30pm-ish flight. If you’re checking bags or staying anywhere other than the immediate ballpark area, add 30 or 60 minutes to that departure time. If you’re ok with leaving the ballpark a little early, or if you happen to get a faster game, a 6pm flight isn’t out of the question. 

So even though we absolutely believe that spending three days at Petco Park is worth the time and money, you might end up limited to a Friday and Saturday game schedule, and then a nice brunch or harbor cruise on Sunday before heading to the airport for an early afternoon flight.

Taking the train from L.A. or North County

Unless you’re on some sort of year-long train adventure across the country, the option to take the train will be limited to those coming from points north of San Diego, realistically no farther than Los Angeles. But if that’s you, there are a couple of options, depending on where you are coming from. 

If you are anywhere in North County (the 45-50 miles between Oceanside and downtown San Diego), you can hop on the COASTER train, which has stops at Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Sorrento Valley, Old Town, and finally the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego, which is a 15-20 minute walk to the stadium. You can also transfer to the trolley (our light rail system) from the train station which will get you closer to the ballpark. Prices for the COASTER are up to $13 round trip, and discounts can be had for kids. Trains come every hour or so, depending on time and day.

Here’s the COASTER’s schedule.

If you are further up the coast, the best option would be Amtrak’s Surfliner train, which services all the way past Los Angeles, through Santa Barbara, terminating in San Luis Obispo. Fares from San Diego to and from LA are usually between $35-60. For specific fare info, click here for Amtrak’s Surfliner.

The Daily Doubleheader – by train !

The Surfliner goes straight to Anaheim Stadium, literally dropping you off just beyond the center field parking lot. So how about a day-night doubleheader with the Padres and Angels? It might sound crazy, but there are a few actual opportunities for that in 2025:

Padres to Angels

Wednesday 5/28/25: Padres vs Marlins, 1:10pm, Angels vs Yankees 6:38pm

Wednesday 7/30/25: Padres vs Mets 1:10pm, Angels vs Rangers 6:38pm

Wednesday 9/24/25: Padres vs Brewers 1:10pm, Angels vs Royals 6:38pm

Angels to Padres

Wednesday 9/10/25: Angels vs Twins 1:07pm, Padres vs Reds 5:40pm (but you’d miss parts of both games given the train schedules).

For those Padres to Angels games, if you get on the 4:01pm train in San Diego, you can roll into Anaheim at 6:11pm. And coming back, there’s a 10:49pm train that gets in at 1:04am. Yeah, you might have to leave the Padres game a little early to catch that train, and sure, that’s a pretty long day, but who said great stories were easy? 

Padres to Dodgers

Wednesday, April 16: Padres vs Cubs 1:10pm, Dodgers vs Rockies 7:10pm

The same train goes to Union Station in downtown LA, which has a free shuttle bus for ticket holders that will take you directly to Dodger Stadium. The above game is the only one that could possibly work in 2025, but there’s no question you would miss the first pitch in LA. The 4:01pm train from San Diego gets into LA at 6:57 (if on time), and even with a waiting rideshare, you should expect it to take 30+ minutes from the time you walk off of the train until you might be walking into the gates at Dodger Stadium.  But hey … if you want to give it a shot, this is your chance!

Driving to San Diego

If you’re going to have a car because you’re driving from someplace regional, that’s fine. It isn’t necessarily a difficult city to navigate. But there are some things you should know:

• Parking near Petco Park has gotten a bit ridiculous. Whereas a few years ago you could find parking everywhere for under $20, there are very few places immediately next to the ballpark that charge less than $50 these days. But as you go a little further away from the stadium, prices drop a bit. We’ve seen prices on parking apps for less than $10, but often between $20-35. Our suggestion: if your plans are locked, shop for parking early on the apps and try to lock down something in a decent price range.

• While street parking is technically possible, it’s such a remote likelihood of success that we don’t suggest wasting time on it, unless you’re planning on getting to the ballpark four hours early. But we think you should spend your precious baseball time checking out the ballpark and the neighborhood, not looking for street parking. If you’re price sensitive, then shop early for one of those cheap spots on a parking app, get there, park, and get on with your adventure.

• Traffic here is no better or worse than any other big city. But if you’re coming in from the north (say, L.A. or Orange County) traffic jams on the 5 are the real deal. Avoid afternoon driving if at all possible. Leave earlier, get here earlier, grab a cerveza and a taco someplace and relax. (The taco joints in the Gaslamp Quarter are fantastic).

• And finally, once you park downtown, if you have any sort of walk, you’re gonna see some homelessness. It’s just a fact of life that large swathes of unhoused people have taken over many sidewalks downtown. You kinda have to gauge your tolerance for this, and yes, things get dicier later in the night. But I will go on record as saying I’ve never had any real problems with anyone on the street. People living on the sidewalk tend to – from my experience – keep to themselves as long as you do the same. But this is less of an issue as you get closer to the ballpark. So if this is a concern for you, it might be worth paying extra to park in a lot that is not as far of a walk to the stadium.

Getting from the airport to your lodging zone

Once you’ve landed at the airport, you’ve got a couple of choices for getting around, including renting a car, taking a rideshare or taxi, or using public transit.

Renting a car

Although we’ll discuss Local Transit a bit later, we will tell you that, without a doubt, if you’re just coming to San Diego for baseball and will be limiting yourself to the downtown area, you should absolutely skip the rental car. Cars are expensive to rent, and expensive to park, and everything in San Diego is close enough that a combination of walking, biking, trolleying, and ridesharing will cover almost anywhere you want to go. 

But if you have a specific need for a car (i.e. you’re planning to travel someplace outside of the San Diego area), that’s fine. Just keep in mind: it’s about a 10-minute shuttle ride from the terminal to the rental car center, so, factoring in return time and waiting time, it could cost you an extra 30+ minutes when heading back to the airport for your flight. So just be sure that the extra time won’t cost you a shot at the last flight out to your destination.

Rideshares and taxis from the airport

Getting from the airport to the area around the ballpark is pretty easy. Ridesharing services are plentiful; the pickup lot is just a short walk from baggage claim, and an Uber/Lyft will be about $25-30 door to door if you’re heading to the Gaslamp District. A taxi is usually a few dollars cheaper (typically $20-25), but can be harder to get since there aren’t as many of them. So check your rideshare app when you’re ready. If there’s surge pricing that pushes fares higher, head to the taxi stand and try to get one.

Here’s the link with more information about the bus.

Bottom Line

San Diego is pretty straightforward when it comes to transportation. If you’re flying in and are just coming for baseball, skip the rental car and rely on rideshares to get to/from the airport, and walking or the trolley to get around the city. If you’re driving in, or need a car to explore beyond downtown, utilize either hotel parking or parking apps to make your experience easier. And if you’re taking the train, congrats … you’ve found a way to use mass transit in Southern California!