Both trains and buses leave you in the heart of downtown San Diego: Greyhound at Broadway and First Avenue is more central than Amtrak's Santa Fe Depot, at the west end of Broadway. Lindbergh Field Airport is only two miles out, on bus #2 ($1.50).

Getting around without a car, by day at least, is comparatively easy. Seven companies operate the integrated Metropolitan Transit System (bus tickets $1.25-2.50; ); the Transit Store, 102 Broadway (Mon-Sat 8.30am-5.30pm; tel 619/234-1060), has detailed timetables and sells a Day Tripper Transit Pass for one- to four-day visits ($5, $8, $10 and $12, accordingly). The passes apply also to the tram-like San Diego Trolley , which runs throughout the area (tickets $1-2.50) and covers the sixteen miles from the Santa Fe Depot to the Mexican border crossing at San Ysidro. It's a 45-minute journey ($4 round-trip; every 15min from 5am-midnight), and the last trolley back leaves at 1am on Saturday night. Bicycle rental shops include Rent-a-Bike, 523 Island St (tel 619/232-4700), and Hamel's Action Sport Center, 704 Ventura Place, Mission Beach (tel 619/488-5050).

The International Visitors Information Center is downtown at 11 Horton Plaza, F Street at First Avenue (Mon-Sat 8.30am-5pm; tel 619/236-1212, ). The poste restante, or general delivery, post office is at 2535 Midway Drive, between downtown and Mission Beach (Mon 7am-5pm, Tues-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 8am-4pm; tel 1-800/275-8777; zip code 92138).