Visitors planning the perfect San Diego vacation are often amazed by the region's multitude and diversity of offerings. With user-friendly features like personalized travel guides and insider tips from locals, these useful smartphone apps can help visitors plan their perfect San Diego trip and get the most out of their vacation.

• Developed by native San Diegan and award-winning travel journalist Allison DaRosa, the San Diego Essential Guide invites travelers to discover what locals love most about the city. The app presents users with an alphabetical listing of the region's major and lesser-known attractions, which can be sorted by category, neighborhood, cost and distance from the user's current location. Ranging from family friendly attractions to pet-friendly beaches to exciting nightlife venues, each listing is presented with a detailed description, photos, hours and insider tips.
  $2.99 for Apple and Android
• The Balboa Park on Meridian app offers a feature-rich guide to the nation's largest urban cultural park. The app uses an interactive map with turn-by-turn directions to guide users to events, museums, landmarks and attractions throughout the 1,200-acre Balboa Park. Other comprehensive elements of the app include restaurant listings sorted by budget and taste, event listings by category and venue and attraction guides for more than 80 points of interest.
  Free for Apple and Android
• Visit Coronado is the official app and all-inclusive guide to San Diego's enchanted island, located a bridge away from downtown San Diego. The app offers listings for Coronado attractions, shops, restaurants, walking tours and local events. Users can also find visitor information, browse thousands of photos and pinpoint their location on the island through a GPS navigation feature.
  Free for Apple and Android
• For visitors planning a trip to the "jewel" of San Diego, La Jolla Blue Book makes information more accessible to users and easy to navigate. The app's directory is sorted into a variety of categories including La Jolla beach information, hotels, restaurants, boutiques, art galleries and more. The app's "Visitor Info" category also gives users the option to launch a La Jolla Visitors Guide that details events, activities and suggested itineraries for travelers to the area.
  Free for Apple. Android users can visit a mobile optimized site at lajollabluebook.com
• The official app of the world-renowned San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park provides users with information to plan their visits, learn about the zoo's wildlife and the ability to purchase tickets right from their phones. Sections of the app include an overview of the zoo's exhibits, visitor information and FAQs, an animal directory, photos and videos, a schedule of daily events and live animal cams. Once at the zoo, users can also use the app's detailed map and GPS to pinpoint their location and navigate the grounds.
  Free for Apple and Android
• The interactive travel guide from San Diego Citybot allows visitors to personalize their San Diego experience with custom itineraries. Users simply select from lists of interests or sights to visit, specify their time span and method of travel and receive in seconds a tailored itinerary plotted out on the app's interactive map. The app also pulls together user suggestions of restaurants, museums and more based on Yelp reviews and ratings from locals and visitors.
  Free for Apple and Android
• The Dining Joint app is a comprehensive guide to San Diego restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs and more. Visitors can use the app's advanced search feature to browse venues by cuisine, meal type and occasion or find venues with specialty offerings like karaoke and ocean views. Each listing detail displays the venue's location, hours, menu, cost and happy hour offerings and enables one-touch calling for reservations. Other fun features include restaurant coupons, a tip calculator and a fortune cookie application with daily epithets.
  Free for Apple and Android
• Developed by San Diego locals, TapHunter is the ultimate app for enjoying San Diego's dynamic craft beer scene. Users can easily search for local venues where great craft beer is served and see listings of beer-centric events taking place throughout San Diego County. Users can also check out what's on tap at San Diego's beer bars and restaurants, keep track of their favorite brews and share recommendations with friends.
  Free for Apple and Android
• Visitors can explore San Diego's vibrant LGBT community with the Out Right Now app from LGBT Weekly, San Diego’s weekly LGBT news magazine. Users can find local businesses, browse hundreds of events in the "What's Happening" section, share their favorite discoveries with friends on Facebook and Twitter and read the magazine's latest issue.
  Free for Apple. Android users can visit a mobile optimized site at outrightnow.com
• Geared for travelers looking to avoid network usage charges, the Street Map Offline app allows users to browse a map and guide to San Diego without phone service or internet connection. Similar to a traditional map, the app displays streets, neighborhoods and freeways, but offers handheld convenience and zooming capabilities. The app's Travel Guide also allows users to browse diverse visitor information such as hotel options, transportation methods, attractions, restaurants and beach guides.
  Free for Apple

Happiness is calling in San Diego. For more information on San Diego's offerings, including exciting vacation packages and valuable coupons for attractions, restaurants and more, visit the San Diego Tourism Authority's website at www.sandiego.org or call 619-236-1212.

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