San Diego is a vibrant, metropolitan city with a laid-back, small-town feel, and no other San Diego neighborhood embraces this best-of-both-worlds spirit like downtown. Neatly packed into a single square-mile grid between the 5 freeway and the Harbor, downtown San Diego has it all: soaring skyscrapers bustling with big business, old turn-of-the-century buildings housing trendy new nightclubs, and peaceful parks perfect for a short stroll or a relaxing rest.

Visitors and residents alike can enjoy dining in Little Italy, shopping at Horton Plaza, taking in an opera at the Civic Center, exploring an aircraft carrier at the Harbor, and dancing in the Gaslamp Quarter, all in the space of a few dozen city blocks. Close to the international airport, cruise ship terminal, Balboa Park museums and world-renowned San Diego Zoo, downtown is a fine place to begin your visit to America's Finest City.

Seasonal events include Little Italy's Artwalk Festival in April and the Summer Pops concerts at the Embarcadero. In early September, Street Scene takes over the Gaslamp Quarter for a three-day live music extravaganza. In December, downtown dresses up for the holidays; check out the nightly Parade of Lights, with decorated yachts sailing up and down the waterfront.

On a sunny San Diego afternoon, the sidewalk cafes in Little Italy and the waterfront restaurants around the harbor are great choices for lunch, while the Gaslamp Quarter comes alive at the dinner hour and keeps going strong late into the night. For that special souvenir to remember your San Diego vacation by, check out the kites, wind chimes and other fanciful keepsakes at Seaport Village. If fashion is your fare, Horton Plaza is sure to please, while the Gaslamp Quarter offers everything from book stores and boutiques to adult novelties and antiques.

Inspired by its surroundings and cherished by residents and visitors, a thriving arts and culture community blossoms in this paradise.

With two Tony Award?-winning theatres, over 90 museums, music for all tastes, innovative dance, festivals showcasing our ethnic diversity, foreign films, science, natural history and Balboa Park, the San Diego region is a treasure, colored with influences from our neighbor, Mexico.