What to See and Do in Normal Heights
Fairs and Festivals
The fairs and festivals in Normal Heights tend to fall on the weekends. Outside of these events, try to spend most of your time here during the week. On weekends, the area gets crowded with both tourists and residents.
Friendly People
The neighborhood is a delight for visitors to discover on their own. The residents are incredibly friendly, and each block brings a new mix of buildings, businesses, dogs and folks to meet. Normal Heights is not the “touristy” side of San Diego in that you won’t find attractions such as zoos, arboretums or ships.
That’s OK! Many San Diego visitors love being outside of the box on their travels. Plus, some want to stay in neighborhoods where people live. Normal Heights is a great area for this type of experience.
Visit Blind Lady Ale House
This Ale House is described as an Indie Pizza and Beer house. The Blind Lady Ale House is very unique and very good and worth a try.
Unique Restaurants & Stores
As you probably gathered, Normal Heights isn’t where you go for familiar chain stores, restaurants or hotels. Fortunately, it does offer selections for many budgets and tastes.
For example, you can get elegance at the high-end bistros and then hit an Irish watering hole. The cuisines on offer include Italian, Greek and California coastal (really, just the tip of the iceberg).
To start your seeing and doing in Normal Heights, follow Adams Avenue and lose yourself in the people and shops. Walk, bike, rollerblade or even unicycle. Here’s where you get to people watch and show some personality of your own.
Ward Canyon Neighborhood Park
For travelers with children and/or dogs, Normal Heights has the Ward Canyon Neighborhood Park, which is adjacent to a dog park. The parks are parallel to Interstate 15. The kids’ park offers a community feel along with playgrounds, picnic spots, basketball, resting spots and plenty of parking.
Other San Diego Attractions
If you stay in Normal Heights, are you still close to San Diego’s main draws? Yes! Don’t worry about missing out on popular sites.
For example, Balboa Park with its oodles of museums and the San Diego Zoo is 3 to 5 miles away, although you may not want to walk there. It can take about an hour and 20 minutes on foot to get from Normal Heights to the Natural History Museum (theNat) in Balboa Park, but public transportation is readily available (as is biking).
Downtown San Diego, Little Italy and the Gaslamp Quarter are on the other side of Balboa Park. Hop onto public transit to visit these areas of the city.