Great City Guides San Diego Travel DVD

The travel DVD called Great City Guides San Diego is beneficial to people who will travel to this city. Great City Guides San Diego travel DVD gives a wonderful overview of the area for visitors. Here's my review of Great City Guides San Diego travel DVD:

While I've been to California a few times, I've never been to San Diego, so this was an informative DVD to watch to give me a lowdown on all the major attractions of this area. The best features of this DVD include quality videography of the area (according to the website, this videography is done by locals), upbeat musical score, and the engaging narration of one Stephanie Riggio. She says San Diego is her hometown in the DVD and I felt the passion about her city in her presentation. She does like to crack a lot of little jokes though. For many of the venues that are discussed in this Great City Guides product, they list the addresses on screen; for instance, if I want a San Diego Harbor Excursion, I already know the address because it's shown (1050 North Harbor Drive). I don't think I've ever seen a travel video that actually lists addresses of the places featured.

Also, this travel DVD contains six main chapters that cover the San Diego area, including Historic San Diego & Downtown, On the Waterfront, and South of the Border. It's easy to navigate through this if you need to watch a section again, because each chapter is broken down further into markers. That is, the Historic chapter includes an Old Town, Horton Place, and other markers that aren't long in duration, which makes fast forwarding and rewinding easy and convenient.

I learned some interesting facts about this California area. While discussing the beaches, I learned that San Diego County contains some 70 miles of coastline and over 30 beaches for people who travel there. I learned that the famous killer whale from SeaWorld, Shamu, is actually a stage name that's been given to many of the killer whales that have entertained visitors who've come to that theme park. Until watching this Great City Guides travel guide, I never realized that this city has so many museums, many of which are contained in the 1174-acre Balboa Park, including The Timken Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Hall of Champions Sports Museum, and the Air & Space Museum. If you and the family choose to visit the San Diego Zoo, which is also a part of Balboa Park, some pandas will be awaiting your visit.

Other venues outside of San Diego are highlighted like the upscale La Jolla area, which is a good place for kayaking and diving; Coronado, which houses a very historical and beautiful hotel called the Hotel Del Coronado, known to the locals as "The Hotel Del". I learned that Tijuana is more than a place to get a lot of cheap junk (my former long-standing perception). I didn't realize that this Mexican border city has bullfights, an Omnimax Theater that looks like a large egg, greyhound races, a Hollywood-style theme park down the road in Rosarito, Mexico, called Foxploration, and much much more for people who travel across the border.

This Great City Guides travel tool also includes bonus features like a recap of San Diego's wildlife, museum, and shopping attractions. The DVD-rom Assets show buyers of this product still photos of some of the attractions. If you go to the website listed below in the "Resources" box, you'll get direct weblinks to the attractions featured in this travel product. A section on getting around this area is included in the travel DVD, including important tidbits like what it will cost to take a cab downtown from the airport as well as public transportation options. Narrator Riggio strongly admonishes viewers to tip people in hotels and restaurants, though she states that in Mexico, you're not expected to tip as much for meals (10 per cent). Viewers of this Great City Guides DVD get a sneak peak at Orange County from the DVD on Los Angeles as well as previews of Minneapolis/St. Paul and San Francisco.

Current destinations covered by Great City Guides besides San Diego include Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Each video, according to the company website, lasts from 30-45 minutes in length (though the added features could make it closer to an hour as in the San Diego DVD). These travel tools currently range in price from $18.95-$19.99. Check website for special deals and offers.

Other cities like Phoenix, Honolulu, and Chicago are scheduled as future releases. Check website below in the "Resources" box for updates and to purchase.

Great City Guides via Insight Media Services: Contact 1-866-551-CITY by phone or 1-614-417-6003 via fax. Website is below in "Resources" Box.