Legoland, La Jolla and Tijuana Around a San Diego Cruise: Rent a Car or Skip It?

Nine brands checked, and five say no in print.

Avis and Budget make room only for corporate accounts held by US residents, with Mexican insurance sold at the counter. Avis also wants the car back in the US.

For a leisure renter, plan on no. Not a maybe.

The trolley gets you to the border instead — a fare, not a rental. Blue Line trolleys leave every 15 minutes for the San Ysidro Transit Center, right at the border, at $2.50 one way. By our reading of the timetable, the trip from the Santa Fe Depot takes 28 to 30 minutes.

Cross Border Xpress isn’t the alternative: that bridge is for ticketed passengers at Tijuana’s airport, not a way into the city.

The State Department’s Baja California advisory, which covers Tijuana, is “Reconsider travel” — with the concern concentrated in non-tourist areas.

Border hours, wait times and return papers are things we couldn’t confirm from a US or Mexican government page. CBP and the State Department are the places to check, and passports are the norm.

Start with the calendar, because the desk hours, not the drive, decide how this day goes.

Avis and Budget in Little Italy are open Sunday mornings only, and Enterprise is closed — pick up on a weekday if you can.

The Little Italy Avis and Budget desk is about 0.8 miles out from B Street (our estimate), a short ride once you’re off the ship. Enterprise’s own page has a line for ship passengers — call the branch after you disembark — so ask what that gets you.

You can pick the car up the morning you get off, or the day before — the same desks, the same hours.

The drive north to Carlsbad is about 32 miles and 42 min with no traffic, our estimate. Plan on longer, and parking at the park is $40.

The evening is where the plan gets tight.

Avis in Little Italy stays open until 7 on weekdays and closes at noon on Sundays, and Enterprise’s branch takes no after-hours returns.

So get back within hours — or use Sixt’s garage, or the airport, where Avis and Budget stay open around the clock.

A $60 daily rate for a roomier car puts one day near $116 with parking. That covers the whole car — about $29 a head at four.

Two of you in a $50 car come to about $105, and a La Jolla run with no parking is about $57.

The mistake to avoid is renting for a day trip and then paying $30 to $57 a night for a downtown hotel garage. The calculator above doesn’t include that.

La Jolla Cove is 12.5 miles and about 20 minutes each way — an afternoon rather than a day. We couldn’t read the parking rules there, so check them first.

Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma, 8.4 miles from the terminal by our estimate, is the other short drive — the kind where a car earns its place.

Torrey Pines is the catch.

The state’s page says the reserve is closed to all visitors from Sept 22, 2026 for a utility project. It gives no reopening date, so look again before you plan around it.

Balboa Park’s lower lots charge non-residents $10 for up to four hours or $16 for the day — with a free tram from the Inspiration Point lot.

The zoo and the park are both on the bus from downtown. Leave the car for them.

Broadway Pier sits on the same waterfront as the cruise terminals, so the ferry is the easy way across. Take the boat over, then the bus to City Hall or a walk.

Look at downtown San Diego first — the airport only matters if that’s where you land. The park tickets are a separate purchase, best made on Legoland’s own site for your date.