We love San Diego! Visiting San Diego with a toddler and/or child is a superb thought for a household trip. There are such a lot of kid-friendly issues to do in San Diego, it’s simple to get round, and there’s loads of California sunshine, kid-friendly locations to eat and keep.
Household holidays in San Diego present an excellent steadiness for all members of the family, maintaining everybody joyful. Infants and toddlers want psychological and bodily stimulation to remain joyful whereas persevering with their regular growth.
There’s loads of world-class indoor and out of doors issues to do in San Diego which is able to entertain youngsters and oldsters alike. With so many kid-friendly issues to do, it’s no surprise San Diego, California made our checklist of the Finest Locations to Journey within the US with a Child or Toddler.
On the time of our San Diego household trip, our toddler was 2 years outdated and our child was 9 months outdated. Along with the issues the adults loved doing, there have been so many nice issues to do with in San Diego for toddlers (and the newborn too!)
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We beloved our household journey to San Diego! Listed here are the various causes we advocate you go to San Diego with a toddler and/or child:
High 7 Issues to do in San Diego with a Toddler (and Child)
It’s simple to provide you with a San Diego itinerary with youngsters which is able to please everybody within the household. Blessed with so many wonderful points of interest and areas, there are tons of issues to do in San Diego for the adults (that are additionally kid-friendly). Likewise, you’ll don’t have any hassle discovering issues to do in San Diego with a toddler, whereas infants are usually simple to please.
Personally, we love animals and out of doors actions, so in our expertise, it was simple to search out issues to do on our San Diego household trip.
1. San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is world well-known for a cause – it’s large and it’s a lot enjoyable! There are such a lot of big-ticket animals to see on the zoo, like pandas, orangutans, polar bears, koalas and plenty of extra.
We checklist the San Diego Zoo as the perfect factor to do in San Diego for toddlers, because it meets the wants of everybody within the household. Infants love zoos and can stare on the new and fascinating animals for hours. The zoo can be a terrific place to let your toddler get some train as they run excitedly from animal to animal.
2. La Jolla Cove & Kids’s Pool
We had a beautiful go to to the San Diego seaside neighborhood of La Jolla. There are parks for the children to crawl and run round in, oceanfront walks and family-friendly eating places. However most of all, go to La Jolla to see the playful seals who like to lounge round on an outdated seawall (often called the Kids’s Pool).
It’s simple to see all the perfect sights on a family-friendly La Jolla sightseeing tour.
3. Torrey Pines State Pure Reserve
We love mountain climbing with our children, so we took a brief household highway journey out to this lovely ocean-front pure reserve for a couple of kid-friendly hikes. Get extra data on this and different family-friendly walks in San Diego.
4. San Diego Seashores
There are few locations on earth that infants and toddlers love greater than the seaside. We spent most of our San Diego seaside time close to our trip rental in Mission Seashore. A few of the different finest seashores in San Diego for youths embrace Coronado Seashore, Torrey Pines, Moonlight Seashore, Silver Strand and La Jolla.
5. San Diego Zoo Safari Park
The San Diego Safari Park is among the most fun issues to do in San Diego with toddlers because it recreates the expertise of occurring an African Safari. The Safari Park is a little bit of a drive from central San Diego, however it’s definitely worth the go to. Regain a few of that misplaced driving time by shopping for your Safari Park tickets forward of time.
6. Birch Aquarium
If you’re searching for issues to do in San Diego with toddlers on a wet day, take a look at the Birch Aquarium. There’s loads of enjoyable stuff for adults and toddlers on the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. We particularly loved the interactive reveals and tide swimming pools.
If you’re visiting San Diego with a child, the Birch Aquarium is a must-do exercise. Need to entertain a child for hours? Allow them to watch fish… critically – give it a strive, infants love fish!
7. Legoland
Situated lower than an hour away from San Diego, Legoland is a magical place for small youngsters. It has tons of rides and actions with no peak restrictions, making certain your toddler can have the time of their life. Legoland California additionally provides a Mother or father Swap program. One dad or mum waits with the newborn, then swap locations when the primary journey is over.
We didn’t go to Legoland on our first household journey to San Diego, however we made positive to make room in our itinerary once we visited Palm Springs with youngsters. We had a ton of enjoyable at Legoland!
8. Household Picture Shoot
A household journey together with your child is a particular time. On a number of of our household journeys around the globe, we captured particular moments with an expert photographer. A few of the household photographs from these photograph classes are a few of our most treasured possessions.
San Diego is such an iconic vacation spot. We didn’t have an opportunity this household journey, however you possibly can e-book a household photograph shoot in San Diego. Your skilled photographer will make you are feeling relaxed and assist you to discover the perfect photo-friendly areas in and round San Diego.
Household Photoshoot
A household photoshoot is a superb strategy to protect reminiscences out of your journey! Get $25 off your first Flytographer photograph shoot.
6-Day Itinerary for San Diego with a Toddler and Child
To create a enjoyable, balanced and manageable itinerary to your San Diego household vacation, we advocate two issues:
1. Create a listing of the San Diego toddler actions which curiosity you most. Having a listing of choices ready prematurely helps as journey plans with a child or toddler invariably change.
2. Construct a San Diego itinerary which respects your child or toddler’s sleep schedule. Skipping naps or napping on-the-go may match some days, however it’s not sustainable.
Impressed by our personal San Diego household trip, here’s a 6-day itinerary for San Diego with a child and toddler:
DAY 1 – LA JOLLA AND MISSION BEACH
Morning: La Jolla Cove & the La Jolla Kids’s Pool Seals
Go to the stylish San Diego neighborhood of La Jolla. Benefit from the surroundings with an oceanfront stroll to see the La Jolla seals and sea lions. Your probabilities of seeing seals on the La Jolla Kids’s Pool are notably good right here because the seals take pleasure in enjoyable on a partial sea wall not far into the ocean.
On the finish of your morning stroll alongside the Pacific Ocean, cease and let the children play on the Ellen Browning Scripps Park.
Finish your morning with lunch at one of many many kid-friendly eating places in La Jolla.
Afternoon: Mission Seashore Boardwalk
Proceed having fun with your first day in San Diego with youngsters close to the ocean with a go to to Mission Seashore. Infants and toddlers love taking part in within the sand – simply be sure you convey some easy seaside toys.
Seize some ice cream at Dreyer’s Ice Cream and take a household stroll alongside the Mission Seashore Boardwalk; a good way to complete your first day in San Diego with a toddler.
DAY 2 – SAN DIEGO ZOO & MISSION BEACH
Morning: San Diego Zoo
Unfold over 100 acres, the San Diego Zoo is dwelling to over 3,700 animals. It’s so massive that your go to to the zoo will doubtless take many of the day. There’s a lot to your youngsters to see on the zoo, so save a while and purchase your skip-the-line San Diego Zoo forward of time.
Afternoon: Mission Seashore Bay
You probably have any time or power left after a protracted day on the San Diego Zoo with youngsters, head again to Mission Seashore to let the children play within the tranquil bay-side water earlier than dinner.
DAY 3 – TORREY PINES NATURAL RESERVE
The Torrey Pines Pure Reserve is dwelling to many scenic kid-friendly hikes your loved ones will take pleasure in.
Mix the Razor Level path and the Man Fleming path to create a 3-mile toddler-friendly hike with some spectacular ocean views.
Pack an excellent lunch and a few snacks to maintain your toddler’s power up and also you might be able to take pleasure in much more kid-friendly Torrey Pines hikes.
DAY 4 – SAN DIEGO SAFARI PARK
In case your child or toddler loves animals (particularly African animals), don’t miss a visit to the San Diego Safari Park. Plan on spending a full day right here because it’s actually massive.
Similar recommendation right here because the zoo… you’ll need to spend as a lot time as attainable contained in the park, so do your self a favor and purchase your skip the road Safari Park tickets prematurely.
DAY 5 – SPRUCE STREET SUSPENSION BRIDGE & BALBOA PARK
A hidden gem, the Spruce Road Suspension Bridge is a enjoyable little toddler-friendly San Diego attraction that gained’t take greater than 20 minutes. Given the proximity to Balboa Park, it’s a pure pairing.
Balboa Park is dwelling to the San Diego Zoo, however it has so many further issues to do with a child or toddler. There are 15 museums to go to and miles of kid-friendly walks to discover.
We advocate parking close to the sixth Avenue playground so your youngsters can have time to play after your loved ones stroll via Balboa Park. If you’re close to, swing by the Spanish Village Artwork Middle as toddlers love the colourful tiles.
DAY 6 – BIRCH AQUARIUM AT SCRIPPS
Infants and toddlers will love watching the fish at this small La Jolla aquarium. With interactive reveals, tide swimming pools, the kelp forest and the favored seahorse exhibit, everybody within the household will take pleasure in this outing.
The San Diego Climate is Good for Household Holidays
San Diego climate is nice for household holidays all year long. Households will take pleasure in common highs between 48 – 64°F (9 – 18°C) within the winter and 66 – 77°F (19 – 25°C) in the summertime.
For our San Diego journey with a toddler in Might, we had a mixture of some heat afternoons and a few cooler days. These cooler days can appear disappointing, however in actuality they’re good for touring when touring to a scorching vacation spot with a child and toddler.
If it been actually scorching every day on our household journey, we could have chosen to spend extra days on the kid-friendly San Diego seashores and fewer day trip exploring. Additionally, when the times are too scorching, we’re extra cautious about how a lot time our children spend within the solar.
If you’re going to San Diego throughout the scorching summer season months, learn these 8 Solar Security Ideas for Infants to guard your child from the solar and preserve them cool on the seaside.
Getting Round San Diego with a Toddler and Child
Being a big, sprawling American metropolis, you’ll have to lease a automotive when visiting San Diego with youngsters.
If you’re contemplating renting child gear to your San Diego journey, there are child gear rental firms that can ship proper to the Airport Rental Automotive Middle on the airport.
In our case, we selected to lease automotive seats over bringing our personal on the aircraft. Not solely did we’ve got much less baggage to handle, we didn’t have to fret about our automotive seats getting broken on the aircraft. Earlier than your journey, make sure you take into consideration these items earlier than taking your automotive seats on an airplane.
Total, we discovered it simple to get round San Diego with our children. Having an excellent, central place to remain will scale back your each day journey time within the rental automotive.
The place to Keep in San Diego with a Toddler and Child
We’re fairly choosy when selecting a spot to stick with our children. It should be central, however not too noisy. We wish plenty of area with separate bedrooms for the children. A spot to hang around whereas our children are sleeping is sweet. We don’t need to fear about our crying child disturbing different individuals in the course of the night time. On the flip facet, we don’t need late-night partiers waking our child in the course of the night time.
For our household journey, we decided the perfect place to remain in San Diego with youngsters was Mission Seashore. It was centrally positioned to the most of the issues we needed to do on our San Diego itinerary with youngsters. It had plenty of kid-friendly eating places and was tremendous near some nice seashores. We beloved the concept of getting the ocean close by to discover within the afternoons after naps.
San Diego Resort vs Trip Rental
When touring with a child and a toddler, you possibly can’t beat the comfort of a trip rental. You solely have to spend one night time huddled quietly in a darkish resort room to comprehend the advantages of getting a separate bed room to your child or toddler.
Trip leases have many massive benefits for household holidays. Consuming out 3 meals a day with little youngsters is unhealthy and, fairly truthfully, very tiring. With a trip rental, you possibly can cook dinner your personal meals and pack your personal lunches. Having laundry services is one other massive profit when touring with messy infants and toddlers. You’ll be able to pack much less garments and never have to fret about soiled garments.
We discovered a cute little home which met all our standards, simply steps away from Mission Bay. It was spacious inside with an outside patio to hang around on. We had been shut sufficient to play on the seaside virtually each day after nap time, which our child and toddler beloved.
We’ve a terrific system for selecting the perfect resort for a child, however if you happen to’d like to save lots of time, we’ve got ready some hyperlinks to search out the perfect locations to remain in San Diego with youngsters:
- Household-friendly San Diego trip dwelling leases on VRBO.
- Household-friendly San Diego motels on Reserving.com.
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Celine Brewer is the proprietor of Child Can Journey. Not solely does she have years of expertise touring with infants & toddlers, however she’s helped tens of millions of latest dad and mom journey with their infants and toddlers for over a decade. Along with writing on her child journey weblog, she has shared her experience on touring with a child or toddler by contributing to articles about touring with a child with the Washington Put up, USA At the moment, the Lonely Planet journal and Being pregnant & New child journal.
Celine additionally writes about household journey on the positioning FamilyCanTravel.com, which she co-owns together with her husband. Being from the Canadian Rockies, she shares her ardour about her dwelling and journey to Banff Nationwide Park and space on their web site TravelBanffCanada.com.
