Are you considering a family vacation to San Diego? We just got back from exactly that, and I highly recommend it!
We just got home from the best family vacation we’ve had to date. This year, we decided to go a bit bigger than we’ve gone in the past. Our kids are 4 and 6.5 now, so we wanted to do a test to see how they would do with longer flights and a time zone change. After much research, we decided on San Diego, and boy am I glad we did!
If you have elementary school aged kids (or close to elementary school age), now is a great time to take a family vacation to San Diego! San Diego is full of kid-friendly things to do. We had five days for activities and didn’t have a single stinker. Everything we did was a winner with the whole family.
Tips
Before I get into the specifics of what we did on our family vacation to San Diego, I want to first share some general tips.
La Jolla Mom
The best resource you’ll have when planning your family vacation to San Diego is Katie Dillon’s blog, La Jolla Mom. She is a trove of information about visiting San Diego. I followed her tips pretty much to the tee. If you’re headed to San Diego, check out her blog first.
CityPass
We saved so much money on attraction tickets by buying San Diego CityPasses. For just $186 per adult and $166 per child (or even less if you go poke around La Jolla Mom’s blog), you can visit either SeaWorld San Diego or Legoland California plus three other local attractions. And the attractions that are included aren’t throw aways, they’re exactly the places you want to visit in San Diego.
Now that my two overarching tips are out there, let’s get into the itinerary. This schedule is a proven winner, so sit back, relax, and let me do all the work of planning your family vacation to San Diego for you!
Family Vacation to San Diego
Day 1 – Arrive
We traveled to San Diego from clear across the country, so we had a long travel day on Day 1 of our family vacation. Our flight left Pittsburgh around 12:00 EDT, we had a layover in Las Vegas, and landed in San Diego at around 5:00 pm PDT. We picked up our rental car from Hertz (join the Gold Plus Club, it’s worth it!), and headed straight to our Airbnb.
Although staying at an Airbnb can have some negatives (our original place canceled on us a month before we left because they sold the property), we like to rent houses rather than stay in hotel rooms when we go on a trip of more than 1-2 nights. It’s just easier to have a kitchen and laundry facilities and rooms for everyone.
The specific Airbnb we rented was a cute little three-bedroom house in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego. The location was perfect, the house was updated, clean, safe, and everything we could have asked for. I’d highly recommend it if you opt to go the Airbnb route for your family vacation to San Diego.
Day 2 – San Diego Harbor
We hit the ground running on the first full day of our family vacation to San Diego!
Breakfast
Because we got in well past our kids’ bedtimes according to their little bodies, we weren’t able to stop at the grocery store for provisions on our way to the Airbnb. That meant we headed out to breakfast on our first morning in San Diego. Based on my research (which was then confirmed by our Airbnb host), we headed to Konito’s Café, just a quick drive away from our Airbnb and directly next to the Von’s grocery store. The portions were huge, the food was delicious, and it was reasonably priced for what we got. Don’t skip Konito’s Café (or it’s sister restaurant Kono’s Café) if you decided to stay anywhere close to Pacific Beach.
U.S.S. Midway
After we stocked up at the grocery store, our next stop was the U.S.S. Midway, a retired aircraft carrier that is now a museum. We arrived at the Midway right when they opened at 10:00 am, found a spot in the Navy Yard parking lot that is adjacent to the museum ($25 for all day), and boarded the vessel.
This was my husband’s #1 priority for our San Diego trip, and to be honest, I was a little nervous about it. I’m not a big military history buff and I worried that the kids would find it boring. Boy, was I wrong! The U.S.S. Midway was a hit with the whole family!
We explored the below-deck areas and the hangar deck, but we spent most of our 4.5 hours on board the flight deck. The kids loved climbing in the restored aircraft and earning their wings by completing the Junior Pilot program. The grown-ups really enjoyed the docent talks given by former Navy pilots about how the catapult (take-off) and trap (landing) works on the aircraft carrier. These guys were super impressive. I’m so glad we stopped to listen to them!
Harbor cruise
After we left the U.S.S. Midway, we crossed the parking lot to Broadway Pier to board a 2-hour harbor cruise operated by Flagship Cruises San Diego. The cruise was my birthday gift this year, so I was really hoping for a great experience. Well, we definitely picked a great day for a harbor cruise! The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and San Diego put on a real show for us.
If the 2-hour option seems like a lot to you, you can choose a 1-hour cruise that does either the north part of the harbor (airport, nuclear Navy base, sea lion barge) or the south part of the harbor (Coronado, conventional Navy base, downtown San Diego). We didn’t have to choose, but if I did, I think the southern route gave you a look at more interesting things. I mean, we saw the boat that went to pick up the Artemis II astronauts, for Pete’s sake!
Dinner
We ate dinner at the Airbnb after all the excitement we had. I consulted by own list of easy vacation meals and made pigs in a blanket.
Day 3 – SeaWorld
We almost didn’t go to SeaWorld. It was the activity that we added to our itinerary last. We were a little unsure if the kids would enjoy it, to be honest. Then we discovered that my husband (an Army veteran) could get free admission for himself and three others, so it became a no-brainer.
SeaWorld
Our Airbnb was super close to SeaWorld. It was probably the closest activity we did the whole trip. SeaWorld didn’t open until 10:00 am, so we had a bit of a leisurely morning before we hopped across Mission Bay to get our day started.
Our day at SeaWorld largely centered around the animal shows and experiences. The kids weren’t tall enough to ride many of the rides (which caused a bit of an issue at the beginning of the day), but we still had a really fun time. The highlight for all was the dolphin show. My daughter was reluctant to watch it, but she was transfixed once it started. We also watched the orca show, a show featuring rescued wildlife, and a sea lion feeding and went to see the penguins, the flamingos, the sharks, and the manta rays (which you could touch!). It was a sea creature-filled day!
We all ran out of steam at about 5:00 pm, so we missed the evening offerings, which seemed to be plenty. There were special animal shows in the evening, and a drone show after dark (which we could see from our porch). If your family can hang for later, the evening looked like a great time to be at SeaWorld!
Dinner
My husband and I were starving by the time we left, so we headed straight to dinner when we left SeaWorld. The kids wanted pizza and the parents wanted beer, so we decided to stop on the way back to our Airbnb at North Park Beer Company Pizza Shop. Friends, this was my favorite meal of the trip.
First up, the food. The kids got a cheese pizza to share, and my husband and I got a burrata pizza to share. Both were excellent! There was plenty of pizza to go around, and we even took some home for another meal.
The beer we had was also excellent. My husband got half pours of two New England IPAs that were good, and I got a pint of a West Coast IPA called Dankmobile that was absolutely delicious! It looks like they rotate their beer on tap regularly, so your mileage may vary when it comes to beer. We liked all the varieties we tried though, so I’m going to guess that you can’t go wrong!
North Park Beer Company has a few other San Diego locations if you don’t find yourself in Pacific Beach. Their flagship location (beer only) is in North Park and another location that serves food (mostly burgers) and beer in Bankers Hill (over by Balboa Park).
Day 4 – La Jolla
I think I was most looking forward to our day in La Jolla. It did not disappoint!
Birch Aquarium
We started our day in La Jolla at Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego Scripps Institute of Oceanography. It opened at 9:00 am, and we were there right when it opened to get a spot in the free parking lot.
When we entered, we bounced right to the main aquarium tanks to see the small animals. Highlights on this side included an octopus, a sea turtle, and the kelp forest. The kids got a nice surprise when divers were in the sea turtle’s tank giving it a bit of a bath! Then, we went outside to the touch tanks and learned about sea stars and sea cucumbers with the most gorgeous views of the Pacific ocean. At 10:00 am, we watched a feeding of the little blue penguins. They were so cute! Then, we checked out the rest of the left side of the aquarium, which included seahorses, a shark, and a great outdoor play area that offered materials for the kids to build a boat and send it down the river.
Overall, we spent about 2.5 hours at the aquarium and felt like we did everything. It’s a great morning or afternoon activity if you’re planning to spend a day in La Jolla on your family vacation to San Diego!
Lunch
When we left the aquarium, we headed to the village of La Jolla, which is like the little downtown area. We found a family-friendly restaurant with patio seating called The Spot right on the main drag. The kids got bowls of spaghetti and meatballs that were as big as their heads, and my husband and I both got sandwiches that were pretty tasty (a club sandwich for him and a chicken panini for me).
Once again, though, the highlight was the local craft beer we enjoyed with lunch (I’m starting to sound like a lush, I know). I got a Chronic Amber Ale brewed by local brewery Pizza Port and my husband got an Oderville Hazy IPA by local brewery Modern Times. Next time we’re in San Diego, we’ll try to go to the source for both of these beers, as they were yummy!
Seals & sea lions
After lunch, we headed to the shore for the main reason for our visit to La Jolla – the seals and the sea lions! We found 2-hour street parking on Jenner Street, which gave us easy access to the seals at Children’s Pool, the sea lions at La Jolla Cove, and a quick romp in the waves for the kids at Shell Beach.
I seriously could have sat there watching the seals and sea lions all day. We used every minute of our two hours of parking to watch them sleep, swim, and play on the beach. If you take a family vacation to San Diego, do not skip a stop in La Jolla to see these adorable animals!
Dinner
We ate in at the Airbnb again on Day 4. I just got a box taco kit and kept things simple. We weren’t all that hungry because we had that huge lunch, so a night in eating a taco or two was just what the doctor ordered.
Day 5 – Legoland
Legoland was definitely the highlight of the trip for the kids. I’ll give you a flavor of our day at Legoland below, but I’m considering doing a whole dedicated post on Legoland. Would you find this helpful?
Legoland
Legoland California is situated in Carlsbad, California, in northern San Diego county. It was about a 40-minute drive from our Airbnb in Pacific Beach, straight up I-5. On the day we visited (a Wednesday in June), the park’s hours were pretty short. It opened at 10:00 am and closed at 6:00 pm. We found this to be plenty of time to do everything the kids wanted to do.
The best thing about Legoland with a 4-year-old and a 6.5-year-old was that they could ride every ride they wanted to ride. After the disappointment of not being able to ride much at SeaWorld, this was a welcome change. At Legoland, they rode everything from roller coasters to Lego cars to game-type rides to relaxing boat rides. And they loved them all!
Another great thing about Legoland was that they allowed you to bring in outside food. That meant we could hand a kid a snack whenever he or she asked, and we even packed PB&Js for lunch. We did purchase a cup of the famous Apple Fries, which were delicious! My husband even asked me to figure out how to make them at home. I haven’t tried yet, but I’m looking forward to experimenting!
Dinner
We left Legoland at about 4:30 pm and headed back to Pacific Beach just in time for dinner. At the recommendation of our Airbnb host, we chose to eat at SD Taproom. The food here was elevated bar food. My son got a cheese pizza, my daughter got a huge plate of mac & cheese, my husband got a Philly sub, and I got a buffalo chicken Caesar wrap. Portions were large and tasty!
SD Taproom presented our last opportunity to try San Diego craft beer. My husband got a flight (PB Haze, Modern Love, Luke I Am Your Padre, and Bee the Buzz) and I chose their award-winning West Coast IPA, Modern Love. We were both pleased with our selections.
Day 6 – San Diego Zoo
We saved the best for last (in my opinion) and headed to the San Diego Zoo on the last day of our family vacation to San Diego.
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is probably on your list if you’re looking to take a family vacation to San Diego. It absolutely should be! We all loved our day at the zoo!
The zoo opens at 9:00 am, and we got there right when it opened. We parked in the zoo parking lot for $16 for the day. As soon as we got in, we headed to take the guided bus tour, which is included in the admission price. We opted to sit on the top deck of the bus so we could have a bird’s eye view of the animals we passed. This was the perfect way to start our day at the zoo! The animals were super active at this time and it gave us the lay of the land so we could better plan the rest of our day.
After we got off the bus tour, we headed straight for the Skyfari Aerial Tram, which took us to the back of the park. We chose to start at the back for many reasons, but mostly so we could see the polar bears before they headed into the A/C for the day. This was another correct decision. We had great animal sightings all day without crazy crowds of people trying to look at the same animals at the same time. The pandas were available without a line, the orangutans put on an absolute show, and it was feeding time for the giraffes. Start at the back of the zoo, people!
Ice cream
We ate dinner at the Airbnb on Day 6, mostly to eat up the leftovers that we acquired from the two dinners I made and the doggy bags we brought home from our restaurant meals. After we polished off the rest of the food, though, we wanted something sweet. Ice cream was the only right answer. Serious question, are you on summer vacation if you don’t get ice cream?
The ice cream place that was closest to us was Pacific Beach Ice Cream Co., so we headed there. This ice cream shop had really interesting flavors! Even the vanilla that my son got was honey vanilla so it was a little special. Pro tip: kids get free sprinkles!
Day 7 – Head home
We were up before the sun to travel home on the last day of our family vacation to San Diego. Our flight home was scheduled to leave at 6:30 am PDT, so it was an early start. We had a delay out of San Diego and then again in Austin (where we connected), but we did manage to make it home by about 8:00 pm EDT. Everyone was hungry and exhausted, but happy to have spent a great week in San Diego!
Other posts
Looking for more family travel ideas? Check out these trip reports:
I hope my experience and itinerary have been helpful to you as you plan your family vacation to San Diego. Where should we go next? I’m all ears down in the comments or over on Instagram @sarainseason!