A Family Guide to 3 Days in San Diego

San Diego is such a fun place to explore, growing up we visited a couple of different times and this year we started off with a fun weekend trip to San Diego.

Jared had meetings so my parents came with us and the kids and I had so much fun exploring with Grandpa and Grandma. Luckily even though he had meetings Jared was able to do some exploring with us too.

3 Days In San Diego with Kids

I have to say 3 days is definitely not enough time to spend in San Diego. There is so much to see and do and in a weekend you only get a taste of all the area offers.

Even though my San Diego Bucket List is still long we were able to explore a lot and have a lot of fun on our short trip.

Where to Stay in San Diego

On our different trips to San Diego we have stayed in a few different areas. All of them have been great with different pros and cons.

On our most recent trips, we have stayed in the Gaslamp Quarter and Mission Bay areas of San Diego.

The Gaslamp Quarter

The Gaslamp Quarter is in Downtown San Diego and very close to Balboa Park. It’s not the first place I would recommend staying with young kids as it has more of a nightlife scene.

It’s a nice area and we loved our trip staying there so it’s an area to consider depending on what activities you will be doing.

The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter

We stayed at The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. This hotel is located in Downtown San Diego and has a unique style.

All of the parking at the Weston is Valet. The cars are parked in a garage so you can’t access them. We ended up calling the Valet desk multiple times for things we forgot in the car. They were always very nice and quickly had the items for us.

The hotel rooms are a good size with comfortable beds and a nice bathroom with a rain showerhead. We were really happy to find that the hotel had an in-room fridge. So we were able to keep waters and breakfast foods in the room.

The hotel also has a pool and fitness center as well as a restaurant and spa. One thing to note about the hotel is that they do charge a daily parking fee.

Mission Bay

Mission Bay a beautiful area of San Diego it’s right on the water and not to far from the beach or downtown attractions.

Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina

A couple of years ago we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina. The hotel was beautiful and the location was awesome.

The hotel is located on Mission Bay and the rooms are large and spacious, plus they have suit options that are perfect for families.

This resort is located only 5.3 miles from the San Diego International Airport and just down the street from Sea World.

The hotel has resort-style amenities including a pool with water slides, a separate children’s pool, gym, and more.

Related Post: 50+ Things to do in California

3 Days in San Diego Itinerary

We had so much fun exploring San Diego with the kids I can’t wait to share with you all that we were able to fit into our 3 days in the area.

Day 1 in San Diego

The first stop in San Diego for us was the San Diego Zoo. If you have kids this is a must visit! Even if you don’t have kids you should probably visit.

San Diego Zoo

Visiting the Zoo is an all-day activity I recommend getting there when they open or shortly after and staying until dinner time.

When we visited it was January and they closed at 5, so we stayed from open until closing.

For tips about visiting the zoo and which side of the bus to ride on you can read more about our day at the zoo here.

After the zoo we were hungry, so we headed to get some dinner at Cafe Rio. When we got to the parking lot we found it didn’t open until a week later!

Cafe Rio is open in San Diego now so you should totally try it if you haven’t yet!! Find out how to get free cafe Rio here.

Since we couldn’t get Cafe Rio for dinner we headed for Olive Garden to get the all you can eat Soup and Salad. After dinner, we went to check into our hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego.

Day 2

Jared had meetings so the kids and I went exploring with Grandpa and Grandma.

We decided to go exploring Balboa Park. On a map, it looks like a short distance so we decided to walk. It wasn’t too bad of a walk but if you have kids you might want to consider driving the walk. The isn’t overly long it just has a lot of hills.

Balboa park

Balboa Park has a lot of museums, gardens, and fountains to spend time exploring.

Many of the Gardens are free and fun to walk through. We enjoyed a quick walk through the Botanical Building and Lily Pond.

The little man found a turtle outside the building in the pond and thought that was cool.

In the Fleet Science Center is a little cafe Craveology we got lunch from. We were all pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. The selection was limited as most of the items are premade and they can run out fast.

On our walk back to the hotel we found the playground that’s at the bottom of the hill near Balboa Park. The little man was so excited to run and play.

After getting lots of wiggles out we put both kids back in the stroller and headed for the hotel. Then it was time for dinner.

Dinner

Since we were all really hungry we decided to go with an old favorite The Cheesecake Factory. We called in our order to go so we could eat in our room and let the kids play and get to bed early.

Day 3

Jared had a few meetings in the morning so we decided to stay close to the hotel. As we walked away from the hotel we found a splash pad. Not sure how we missed it the day before.

The kids had so much fun playing in the water. We spent a good hour letting the kids run and play since it was such a nice day.

Once the kids started getting cold we went back to the hotel. Luckily it was only half a block away.

After getting the kids warmed up and dressed. We met up with Jared and headed out to explore in the van.

Our first stop was lunch. We decided to Drive out to Del Mar to get some mango pie (mango tart is what it’s now called)

Lunch and Mango Tart

Urban Pi is a pizza restaurant with amazing desserts. The pizza was good but the mango tart is what dreams are made of!

Update: Urban Pi is now called Urban Plates and is a farm to table restaurant. They no longer serve pizza but they still have the delicious Mango Tart.

After eating dessert both before and after pizza we headed to Cabrillo National Monument.

Cabrillo National Monument

This National park is something that should definitely be on your bucket list.

Once you reach the parking lot there is a museum and visitor center where you can get a free map, a junior ranger packet and ask questions.

A short walk up from the visitor center is the statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Cabrillo was the leader of the first European expedition to explore the West Coast of the United States.

A little farther up is the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. With a small museum to the side.

Cabrillo National Monument is a great place to see Gray Whales the peak of migration is in Mid- January but you can possibly see them from December through March.

It was really foggy when we visited so we didn’t see anything. We will have to visit another time when the weather corporates.

If it wasn’t cold and cloudy we would have spent more time at the monument.

Since it wasn’t the best weather we cut it short and headed to the Mormon Battalion Museum.

Mormon Battalion Museum

The Mormon Battalion Museum is a free museum in Old Town San Diego with an interactive tour.

The tour is about a group of Mormon families that joined the U.S. Army. The group marched from Iowa to San Diego.

The tour is perfect for kids with a fun and informative tour, about life in the U.S. Army, followed by some fun activities.

The activities include a free photo, panning for gold, and pumping water to wash clothes.

Our little man loved playing in the water, panning for gold that is.

We had such a fun time exploring San Diego, we can’t wait to go back and do some more exploring.

Let us know in the comments your favorite San Diego activities so we can check them out next time we visit!

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