San Diego with Four Year Old and Baby

Hi E.,

Embassy Suites is family friendly and they usually include a nice breakfast.

Thanks,
T

Hi E.,

San Diego is my hometown, so I don't know where to stay cheap, only where to stay that's nice. Most people stay in the area around Sea World...that area is beautiful. As for inexpensive places to go, I recommend Balboa Park. The world famous San Diego Zoo is there, but you don't have to go. Just outside the zoo is a mini train and carousel. Then there are the museums. Best for kids are the #1 Model Rail Road Museum #2 The Reuben H. Fleet Science Meuseum (there is a play room upstairs for under 6), #3 the Natural History Museum. Then if your 4 year old likes airplanes or cars, those museums are on the other side of the park. There is also a puppet theater with shows at 11:00 and some other time. Beaches are free and very nice. La Jolla has breathtaking sights but hard to find parking. Mission beach has the rollercoaster, but those kinds of attractions are for older kids. As a local, I always went to Imperial Beach because it was easy to travel to and from, easy to park, and not crowded. San Diego has great parks. Rohr and Sweetwater Park (back to back parks) have one weekend a month train. Red Hawk or Mountain Hawk park out in Eastlake has a water feature that the kids love.
I have to get going now, but if you need more ideas, I can give you lots more.
N.

There is a carousel and train ride at Balboa Park (right next to the Zoo entrance, but not part of the zoo. The rides are inexpensive and delightful (especially if your 4 year old loves trains). There is, on the same side of the park, a nice playground, too. Balboa Park, in addition to the zoo, has a bunch of museums. You can get a package deal that includes admission to several of them for a discount compared to buying the tickets stop-by-stop, and they have free Tuesdays, and the museums which are free rotate. http://www.balboapark.org/calendar/detail.php?EventID=370

Check out Children's Beach in LaJolla (an easy drive) for great seal watching. We also enjoyed the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in LaJolla (Admission wasn't much, and we had a coupon from the newspaper for buy one get one free admission). We have family there, so I can't recommend a place to stay. Have a good trip!

I was born & raised in San Diego. As far as inexpensive places to stay I can't help you much since I lived there I did not need a hotel however places to visit is different. Sea World is great, Zoo and a must the Wild Animal Park. Near the Zoo in Balboa Park there are wonderful musiums that children will love (however stay out of the park near the canyon after dark, daytime is ok) Not far from there is a great coffie shop called-
Gelato Vero Caffe
3753 India St.
San Diego, CA 92103
###-###-####
with a wonderful view of downtown The kids will love the ice cream and you can have a great pick me up. Up the hill is the Corvette Diner, good food with a 50's atmosphere. Some other nice places are Seaport Village, Old Town, The Boardwalk in Pacific Beach, La Jolla Cove and maybe seeing the sea lions, also in La Jolla is the Hard Rock Cafe and great shops. If you like malls a must see would be Horton Plaza down town, it is 4 stories and on the first level outside is Longs with an old fashion soda fountain. One of my favorites is up yo Julian in the hills, a Norman Rockwell type town know for it's apple pie, great shops including a candy shop and soda fountain. Down the hill you will find a wonderful bakery called Dudley's Bakery ( http://www.dudleysbakery.com/ ) As far as Lego Land I have heard good things but never been there myself. I hope this helps. Good Luck and Have Fun!!!

Yup, Balboa Park and the beaches -- I personally like Pacific Beach best. Imperial Beach is way south, and the area is not as nice. Pacific Beach is just up from Mission Beach. And definitely visit La Jolla cove. Don't know what's cheap, try Travelocity or a similar site. Just don't stay anywhere that's too far east. You want to stay west of the 805, and even better west of 163. (I believe those are the freeway numbers - I lived there for 12 years but it's been a while.)

If you have any money left it would be nice to see the SD Zoo.

I would try the Holiday Inn on the Bay. They have good packages with tickets for many of the attractions like Legoland, Zoo, Sea World, etc. You may also want to try the Mission Valley Travelodge and see what packages they have.

San Diego has a great Children's Museum. Children love the beaches, especially in La Jolla. La Jolla also has the Birch Aquarium.

I consider San Diego my second home and we are there several times a year.
You are not likely to get an affordable hotel downtown. Most of the really upscale/business places are there.
Holiday inn on the bay, as was suggested is good. There are several nice places in Mission valley area (central area of san diego).
From my experience (we have a 3 year old and a 1month old)marriot's, holiday inn, and Double tree hotels are nice, comfortable, and very family friendly.
As for inexpensive things to do please take your kids to Balboa park (play ground,museums, botanical gardens, carousel, train) you can spend a beautiful day there for free or next to free...pick up some sandwhiches and picnic in the rose garden. Another nice place is Seaport village. It is a shopping area near down town with lots of little shops, but it is on the bay and there is lots to do. There is a carousel, usually various musical entertainment, and there is a little park. You can shop, but you can go there and just walk around and take in the sights or have an ice cream and ride the carousel, and my daughter always loves seeing the ducks and watching the kite flyers.
If your baseball fans (we are huge fans!) you can take in a ball game. They have a grass parkk area beyond the outfield, and you can buy bleacher seats really cheap, you get to watch the game, your kids can play in the sand box play area between you and the game!
Don't forget all the beaches! I love going over the bridge and being in coronado. Beautiful beaches, nice (gorgeous!) neighborhoods to walk through, great food, etc. Pacific beach is nice, la jolla cove is nice and best of all a day on the beach is free too!
Visiting the star of India ship and other museum ships are fun too. Inexpensive and if your son is into pirates, he would love being on the two "pirate ships."
There is no shortage of fun things to do in San diego. If you want advice on places to eat, other things to do or on specific hotels or places let me know...happy to help!

My son just turned 4 and we stayed in SD for the first time in February. I would like to recommend a beach house rental on Mission Bay. We stayed there for 4 nights in February and it was awesome!! SD is about a 7-8 hour trip by car for us but it was worth it.
We shared a two bedroom condo with another couple and their 4 yr old daughter which made it affordable. The beach house was right on the beach of Mission Bay, next door to a beautiful resort/restaurant called the Catamaran(of which we had pool privileges). The condo was walking distance to the grocery store. Literally, 5 minutes from Sea World and 20 minutes from the zoo. Legoland is about 45 minutes away. The great thing about the beach house was the fact that you could prepare all the meals there and save on eating out. Also, the kids could go out the front door and play in the fenced yard or right outside the yard and play in the sand. Not to mention the boats & kayak rentals just a few feet from this place. We went to Seaworld and the Zoo. Seaworld is a must..the zoo wasn't a very big hit with either kid. Our friends took their daughter to Legoland on the way down and they said it was really fun. My son had an ear infection so we took it easy on the way down.
I have to say this was the best vacation I have ever had with kids!! Here is the link I used to find the beach house. http://www.infosandiego.com/
We plan to make this an annual trip for our family.

E., $100. wishfull thinking. Your looking at about $150-$200. We went to SD last May and I did my homework. My boys were 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 at that time. The best place to stay with two small one's is a Residance Inn (Marriott). It's like a small Studio with a bedroom, living room and kitchen. The sofa in the living room has a pull out sofa bed and the kitchen has all the necessites (frig, microwave,sink) you'll need. They also have mini cribs at your disposal. We stayed at the Residence Inn Central which is only 10 minutes away from Downtown SD and from La Jolla. We loved it there because they have an inside pool that was heated and both my kids just LOOOOOOved it!!!! Most all Marriots offered breakfast too. Check it out www.marriott.com

In my opinion, I think a four year old it still too young and wouldn't enjoy Disneyland yet. Especially, with an infant. We went to LegoLand and Sea World. All the rides at legoland are espcially made for little ones. Take a look at their websites, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Good Luck....