There are few cities on the west coast more perfect for a family vacation than San Diego . It is well known for its sunny and pleasant weather year round and is full of places to entertain children of all ages whether they’re 5 or 25. There are museums, amusement parks and enough aquariums and zoological parks in the city and surrounding areas to satisfy everyone’s desire to see their favorite animal whether it live on land or in sea. You may want to book yourself at a five star hotel. San Diego has several hotels in the vicinity of Balboa park where most of your first trip is likely to be spent.

The San Diego Zoo is technically two parks in San Diego. Their more traditional zoo is located in Balboa Park. Also located in Balboa Park are the San Diego Natural History Museum, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego Automotive Museum, San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego Hall of Champions , and the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. You’d have to dedicate full days to each of the parks if you had your heart set on both. The Wild Animal Park has a variety of special offers; provided your children are over 6 years old there is the Family Caravan Tours where safari guides take you in a safari truck into the field exhibits and let you feed a giraffe.

If your child it a budding marine biologist or just really likes the ocean you can take them to the La Jolla’s Birch Aquarium, where they learn about products made from things in the sea, explore a marine laboratory, and watch sea horses and leafy dragons floating in the water. If your child is old enough to remember the movie Free Willy they might find the San Diego Seaworld an interesting trip as part of the movie was filmed there. If not they’ll still enjoy the shows and seeing the many marine animals exhibited.

Tired of the animals? Would you rather play with one of the worlds most popular toys? Just outside San Diego is Legoland. This park has a variety of activities and areas from the Explore Village with boat ride and water play area to the U.S. landmarks built out of Legos at Miniland. There is even an area for kids to build and test designs. Plan to spend the whole day here because even if the kids finally get bored, not likely, you or your spouse might not. Even the aquarium next door has some Lego involved exhibits with their sharks prowling around Lego submarines.

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