TravelDestination Guide
Go beyond the beach in California’s second largest city with model trains, ghost tours, paragliding, and more.
ByBeth Demmon
Published February 26, 2024
With an average of 266 sunny days every year, 17 miles of world-class beaches, and adventures on tap year-round, San Diego is an ideal place for families to explore. Here are our top multi-generational picks in California’s second largest city.
Splash around at the San Diego Zoo
The world-famous San Diego Zoo completely revamped its Children’s Zoo into the Wildlife Explorers Basecamp in 2022. It now features a treehouse-style activity area, kid-sized animal burrows, and a sprawling splash pad. Plenty of bathrooms and changing areas make it convenient to get wet, dry off, and keep exploring. Don’t miss the Guianan squirrel monkeys swinging and swaying next to the Tree of Dreams, or the adorable axolotls in the Cool Critters building across the bridge.
Watch sensory-friendly IMAX films
Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park provides a hands-on approach to all things STEM, presenting rotating exhibits that explore themes like light, electricity, and the universe. In Studio X, a maker space, kids can design and construct projects like a wind-powered car, marble maze, or perhaps a lunar lander. “Every time you come in, it’s a different experience,” says museum marketing manager Karla Nafarrate.
On Accessibility Mornings every third Saturday of the month, families with sensory sensitivities can enter the museum an hour earlier and attend an IMAX showing with lower sound volume and brighter ambient lighting.
Soak up Chicano culture in Barrio Logan
Chicano Park in Barrio Logan, a Mexican-American neighborhood next to downtown San Diego and 14 miles from the Mexico-U.S. border, is a vibrant monument to living history. Located under the Coronado Bridge, it holds a kaleidoscopic collection of outdoor murals, each depicting Mexican and Chicano icons like revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Kids can work off some extra energy at the park’s large playground with lots of slides and climbing structures. Nearby on Logan Avenue, older kids might like browsing streetwear and accessories from designer Claudia Rodríguez-Biezunski at Sew Loka. Then tuck into a taco at ¡SALUD! or Fish Guts (or both).
Find the rainbow at Hillcrest Farmers Market
Jugglers, banjo players, face painters, dogs wearing cute outfits—the characters at the Hillcrest Farmers Market every Sunday may change week to week, but they always provide a colorful scene appropriate for all ages along Normal Street. Start at the giant Pride flag on the south end of the market and work your way north, stopping at some of the 175-plus vendors for local honey, custom T-shirts, flaky croissants, iced Vietnamese coffees, and countless friendly faces.
On the third Sunday in April, May, and June, the market stays open until 6 p.m. with art, music, and food stalls. “It’s not just a farmers market—there are plenty of those,” says Benjamin Nicholls, Hillcrest Business Association executive director. “It’s also a gathering space for the diversity across San Diego.”
Snorkel with sharks at La Jolla Shores
Confident swimmers can grab masks and flippers to head into the shallow waters off La Jolla Shores to observe stingrays, leopard sharks, and other marine animals. (Look, but don’t touch!) For littles not yet water safe, a beachside playground is a short distance from a convenient parking lot and bathrooms, with plenty of equipment to swing from, climb on, and dig into.
Board an aircraft carrier
Head to the bayfront to visit the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier docked in San Diego Bay since 2004. The self-guided tour allows visitors to explore the entire ship at their own pace, from the tight quarters below deck to the collection of aircraft parked in the hangar. Be sure to wear good walking shoes—the full tour takes two to four hours.
Track model trains at a railroad museum
Each of the intricate models on permanent exhibition at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum was painstakingly created and is maintained by a different local model train club. “Some of them are models of Southern California—real places—and some of them are fun, made-up fantasy lands,” says Patty McEvoy, the museum’s marketing and community engagement coordinator.
She’s hard-pressed to pick a favorite but says the engineering to recreate California’s famous Tehachapi Pass, in Kern County, is as impressive as the original. She recommends the Toy Train gallery, managed by the San Diego 3-Railers Club, which updates the model’s decorations for every holiday. Kids under 12 get in free, making this a budget-friendly option for families with young children and budding engineers.
Sail through the air at Torrey Pines Gliderport
Adventure-seeking families can jump off a cliff and ride the wind over the beach with Torrey Pines Gliderport. Get an adrenaline rush on a tandem ride with a trained professional, or take a lesson to learn the art of solo paragliding over glittering sandstone cliffs and crashing Pacific Ocean waves. The Gliderport is open seven days a week, weather permitting, and it accommodates various ages and experience levels.
Go ghostbusting in Old Town
Europeans settled in Old Town San Diego in 1769, but the Kumeyaay people lived in the area thousands of years before that. The area, still steeped in Indigenous and early European-American history, is home to the Junipero Serra Museum’s collection of artifacts exploring the region’s origins, a 19th-century schoolhouse, and the Whaley House, which bills itself as the most haunted house in the United States. Numerous reports detail mysterious cries in the night, ghostly footsteps down the halls, and unexplainable figures seen through windows. The 1850s redbrick residence hosts tours year-round, but is recommended for ages 13 and up.
Play in a former naval station
Once a naval hub, the 100-year-old Liberty Station commercial district is where you can now find a 1950s-themed diner with an attached arcade; 48 acres of grassy, waterfront park space; and artisan goods at Sea Hive Station. After touring an artist’s studio in the Arts District, stroll through Liberty Public Market to grab a bite from one of the 39 vendors serving dishes from the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, France, and beyond.
(For more tips on what to do in San Diego, see our Explorer’s Guide.)
Beth Demmon is a San Diego-based freelance writer and podcast host whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, Food & Wine, Saveur, and San Diego Magazine, among others.
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