barbw4

My multi-generational family group of 13 (YIKES! 7 adults and kids ranging in age from 4 to 14) is booked at a hotel in San Diego for 12 nights over the Christmas holidays. I'm looking for suggestions on how to break up the time in San Diego. The group is also open to spending a few of those nights elsewhere to keep things interesting, but we have no idea about the best road trips. Baja? Vegas? Joshua Tree? Something else? Would love some suggestions from those familiar with the area about how to plan the 2 weeks...

dbdurand

The obvious road trip is to Los Angeles, which has something for everyone in your party. See:

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/l...city-guide.htm

Example: It's about an hour and a half drive from San Diego to Disneyland in the LA area, specifically Anaheim.

nanabee

With so many people I would and just 12 nights I would stay in San Diego with maybe a short trip to Disneyland or just a drive up Interstate 5 to Santa Monica.

In San Diego you could spend a day doing each of the following:

1. Day at the La Jolla Shores doing kayaking, snorkeling, or swimming. And or time at La Jolla Cove which is a marine perserve and has a nice reef where you can see fish about 20 feet off shore. Walk around the La Jolla Village area.

2. Day in Coronado - rent bicycles and ride around the island which is flat, safe and beautiful. Ride up to the Hotel Del Coronado and check out the nice historical museum there.

3. Go to Balboa Park there are tons of museums for everyone in your family: Ruben H. Fleet Science Center, Natural History Museum, History Museum of California, SD Art Museums, Photographic Museums, Japanese Gardens, Air & Space Museum, Rose Garden, etc.

4. Also in Balboa Park on the North end is the world famous San Diego Zoo and a wonderful historic but working carousel and little train ride for children (and adults too).

5. In Escondido about 40 min north of SD is the Wild Animal Park (part of the SD Zoo) which has animals in their natural habitats.

6. Downtown San Diego has the USS Midway a naval ship, restored and open to the public. Very fun for kids!

7. Point Loma has the location where Juan Cabrillo landed in 1500 (something ) and laid claim for Spain. There is a beautiful lighthouse and tours. I would also ask about tide pool walks or tours.

8. Old Town has a small historic center where you can learn about SD's early days before the center of the city moved to what is now downtown SD.

9. Visit some of the early California Missions - there is one in San Diego, San Juan Capistrano (in Orange County about 1 1/2 hour drive north), and another one Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside (north of SD about 40 minutes on the coast).

10. Downtown San Diego - there is an historic tour (check with your hotel) of the Gamplight area, take a nice walk along the Embarcadero (along the bay front). There are harbor tours you can take (in fact one goes over to Coronado).

nanabee

As far as Baja you'd have to cross at the border crossing into Tijuana and the traffic is horrific (all the time). I would not bother. If you did want to go into Mexico I would check into crossing at Tecate. It is a very quiet, safe, old Mexico feel, small town and it is very easy to park your car on the US side and a very short walk over the border into the main part of town. There is the famous Tecate Beer Brewery as well. You don't want to drive into Mexico unless you check with your insurance carrier to make sure you are covered. You will need your US passports to return into the US.

ltt

"the obvious to la"...not for me...i'd avoid la as much as i could. you can easily spend 12 great days in san diego. trust you will have 2-3 vehicles so you can all do some different things. if i was going to go spend one or two nights somewhere outside of san diego...i might consider palm springs (joshua tree nat'l park) if it's warm in the desert...i.e. pool weather (which most kids love), take the tram up the mountain. day trips on my list would be driving up the coast to laguna beach for an afternoon, anza borrego desert...take turns "babysitting" and the adults who like gambling could drive out to a casino for an afternoon...other's who like bars/music could go to the gaslamp one night. where are you staying? the area between pacific and mission beach is amusing for most ages for a couple of days...beach, rent bikes, blades, if sunny out...you could rent wet suits and boogie boards...walk along the bay side, lots of restaurants

nanabee

Joshua Tree will be cold in the winter. We went there one year in January. It was pleasant in Palm Springs but in the higher elevation of Joshua Tree it was snowing

WhereAreWe

What kind of things are you guys interested in? You threw out some ideas but didn't say if you like hiking, nature, amusement parks, beaches, etc...

If you're willing to spend a few days elsewhere, the Grand Canyon is always a good trip. Yes it will be cold and it's at least an 8 hour drive, but if you've never been there and don't have plans to come back then why not? It's certainly doable with the amount of time you have for this trip.

Anza-Borrego is a very nice state park. Joshua Tree would be good too. I think the kids would be bored in Palm Springs? And Vegas would be tough to enjoy with kids.

Are you committed to everyone doing the same things or would you split into 2 or 3 groups for some of your activities?

barbw4

There is so much helpful info here already. THANK YOU! I believe we are staying in the Mission Bay area. We have 2 cars to get us wherever we decide to go, and I think we will be fine breaking up for some activities. As to what we like, it's actually a tough question. We are from NY so we absolutely want to take advantage of the landscape wherever we can. We have been to the Grand Canyon or we would definitely have taken that advice. The group loves all things water (but I wasn't sure how warm it will be in SD in December?). The kids complain about hikes of all lengths, but the grown-ups love them so moderate hiking would be okay for us. We considered camping a little but in the end we vetoed that. Educational stuff that doesn't feel educational would be a boon. The kids also love space/astronomy these days. Not sure if that helps...

jamie99

The kids might like to visit Griffith Observatory in LA one day then. Or closer to San Diego is Mount Palomar, have not been yet, we were driving in the area and planned to visit one afternoon but a heavy rain came in so we ditched the idea.

nanabee

For beaches the best spots for families in my opinion are La Jolla Shores. Here is a company that does various water sports and activities and provides wet suits as well

http://www.lajollakayak.com/

La Jolla Cove is a breathtaking spot, it is a marine preserve and the reef is great for kids with just a snorkel. And there are sea lions on the rocks you can observe. There are tide pools with cools sea animals (especially Hermit Crabs)

http://www.lajollabythesea.com/la-jolla-cove

This is a great museum if your kids like dinosaurs
http://www.sdnhm.org/

This is one of my favorite and it's is has tons of airplanes from various wars WWI thru todays current wars and lots of interactive things to do as well.

http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/

http://www.niwa.org/

This is an aircraft carrier that was decomissioned and is now a museum open to the public. It is a lot of fun to go thru the ship and imagine what it's like being on an aircraft carrier.
http://www.midway.org/

nanabee

I wanted to say I'm not advising La Jolla Kayak per se. I've never used them personally but they are one of the ones I see a lot when I'm at La Jolla Shores so it's just a starter. There must be 5 -10 dive, snorkel, kayak shops along the main street in the LJ Shores so you can check around and see what looks best for your group.

Welcome to SD and hope you keep us posted with a trip report after you return home!

nanabee

I wanted to say I'm not advising La Jolla Kayak per se. I've never used them personally but they are one of the ones I see a lot when I'm at La Jolla Shores so it's just a starter. There must be 5 -10 dive, snorkel, kayak shops along the main street in the LJ Shores so you can check around and see what looks best for your group.

Welcome to SD and hope you keep us posted with a trip report after you return home!

mlgb

You might want to use Amtrak to get to Los Angeles for a daytrip downtown and Hollywood.

When the Navy people used to come up to meet with us, they often used the train rather than driving.

San Juan Capistrano is another good day trip, either from San Diego or from Anaheim (and you can use the train for that trip also, although it really isn't that far to drive).

Long Beach is about 90 minutes driving, one way but pick and chose your times and days carefully.

RVvagabond

nanabee suggested California's history Spanish Mission - absolutely - highly recommended.
http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-mission...1missions.html

One of the best is San Juan Capistrano that is only 68 miles north. It was built in 1776 - year of our Declaration of Independence! http://www.missionsjc.com/visit/visit.php

Ocean fishing?
Google: San diego ocean fishing charters

Mexico; TJ - Take the tram to border and WALK across the border. Do not drive - if you foolishly drive, purchase insurance in US - mandatory in Mexico

Negotiate for all purchases except food/drinks. Ditto with taxi that you should take from the border to downtown.
It is an adventure.

English is spoken everywhere there.

Vaga

WhereAreWe

What about Death Valley for a couple days? No idea how tough it would be to get reservations there over the holidays.

If you decide to go to Mount Palomar for the observatory you could visit the state park the same day.

I don't know that I would take 13 people including little kids to Tijuana. It sounds like a mess. If you don't all have passports you'll need to get working on that ASAP.

jamie99

Not sure TJ is a good idea with small children, they might be upset to see the local children begging and it can take ages to get back across the border to the US depending on time of day.

nanabee

I would not recommend TJ with a large group. Nor would I recommend crossing the border at San Ysidro at all. It takes hours sometimes crossing (whether in a car or on foot). It's the busiest border crossing (supposedly) in the world. It just isn't worth the hassle.

I mentioned above if you feel you'd really like to go to Mexico I'd cross at Tecate. It's about an 1 1/2 hour drive or longer drive east from downtown SD and is easy to cross over. Tecate is a lovely little town. But personally I'd skip it.

Momddtravel2

Oh my gosh - please don't go to Tijuana. Not only is it not worth it but it is dangerous. From the U.S. Department of State:

Baja California: Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada and Mexicali are major cities/travel destinations in the state of Baja California - Exercise caution in the northern state of Baja California, particularly at night. Criminal activity along highways and at beaches is a continuing security concern. In 2013, homicide rates in Tijuana and Rosarito increased 48 percent and 67 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Baja State Secretariat for Public Security, and both cities experienced further increases in homicide rates during the first half of 2014. While most of these homicides appeared to be targeted criminal organization assassinations, turf battles between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents, in which innocent bystanders have been injured, have occurred during daylight hours.

Momddtravel2

I did want to add that the train idea would be fun for all - you can do the train up to San Juan and see the Mission - squeezing in a little education it is interesting. http://www.missionsjc.com/

Have a lovely lunch here: http://www.ramoshouse.com/

It is a nice day if you want to get out of San Diego.

I think you could 100% fill 12 days with ease in San Diego!

Barbara

Don't forget about Julian. Up in the mountains, and hour and a half to two hours from San Diego, has a gold mine and many BBQ restaurants and best of all, Julian Pies.