bakerstreet

For a two-family trip with tweens/teens, please help me prioritize San Antonio activities. What from the list was a favorite of your children and/or would you strongly advise us to make time for? What can be skipped?
Definitely on our list are the Alamo, IMAX movie of the Alamo first, boat ride on the Riverwalk, Segway tour, meal at Boudro's, rodeo and probably Natural Bridge Cavern (unless that's a mistake -- tell me if you think it is!). We're staying at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and driving to the Riverwalk on two of three days we'll be there. Sea World and Fiesta Texas will be closed. Any advice will be appreciated.

Mariachi Mass at San Jose Mission
Guiness World Records Museum, Ripley's and Tomb Rider 3D
La Villita
Market Square - El Mercado
Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
San Antonio Botanical Garden
San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium
Guenther House
Tower of the Americas
Ultimate Mirror Maze Challenge

dfr4848

I would take

Natural Bridge Cavern (a definite do)
Botanical Garden
The Zoo and Acquarium

and put those at the top of your itemized list, then continue with the remainder.

Keep the things in your first paragraph as first priority.

Dukey

in all seriousness, a visit to any Taco Cabana

OO

We live just down the road from the caverns. We didn't go the first year we lived here, thinking it probably was not much, but they are fabulous and now we take all our guests! I'd put that quite high on the list, and Guinness/Ripley's etc would be on the bottom. I am sorry they are there, across the street from the Alamo. Icky eyesore, IMHO!!

We had friends here from England a couple of years ago and they felt the Caverns were the highlight of the places they saw on the trip.

Guenther House is just lunch or breakfast, but when you are downtown, I'd be sure to eat there once.

I've yet to get to the Mariachi Mass, but from all I hear, it's quite good and it's on my list of "to do's" as well.

La Villita and El Mercado...just a collection of shops, most with so so merchandise, but they could be quick walkthroughs IF you have time after the boat and Segway, both of which are must do's.

I have yet to do Tower of Americas and don't have much interest in it. Have done the Reunion spinner in Dallas and if you've seen one flat terrained area that way, you've seen 'em all, IMHO.

If you only have 2 days free plus another for the Caverns, I'd skip Botanical Gardens and zoo in favor of the Riverwalk and missions.

MorganRey

Don't miss Market Square - El Mercado and the "little village". Plan to spend some time there and spend some money. You will enjoy browsing around.

rkkwan

Definitely visit at least a mission, beside Alamo.

The Natural Bridge Cavern is not bad, unless you're already plenty of these limestone caverns before.

volcanogirl

We liked the caverns, and the wildlife safari ranch was a hoot. They gave us food pellets, and the animals descended on our car to get them - a zebra stuck his head in our car and wouldn't leave, and it was drooling all over the place - we got a kick out of it, but be careful - LOL! We've stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country, and it's a a great property - they have a lazy river that you can tube on and a nice spa as well. Boudro's is our favorite spot for dining on the river; definitely recommend the tableside guacamole - so good.

FlaAnn

I'd definitely recommend the Institute of Texan Cultures for your kids, although it was pretty interesting for me, too. Their theater in the round shows how all the different cultures settled the state and the exhibits are very good--I liked the one about the Buffalo Soldiers. I'm with OO on the tourist rip-off places you can see anywhere.
I think El Mercado is fun for kids, esp. if they get to take home a sombrero. After you leave the mass at San Jose, why not drive the rest of the Mission Trail? Doesn't take long and each is different.
Since you're already going to be nearby, I'd also suggest going tubing/rafting on the Comal (New Braunfels) or Guadalupe (Gruene) rivers. You didn't say when you're going, but since Fiesta Texas will be closed, I'm guessing soon? You can always take a boat float if you'll be there in cooler weather (although it's still pretty warm right now) and the springfed rivers are gorgeous. Gruene, of course, has the oldest dancehall in Texas with free c/w music on weekend afternoons, and good burgers at the Gristmill Restaurant just behind it. Old-timey Texas town with good shops, and if you happen to be there on one of the Market Days, don't miss it! But do check the tubing outfitters as opposed to the Schlitterbahn for authentic Texas summertime fun.
All the other things sound good; the caverns are terrific, the Alamo is always a moving experience, and the Riverwalk will eat up all your time before you know it. Get the guacamole at Boudro's, have breakfast at the Guenther House (and take home Pioneer Flour souvenirs!), have dinner at Los Barrios (a NOT on the Riverwalk, family-run, family-feeling, busy and happy authentic Mexican restaurant touted by Emeril), take the river boat tour, try to see anything that's happening on the La Villita stage, and you'll have a memorable, flavorful San Antonio vacation.

dgassa

How come the Alamo isn't on the list?

321go

The Alamo is on the OP's list: "Definitely on our list are the Alamo...."

If there's any interest in history, the missions around San Antonio are beautiful and interesting. http://www.nps.gov/saan/

ChristieP

Depending on the time of year you visit, it may be difficult to find a rodeo. It's not a winter sport, and since Sea World will be closed, I'm guessing you'll be there in the winter. You might get lucky and hit the Stock Show in February: http://www.sarodeo.com/

Unless your kids are Catholic, I'd skip the mariachi mass. But if they are Catholic, then definitely do it!

kennythecook

We like the Guenther House for one meal and we usually go to the tower; it gives you a real feel for the layout of the city and the food is good and not too expensive. If you like Guiness and Ripleys in other tourist towns you'll like these also, otherwise don't go. La Villita and El Mercado are ok if you don't have anything else to do but don't build a day around them. Natural Bridge Cavern is an interesting place, do go.

escargot

We loved the Mariachi Mass - but we always go to a service wherever we are traveling that we would not otherwise see - it was warm, welcoming, vibrant and we had a real sense of community - the announcements and celebrations - we really enjoyed it - we are not Catholic - we always attend a service at a church other than our own when traveling first, and if time add ours on.

The boat ride on the Riverwalk was ok - my kids were not overwhelmed on that one, walking along the Riverwalk was just as much fun for them - you can check it out with your teens when you get there, we made ours wait in line and in retrospect, if we'd missed it it wouldn't have been the end of the world, if it means you get to fit in something else.

Definitely the caverns and

You'll have a wonderful vacation -

bakerstreet

Thanks to the great posters for all of your good advice. We are back from the San Antonio trip and had a wonderful time. We ran out of time to do everything I wanted to do once my travel companions' desires for golf and spa days were factored in, so I need to go back!

Wanted to contribute a few thoughts from our experience: Boudro's is definitely worth a visit; advance reservations helped us get tables along the water, and the prickly pear margaritas and tableside guacamole were as good as everyone says; the purple color in the margaritas is from the purple bloom of the cactus; the rodeo (San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo) was amusing and the spectators all seem to wear cowboy hats, lots of sparkly bling, or both, and if you're leaving the Hyatt Hill Country Resort headed for the airport and want to stop for a good Mexican food lunch, the restaurant "La Figata" is a great choice.

Also: the Segway ride is much fun, especially for teens, and if you want to see a lot of the Riverwalk, spend $10 on a 24-hour boat taxi pass and travel the full length as much as you want, instead of sticking to the tour guide boats that cram people in and travel only a portion of the Riverwalk -- or else do both. We had the taxis to ourselves each time.

I'll be back!

dfr4848

Glad you had a good time, and always appreciate feed back.

dmlove

bakerstreet, how many days did you have, and what activities/sights did you see/do? (we'll have 3 days in early March, and have never been before - adults only).

volcanogirl

baker, I'm glad you had fun. Now you have me craving Boudro's! They have a website that lists some of their recipes if you want to recreate them at home.

zelphiacat

I know you've come and gone, baker, but I'd go to the Riverwalk, Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Market Square and McNay Art Museum (not on your list)

The Alamo was a big disappointment to me.

bakerstreet

dmlove, here's what we did:

Alamo (a must due to the historical significance, but don't have high expectations for thrilling sights)

Riverwalk -- lunch at Boudro's, water taxis all up and down, dinner at Biga on the Bank (good, pricey, overlooks a secluded part of the Riverwalk, not in the middle of all the action so don't go there if you want to be in the "mix")

Segway tour through Segcity, across from the Alamo. Lasted about 2 1/2 hours, easier to do than I expected, kids LOVED it, got to go along parts of the Riverwalk that were more like neighborhoods, including going up into the neighborhood, good tour guide. Covered about 7 miles, I think.

Buckhorn Saloon and museums -- went through both museums, ate lunch. Did this due to rainy day as I was outvoted on the Natural Bridge Cavern -- that would have been preferable, but the kids in our group had been cave camping and to caves on school field trips and felt that "you've seen one cave you've seen them all."
Buckhorn food is not good and takes too long -- if you go, put in your food order and THEN tour the museums; one museum nothing but stuffed large and small animals and animal heads...mildly interesting but if the weather had been better we would have spent our time better elsewhere. The other museum has some old "Wild West" stuff like the swinging saloon doors you can walk through and a real covered wagon, and a sheriff's office with prison cage, and information about Texas Rangers.

San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo -- a hoot, both people watching and rodeo watching. Our favorite was the bareback bronco riding and bull riding.

El Mercado -- got a few fun souvenirs like Christmas tree ornaments, admired the pottery and other items, prices actually seemed pretty good.

Enjoyed the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Spa. The men/boy golfed two days, the women/girls enjoyed spa activities, and all enjoyed the heated pool, with the kids braving the unheated lazy river (though the hotel claims it is heated, you can't tell) for a brief period. Because of the spa and golf we had to skip the Mariachi Mass at San Jose and the zoo but I wish we could have done them all.

We were there for three nights and I could easily have stayed for another, were it not for school and work!

Good luck on your trip.

Thanks again to all posters for your helpful comments. These boards have saved me a lot of time and have contributed greatly to my travels.

moldyhotelsaregross

I see lots of good info on this thread so I'm saving it for myself. Soon time for my yearly pilgrimage to San Antonio.