San Diego without SeaWorld or Legoland
When you hear the name San Diego, do you immediately think about SeaWorld and Legoland? That was me, and that’s why I was hesitated to visit the city.
Don’t get me wrong—there is absolutely nothing wrong with SeaWorld or Legoland—we look forward to visiting them one day. But at this moment, Neither of us is interested in such theme parks and we don’t want to visit somewhere just because other families do so. Traveling should be a personal experience, and you should always tailor it according to your families’ interests, not your social media feed.
So if you are like us, here are some of the places I would recommend you visit in and around San Diego.
First of all, San Diego is not a super spread out city like LA, we were able to get by without renting a car during the President’s Day weekend. It was super convenient to Uber around and the wait time was usually less than 5 minutes. We had our inflatable booster seat with us but it seemed to me that every Uber driver we had in San Diego had a booster seat ready in their trunk in case we didn’t have ours. Also, if you want a link to our inflatable booster seat, it’s in my Amazon storefront under “Airplane Carry-on”, which can be found on my Instagram.
We really enjoyed staying in La Jolla, the beach front hotel (La Jolla Shores Hotel) had the prime location right in front of the beach—we took long walks as a family every morning and night while we stayed there. It is a much quieter and calmer part of town, and you can’t beat the view of those dramatic cliffs by the Pacific Ocean. Not far away from our hotel, you can go to one of the most magical places in California—La Jolla Cove, where sea lions sunbath and play next to swimmers all year long.
If you prefer parks and museums over theme parks like us, you absolutely have to check out Balboa Park. This urban oasis is full of museums, exotic gardens, and theaters—I spoke to a local while spending time at the park, she said she’s lived in San Diego for over a year and had visited the park a dozen times but still hadn’t seen it all.
Last but not least, I highly recommend you visit Coronado Island. The city is situated across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego and is connected to the mainland by the iconic Coronado Bridge, as well as by ferry and a narrow strip of land called the Silver Strand. Having said that, on one side of the island, you can catch the breathtaking view of downtown San Diego, while on the other side of the island, you will find the famous Hotel del Coronado—where Charlie Chaplin, Katherine Hepburn, and Prince Edward had frequented in the 1920s. The hotel is pretty pricy to stay for the night, but you can come by for lunch and enjoy the sandy beach without being a guest. If that’s still not convincing, the newest Top Gun movie was shot on the island, you can visit the bar Jennifer Connelly’s character owned and the beach where the football match took place.
As I said in my Instagram reel, San Diego is not just a destination, but a lifestyle. No matter how old you are and what type of vacation activities you prefer, San Diego has you covered.
