Southern California Itinerary, 2 weeks

[Anonymous]

Two boys, 6 and 8 years old. We will be there for 2 weeks based in La Jolla this summer.

Give me the best sightseeing to do with these ages. My 6 year old is probably 47 inches so just under the cut off for a lot of the rides in Universal, is it worth skipping for now?

Is Disneyland insane to try for 1 day in August? Favorite good neighborhood hotels?

[Anonymous]

How about Legoland?

[Anonymous]

I would see a lot more of California in two weeks! Why so long in one spot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would see a lot more of California in two weeks! Why so long in one spot?

Free place to stay

So far I have Padres game, Legoland and SD Zoo. Other ideas? We have never been to Catalina Island and we could possibly take a few day trips as well an hour or two away.

[Anonymous]

Sea world. They have emperor penguins.

[Anonymous]

Wild Animal Park

Old Town and eat at the Tortilla Factory

If you can spend the night do 2 days at Disneyland

the beach / cove that has the seals and sea lions

Legoland for sure with those ages

Del Mar Fair if you’re there in July

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sea world. They have emperor penguins.

We don’t take our kids to SeaWorlds or the circus.

[Anonymous]

We have family in the area and have been going for the past 10 years. We mostly just hang at the beach, TBH. It's just that nice and the kids are just that happy there. We stay a five minute walk from the ocean, which makes it easy. We have ventured away from home a few times . . .

Torrey Pines! Amazing views and not far from La Jolla. We've only hiked up top, with great views, but there's more to do there.

Surfing. The water is warm in August. If your kids are good swimmers, sign your kids up for an intro to surfing class. I'm not sure what's available in La Jolla, but it's a good reason to go up the coast a bit. Try Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, which is crawling with kids in the summer and has good bathroom facilities. Your younger one may be a bit young, but a private lesson should be good.

USS Midway. I took my 5 and 10 year olds last August and we must've spent 2-3 hours there. It's a great option on a cool, but not terribly rainy, day as you'll want to spend time on the upper deck. It was awesome learning from navy veterans and exploring the many levels inside.

Legrand. Your kids are still Legoland ages, which has already beens suggested. With a little effort, you should be able to find buy one get one tickets, which makes Legoland a bargain compared to Disney. And it's a much easier drive from La Jolla. We went for the second time last August and it was a blast. It was a warm day, so we included the water park - we saved it for the end, which was probably the right call. It wasn't terribly crowded. A handful of rollercoasters had long lines. If your kids are into more kiddie rides, you may not encounter long waits. No it's not Disney - but it's much less expensive and you won't feel like you have to stay for 10 hours.

Old Town San Diego farmer's market. I think it's Saturday mornings. Definitely worth a stroll. And if you have kitchen facilities, a great place to stock up on local produce and the like.

[Anonymous]

If they are in to Disney I'd spring for a night in a hotel in Anaheim and drive up, do one of the parks, then do the second one and drive back that evening. We've done Disney twice in August and it's great (hot but depending on your exact dates pretty manageable). What are your dates?

In SD, both the zoo and the Safari Park and worth visiting. Look in to the annual pass - do the math for your family but one annual pass comes with coupons for other admission, so it may be cheaper for your (also gets you free parking at the Safari Park).

[Anonymous]

SoCal resident here.

1) Book a trip to Catalina Island. It's a short trip, lots of activities to do on the island like zip lining, island tour, snorkeling. Book the trip ahead of time as seats fill up quickly. You would depart from Dana Point or Newport Beach

2) Disney in August will be hot BUT you can't not go with your boys being the age they are. Just start out early, get there when it opens. It's probably 1.5hrs drive from La Jolla without traffic. It's an easy drive though. You take one freeway up and back, I-5. You don't need to do an overnight!

3) Zoo and Safari Park for sure

4) Tide Pools in Laguna Beach. Then lunch, walk around town. Laguna is an hour away.

[Anonymous]

Torey Pines, Legoland, Safari/Wild Animal Park, zoo, Balboa Park in general (fountains, rose garden, museums, Spanish Village, in addition to the zoo), Coronado, La Jolla Shores, Point Loma tidepools and light house (Cabrillo National Monument).

[Anonymous]

Do an overnight at Disneyland. We've done it in August many times and your kids are exactly the right age. You've already flown to California and you have two weeks. Disneyland is much more manageable than Disneyworld.

Go there the night before and you can do it all in one day, but the key is to get there very early- line up 45 minutes before it opens so you can get in right away. That will be tough to do from LaJolla.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SoCal resident here.

1) Book a trip to Catalina Island. It's a short trip, lots of activities to do on the island like zip lining, island tour, snorkeling. Book the trip ahead of time as seats fill up quickly. You would depart from Dana Point or Newport Beach

2) Disney in August will be hot BUT you can't not go with your boys being the age they are. Just start out early, get there when it opens. It's probably 1.5hrs drive from La Jolla without traffic. It's an easy drive though. You take one freeway up and back, I-5. You don't need to do an overnight!

3) Zoo and Safari Park for sure

4) Tide Pools in Laguna Beach. Then lunch, walk around town. Laguna is an hour away.

Second Laguna Beach. Go to Victoria Beach, my kids splashed in tidepool there for hours. https://www.visitlagunabeach.com/things-to-do/beaches/victoria-beach/

[Anonymous]

I'm from SD and spent a few weeks in LJ every summer with my kids for 10+ years.

There are good tide pools just north of the Scripps Pier at La Jolla Shores beach. You can learn about them at the Birch Aquarium, which is a nice way to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon with the kids.

You can definitely do Disneyland in a day. Do it one of the first days you're there before everyone has adjusted to the time change. Leave around 6:30am, it's an 1 1/2 hour drive.

Personally I don't think a trip to Catalina is worth it with younger kids.

My kids liked the sea cave kayak tour https://bikeandkayaktours.com/kayak-tours/la-jolla-kayak-tour-caves/?gad_source=1

[Anonymous]

That's a long time in one spot. Yeah, it's a free place to stay but California has so much to offer; you could see a lot in two weeks if you open your wallet...

Also, I'm going to assume you're staying with friends or family. Yikes. Two weeks? You know what they say about houseguests and fish...they start to stink after 3 days.