Top 10 Kid Friendly Things To Do and Attractions in Rancho San Diego

"For a complete change of scenery, Balboa Park is an unusual park right in the city center. It was actually built for one of those old-timey expositions but the city loved it so much they made it permanent. In addition to the museums, there’s also a Botanical Garden and several beautiful gardens, like this moorish styled one below."

"Day 1: Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, Downtown & The Gaslamp District [Skip to Page] Day 2: Old Town, The Midway & Coronado [Skip to Page]"

"With 17 museums at Balboa Park, it’s easy to miss this fun spot for children in the heart of San Diego’s downtown Gaslamp Quarter. Some areas of The New Children’s Museum are age-specific, like Sketch Aquarium for ages 2+ and Reconnecting to Home for ages 6+. Meanwhile, other spaces engage children across age groups."

"This museum is concerned with developing children’s creativity and imagination. It originally opened in 1983, and it has been one of the favorite places of the youngest visitors in San Diego ever since. The vision of this museum is to engage children in developing numerous skills through contemporary art."

"Mission HillsIt’s a bold move, opening a new business in the midst of a pandemic, but Trust Restaurant Group and their Executive Pastry Chef Jeremy Harville did just that, launching Mr. Trustee, an ice creamery with a street-side, walk up window adjacent to Cardellino in Mission Hills. Mr. Trustee offers rotating, seasonal flavors of soft serve and handcrafted ice cream available in cups or house-made waffle cones, and by the pint. Scoops include Cookies and Cream, Malted Chocolate Brownie, Honey-Vanilla, Berry Sorbet, and more, with soft serve options in Captain Crunch, Malted Milk, and the like."

"The Trust Group’s venture into ice cream is this walkup window found next to Cardellino in Mission Hills. Lead by Executive Pastry Chef Jeremy Harville, the shop serves chef-centric flavors like malted chocolate brownie, kiwi cucumber sorbet with Tajin and Captain Crunch or malted milk soft serve."

"With both a playground and splash pad (for free!) your littles will have a blast. Also, there are plenty of hiking trails, a beautiful view and a gazebo to host a picnic. A great find if you're looking for something new!"

"The Milk Bar offers you a long list of flavored milks that can be blended into milkshakes. Cinnamon Toast Crunch, cookies and cream, Fruit Loops, and chocolate peanut butter are just a few of the many flavored milk choices. The menu also consists of gourmet cookies and milk stouts."

"It’s summer in San Diego, and so naturally our thoughts turn to cold, creamy refreshments, big scoops piled into freshly baked waffle cones, swirls of soft serve topped with sprinkles and crumbled cookies, thick shakes and malts, and tangy, refreshing sherbets and sorbets. Best of all, there’s no advance planning required, just hop in the car, on the trolley, or, if you’re really lucky, walk down the block to your favorite neighborhood place. In fact, the most difficult part is deciding which of San Diego's amazing ice creameries to visit."

"Stella Jean’s Ice Cream is a small batch shop that makes it their priority to use quality ingredients to create the best ice cream possible. Permanent flavors (or as Stella Jean's likes to call them Always Flavors) range from S’mores to Double Chocolate and Pistachio Matcha. Plus, they offer limited edition or for now flavors like guava cream cheese and banana coffee cake."

"This University Heights’ ice creamery is offering pints of ice cream for pickup or delivery. Customers are limited one party at a time in the shop. Curbside delivery is also available."

"– Home of the original Grass Fed Burger, this is my favorite spot to grab a burger in La Jolla. Limited seating, but a great casual atmosphere in the heart of the Village."

"Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Burger Lounge (@burgerlounge)"

"Your local San Diego Subway® Restaurant, located at 2015 Garnet Ave brings delicious ingredients and mouth-watering flavors in billions of sandwich, salad and wrap combinations to you. An alternative to traditional fast food, we offer freshly cut veggies, toppings, protein and freshly-baked bread..."

"Visit the rumored 'most haunted house in America' located in Old Town San Diego and take a tour of the beautiful home. Explore the two-story Greek Revival-style mansion and see rooms that once served as a general store, San Diego's first commercial theater, a courthouse, and more. A tour of the Whaley House is a tour of San Diego's history."

"The Whaley House is a museum and California Historical Landmark, situated in the Old Town, San Diego, California. It is administered by the Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO). The Whaley House was the home of Thomas Whaley and his family."

"San Diego’s first two-storey brick-built building, the Old Town’s Whaley House dates to 1857. What kindles fascination about the building is its spooky goings-on. This National Historic Landmark was designated “haunted” by the U.S."

"Throughout the year’s many historical figures have visited the William Heath Davis House. As visitors tour the house, they will see each room is dedicated to a different period in the house’s history, and most of it was restored to its 1850’s glory. Rumor also has it that this house hosts its own ghostly visitors as well."

"The William Heath Davis House, also known as the David Horton House and Gaslamp museum in San Diego, is an antique building situated in the Gaslamp Quarter. The museum offers house tours to preserve the heritage. It is the oldest wooden structure in San Diego and is known as the most haunted house in Gaslamp."