Exploring San Antonio with Kids; is sponsored by Hilton Hill Country, Sea World San Antonio, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the Battle for Texas Museum. All opinions are my own and that of my family.
Guide to Exploring San Antonio with Kids: Summer Edition
We love to travel, we can’t help it. Finding fun new places, discovering a hidden away restaurant or introducing our children to a spot we’ve always loved, makes me so happy. This Summer we packed in a few awesome long weekend trips before we ended Summer with the epic road trip. More on that epic road trip later. For this long weekend we stayed fairly close to home and had a great time exploring San Antonio with kids in tow! San Antonio is only a short 1.5 hour drive from Austin and has so many great things to offer. Filled with Mexican culture, music, food and so many great family friendly activities. We packed in as much as possible in our 3 day and 2 nights in town.
Where to Stay
For this adventure we stayed at the Hilton Hill Country. Located right across the highway from Sea World San Antonio, this amazing hotel was perfect for families. The rooms are nice and spacious, not to mention everything was immaculate. The hotel had a schedule of kid friendly family activities that we really enjoyed taking advantage of. Each day a full schedule of events could be found near the front desk for easy reference. Available all day was oversized games on in the courtyard including Connect Four, Jenga and Chess. In the evenings made to order hot dogs are available in the courtyard and these are no wimpy dogs!
After we enjoyed a hot dog (kids current food of choice), the front desk supplied us with adorable s’mores making kits that John LOVED. Kits complete with giant marshmallows, roasting sticks, graham crackers and chocolate Bars, we set out to find the perfect fire pit for the evenings activities. We made fast friends with another family and while the kids toasted their marshmallows the adults chatted. Soon the outdoor movie started and we lounged on oversized chairs and enjoyed a family movie together. If you can make it through a movie that late you are in the perfect spot to see the night sky lite up from the fireworks in the distance celebrating Sea World San Antonio’s 30th birthday this year. Since the hotel is right across the road from Sea World they offer a shuttle to their guests to the park. Yay, for not having to fight the parking lot!
Where to Eat
When we travel we to avoid the same chain restaurants that we eat at home. Although I’ll admit that sometimes you just need a Chick-fil-A sandwich. For this trip we decided to just park the car and walk around until we found something that caught our eye. We stumbled upon La Panaderia and we had to try it. La Panaderia was started by two brothers and specializes in making handmade bread and pan dulce inspired by Mexico’s Golden Era. We struggled to decide what to order, because honestly as soon as you walk in the door you are mesmerized by the aroma of of fresh baked bread and your brain shuts down and allows your stomach to make all decisions. We decided on two of the tortas, both of which were delicious and of course finished the meal with made to order coffee and a mouth watering Tequila Almond Croissant. Seriously I did not want to share this with anyone.
What to Do
When you are exploring San Antonio with kids, its key to find things that the entire family will enjoy. We mixed it up with a variety of amusement parks and cultural experiences. One of our favorite places to visit when in town is Sea World San Antonio. While they offer education opportunities, shows, rides and hands on experiences. We are typically found spending hours eating ice cream and cooling off in the Bay of Play and climbing the amazing ropes course. This visit we did catch an Elmo music performance and snuck in a kid friendly roller coaster. Something to keep in mind and that I learned this visit, you much have shoes and shorts on in order to ride the rides. I was saving my shorts and didn’t want them wet, well you can’t ride in just your swimsuit, lesson learned.
John was been asking us for months when he was going to be tall enough for water slides and roller coasters. Well he hit 42.5 inches at his 4 year old check up in May. I did some research and found that Six Flags Fiesta Texas had several rides that he would be able to enjoy. It was a hot day when we visited so the trick is the hit up a water ride, Bug’s White Water Rapids, first thing and then you are cool for a bit while you walk around and decide what you want to ride on next. We snacked on some yummy ice cream but it was so hot that we weren’t able to eat it fast enough before it started melting. I was talked into various kid land rides all of which he loved. We rode the Carousel (3 times in a row), Kiddie Koaster, Krazy Kars, Up Up and Away along with a few others!
San Antonio Zoo is everything you want to experience in a zoo. They have a train which is always a winner with my crowd. Not to mention a carousel, which you know we love. Feed the giraffes, or have breakfast along side the hippos. Visit all of the animals and then cool off in the Nature Spot, if you have littles make sure you pack a swim diaper.
When you are done with the thrill rides head to downtown San Antonio and stroll along the Riverwalk. Lined with amazing restaurants, fun shops and a fun mix of Mexican Culture. Take a relaxing boat tour along the river and learn about the history and architecture of the beautiful buildings that make up the downtown sky line and line the river.
A few blocks from the Riverwalk you will find the Alamo, an important part of the Texas history and heritage. I’m pretty sure every Texas kids has visited the Alamo before they are fully understand what happened there and what the results of that battle were. I’m so glad that I snapped these fun pictures of my kids at such a young age, it will be fun to see the progression of photos with out many years of Alamo pictures to come in the future.
Wanting to dive even deeper into the history of Texas? The Battle for Texas: The Experience is located just 1 block from the Alamo and while you enjoy the air conditioning you can walk through a bit of Texas history. We attended the night at the museum tour after hours and loved it. Walked through the museum with the night gaurd and learn as the museum comes to life right before your eyes.
Check out all the candid shots of our guide to exploring San Antonio with kids on our IG stories!
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