Not miss things to do in San Diego

[bethben]

We are visiting the in-laws in June.  They live north of San Diego in Carlsbad.  We have the Lego Land thing and possibly Sea World, but are there other ideas?  We have a child in a wheelchair so crowds are doable, but if I can avoid them, I do.   This will be our second "real" vacation with the kids in 17 years.  We usually just go to Grandma's house which is not always considered a vacation.

 

Thanks!

Edited March 29, 2016 by bethben

[Beaniemom]

Balboa park. It has beautiful gardens, interesting museums, an artists village, and the zoo. The artist village will be difficult with a wheelchair due tight spaces and the zoo is hilly but otherwise very wheelchair accessible.

[MercyA]

You might look into visiting San Diego Zoo Safari Park. We enjoyed it! I would skip Sea World due to their record of cruelty to animals.

 

San Diego is beautiful! I hope you have a wonderful trip.  :)

[Beebug123]

Old Town San Diego. My girls enjoyed going to Lee Carillo Ranch which is in Carlsbad. Also, Belmont Park in Mission Beach is fun and if you can transfer your wheelchair child they give out water wheelchairs just next to the lifeguard tower. Then they are easier to push in the sand with the large wheels and you can roll them into the ocean.

[mommymonster]

Highly recommend the museums in Balboa Park! If you have a membership to your local science and technology museum. If you do, check to see if there is reciprocal admission. We were able to get into the science museum and the natural history museum for free that way. 

 

 

[J-rap]

Just returned from a month in San Diego.  Balboa Park is beautiful.  The main strip where the museums are is gorgeous, with museums, gardens, picnic areas, and cafes.  The museums aren't cheap, but I think you can get a day pass that includes a certain number of them.

 

Walking along the waterfront is very fun.  The sidewalk is concrete and smooth and goes along the harbor.  You can view old ships and new fancy yachts.  There are tours of the older ships and the U.S.S. Midway, but those might be tricky with a wheelchair.  Still, just walking along the waterfront is fun, and you could end up at Seaport Village which has many little restaurants and shops. (And beyond that, a park.)

 

You can take a train/trolley from the beautiful old San Diego train station to Old Town (just 10 minutes away, so very doable by car, but fun by train).  Once in Old Town, paths are very smooth and walkable.

 

You can take a ferry to Coronado Island.  (You can drive there too, but the ferry adventure is fun.)  I'm quite sure it is handicapped accessible.  Once on the Island, I'd recommend you go across the town to the Coronado Hotel (The Del) area.  The beach there is white sand and stunning.  You can lie on the beach, go in the water, or build sand castles.  The hotel is a beautiful, big, old landmark hotel.  You could have lunch there, or just coffee.  To get to the hotel, if you came via ferry and don't have a car, you could take an Uber or Lyft from the ferry area.  You can request a larger car (van) that could hold a wheelchair.

 

My husband is disabled and we were able to do all of that.  He's not in a wheelchair, but still needs most things to be handicapped accessible.

 

Have fun!  I love San Diego.

 

 

 

 

[MistyMountain]

One of my favorite hikes in San Diego was Torrey Pines State park. It has trails with a beautiful beach view and you can walk along the beach with really old cliffs. It may not work though because parking was crowded and the beach walk is probably not doable with a wheel chair. It is not too far from the beach where the seals hang out in La Jolla.

 

Balboa Park and Old Town are nice places to walk around. I really liked the Wild Animal Park but it sounds like the name may have changed. I like it better then the zoo but the zoo is nice too. I took clients with wheelchairs to the zoo and it was doable. I prefer both to Sea World. Coronado is really nice too.

 

There are a lot of yummy Mexican restaurants in the San Diego area. Even cheap places can be quite good.

[JFSinIL]

The USS Midway Museum is dedicated to a complete experience for all guests:

 

Front-row accessible parking spaces, available on a first-come, first-served basis, on Navy Pier directly in front of the ticket booth. Regular parking fees apply

Complimentary, loaner wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Elevator access from Navy Pier onto the ship.

Elevator access from the hangar deck down to the second deck.

Elevator access up to the flight deck

Wheelchair-accessible family restroom on the hangar deck.

Approximately 60 percent of the museum’s exhibits are wheelchair accessible.

Narrated video tour of all museum exhibits is shown continuously in the hangar deck.

 

We loved the Midway Museum. Looks like any exhibit that is not wheelchair friendly can be viewed via the hanger deck video.

[Guest]

From Carlsbad I'd absolutely drive to the Wild Animal Park (I think they're calling it Safari Park now?) and out through Ramona and up to Julian. Such great scenery and walkable shopping up there. The bird shop and Romano's restaurant are must sees for me. Whenever I go home to visit and have a day I drive out there and enjoy a good lunch, some walking through downtown, and apple pie or donuts at Mom's on the way back down. On a motor cycle the drive through the mountains is unbeatable, but it's nice in a car with the windows down as well.

http://julian-california.com

 

I really recommend going down to Leucadia/Cardiff/La Jolla for the beaches as well. And the yarn and fiber shop that started it all for me is down there too - The Black Sheep in Encinitas, if that's your thing. They have such amazing classes.

http://www.theblacksheep.biz

 

When I visit for a board meeting and to see family in May, this is half my itinerary ;)

Edited March 29, 2016 by Arctic Mama