San Francisco is an urban paradise when it comes to family-friendly activities. Toddlers can take in the sights, enjoy the great outdoors and maybe learn something, too.
The spirit of family fun is contagious in San Francisco, “everyone’s favorite city.” Excitement sparks from the city’s rich history and in the colorful neighborhoods and lively waterfront, making this a great destination with pre-schoolers. Every season comes with a bounty of sights, sounds and things to do. Streets are alive with entertainment and calendars are filled with captivating shows and exhibits for all ages.
A visit to San Francisco would not be complete without crossing the world famous Golden Gate Bridge. Explore the bridge by foot, car, bicycle, tour bus, fire engine tour, or soar over it via a helicopter or seaplane. Get your cameras ready as you trek down Lombard Street, the “crookedest street in the world.” Ride all three of the hilly city’s cable car lines, the Powell-Hyde, Powell-Mason and the California Street line.
For a touch of magic, wonder and surprise in the kingdom of sweets, watch chocolate makers at work and sample their wares at Ghiradelli Square. Take a leisurely stroll through Chinatown and let the kids munch the goods at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory on Ross Alley. On Grant Avenue, browse the Chinese food stores and souvenir shops and introduce everyone to dim sum at lunch in a picturesque Chinatown restaurant.
Celebrated Attractions Especially for Families
Hang out at the San Francisco Zoo, home to over 250 species of animals, including koalas, tigers, and black rhinoceros. Other special habitats include the Jones Family Gorilla Reserve, Penguin Island, African wart hogs, and an Insect Zoo. A highlight of the zoo is the Doelger Primate Discovery Center with interactive exhibits.
There’s something for everyone at Pier 39. The Pier’s two levels boast numerous attractions including the frolicking California sea lions. For an adventure everyone will be sure to remember, visit the Aquarium of the Bay. Walk through 300 feet of crystal clear tunnels that focuses on the aquatic life and ecosystems of the Bay and its surrounding waters, and get to see an amazing variety of tide pool animals.
Golden Gate National Park encompasses 60 miles of coastline providing plenty of room to play, especially for the outdoor enthusiasts in the family. In Golden Gate Park, a large urban recreation area often compared to New York’s Central Park, there are basketball courts, lawn bowling, an archery field, baseball fields and seven miles of bicycle paths that lead past meadows, lakes, and rose gardens. Especially appealing to the adults, meandering paths lead to the Japanese Tea Garden with fishponds and quiet places to stroll.
San Francisco Museums for Little Ones
Newly located in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences (415/379-8000) is the only museum in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and 4-story rainforest under one roof.
Art lovers will appreciate the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum (415/750-3600)across from the Golden Gate park plaza. The city’s largest permanent art museum contains among its treasures an American art collection from colonial times to the present. Make sure to stroll the Gardens of Enchantment and take in the magnificent view from the top of the tower.
The Bay Area Discovery Museum (415/339-3900) is a one of a kind indoor and outdoor facility at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s the only children’s museum in the nation to be located in a national park. A new temporary exhibit entitled “Living in Space” allows kids to explore living, working, and playing in space through hands-on exhibits.
If you’re feeling playful, then the hands-on Exploratorium Museum (415/EX-PLORE) is the place to be. It’s like a mad scientist’s penny arcade, a scientific funhouse and an experimental lab, all rolled into one. With hundreds of hands-on exhibits, all you need is curiosity. The Mind Collection lets you hear like a deer does when you try on alternate ears, or listen like a snake, with your teeth and jawbones. While wandering through the rest of the museum you can touch a tornado and shape a glowing electrical current, as well as take a sensory journey in total darkness in the Tactile Dome.
For the budding performers and future Academy Award winners, Zeum (415/820-3320) a multi media museum, teaches kids how to use art and technology to be creative in animation, sound and video production, live performances and visual art.
Cartoon Art Museum (415/CAR-TOON) is a cool little place specializing in the art of comics and cartoons in all their forms. The museum houses over 6,000 original pieces that include animation, comic strips and comic books. Fun for all!
Wells Fargo History Museum (415/396-2619) offers educational exhibits on California Gold Rush history including an original stagecoach built in the 1860s, displays of real gold and sample mining tools. A wide range of interactive exhibits and activities for both adults and children include: trivia treasure hunts, working telegraphy, audio tour option and more.
Guided San Francisco Tours
The Red and White Fleet San Francisco Cruises (415/673-2900) committed to environmental sustainability, are legendary for their premiere sailings highlighting San Francisco’s landmarks and history. The new San Francisco Explorer Cruise focuses on architecture, natural history and Native American culture. There are 14 daily departure times starting at 10am. Boarding is from Pier 43 ½ on Fisherman’s Wharf .
Ride the Ducks (877/887-8225) the ever-popular amphibious tour, is new to San Francisco. The 90-minute sightseeing tour includes about 60 minutes on land and 30 minutes in the water. Sights along the route include: Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, Ghiradelli Square, Union Square, AT&T Ballpark and of course, spectaculars views of the City by the Bay. Everyone gets a complimentary yellow-billed duck whistle, the famous Wacky Quakers ™, to quack at pedestrians on this engaging tour. Ticketing and boarding is at Fisherman’s Wharf at the corner of Jefferson and Taylor streets, or at Union Square on Geary Street.
GoCarTours (800/91-GO-CAR) offers the first ever GPS-Guided Storytelling Cars for an incredible way to tour San Francisco. GoCars are easy to drive and fun. As you drive, it tells you where and when to turn, along with stories that bring the city to life. See the places tour buses are not allowed to go and only locals know about.
Discount Passes
CityPass is perfect for both first time and repeat visitors. The San Francisco booklet contains a Muni Passport valid for seven consecutive days on all Muni system vehicles, including historic streetcars and world-famous cable cars. In addition there are discount tickets to many of the city’s signature attractions. For information on cost and how to obtain CityPass phone 888/330-5008.
The Go San Francisco Card helps you enhance your visit to the “City by the Bay.” Your card includes admission to 50 included attractions, transportation around the city, and day tours for one low price that helps you save up to 40% off of regular admission prices.
For more information on San Francisco visit the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau or call them at 415/391-2000.
Photos by Mel Greenberg
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The Guardian newspaper has a few great suggestions for those who want a simple, old-style campground geared to tents and relaxation. First off, they like the guidebook "Cool Camping France" (Punk Publishing) which describes 100 campsites for a variety of budgets.
They also recommend the sites ran by Camping Indigo (camping-indigo.com), or those listed on Rural Camping in France (rural-camping.com) and the Dutch site Kleine Campings Frankrijk (kleinecampingsinfrankrijk.nl; in English).
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The Little Gym sounds a bit like Gymboree, a long time chain of organized play spaces called Gymboree. Gymboree Play & Music classes are available through more than 600 franchised and company-operated centers in the United States, Canada and 30 other countries. Here's a link to the page which describes locations and hours of their international programs, if you ever want to drop in on one in future travels:
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We have lots of stories about traveling with kids in New York City and we are happy to help you plan a customized visit, so you can make the most of your time. Get in touch!
When my wife and I wanted to enjoy all the beauty Antwerp has to offer, we just looked if there was a The little Gym for our son (4) Jason!
Back home Jason ( bouncing off the wall kind of child) attends regular classes at Little Gym. But they also offer Holiday programs. 3 hours or full days are available! Jason had a blast with his new (international) friends and my wife and I could really enjoy the city without feeling guilty about walking too much or going in too many Cathedrals 🙂
Thumbs up for this worldwide concept, next stop Amsterdam!
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I am planning a 4 night vacation to NYC this May and am looking for a custom itenerary as it is our first time in the big apple and it's pretty overwhelming trying to figure out a logical sequel of events as we do not know what the most efficient way to go about it would be. Do i just let you know our points of interest?? Thanks, Steph
I am off to Orlando in October.
How is the theme park here for under 3 yr olds? anyone been?
We've been. The parks are great for a toddler as long as you plan short days and keep the walking to a minimum; don't wait in a lot of lines. Weather should be cooler in October, that's good. If you can afford one of the hotels that gets you the first in line access, that would be great. It's pretty exhausting but your kids will have fun, and they have a rider swap so that your spouse can watch the baby, while one of you does the amazing Harry Potter ride, and then you can switch duty and the other rides too.
At Universal Studios (the movie themed part of the parks), there are cartoon stars from Nickelodeon shows, and they're in gentle rides or in live shows. The best bet may be Woody Woodpecker's KidZone, where there is a fun interactive playground and sing-a-longs with characters.
At Islands of Adventure, we all loved Suess Landing where you can go on the Cat in the Hat ride, and a very crazy carousel. Just love those books and our son remembered a lot of the words from having them read to him so often. The Jurassic Park ride area has a neat water playground you'll enjoy it if there aren't a lot of teens squirting each other.
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I requested Mohamed as our driver based on the reviews I read here and on other sites. Mohamed was EXCELLENT! We were so happy with him in every way. He spoke good English. He has a great personality and sense of humor. He's such a genuinely good guy, really friendly, caring, down to earth and can get along with all types of personalities and ages. You immediately feel so comfortable and safe with him . Mohamed took care of all of our needs and was very patient and flexible. He was always on time for our daily adventures and was a knowledgeable guide so we learned a lot from him about Morocco. Also, I have to mention how GREAT a driver Mohamed is. Not only does he drive safe but he handles the vehicle really well, whether it's winding roads or BUSY streets, etc.
We chose the Imperial cities tour as well as the desert and Essaouria. We covered 1,300 miles. Morocco is a beautiful country. We found the Moroccan people to be warm and friendly. Each place has it's own look and feel and it's so picturesque as you drive from one place to another. Morocco felt like a bunch of different countries in one country. Be sure to keep a day or so aside for shopping. For us, it was a struggle within our 10 day itinerary since there was so much to see and do. An extra day or 2 would have been perfect.
I would definitely recommend staying in a Riad at least once during your trip. For us after the first 2 Riads we missed some of the conveniences of a hotel so we were glad we stayed in both. Bivouac in Merzouga was really cool, you can literally walk onto the dunes from the Bivouac. In Marrakech I liked Les Jardins De Le Koutaoubia , the hotel was beautiful and the location was stellar, less than a 5-minute walk to the Dejemma el-Fna and all the souks.
As someone who travels frequently I would highly recommend Sahara Magic Tours http://www.Sahara-Magic.com/ to anyone thinking about taking a trip to Morocco. Their knowledge, contacts throughout the country, personal attention to every detail of your trip and excellent service is one of the best I've experienced. I'm so thankful to all the people that wrote reviews about Sahara Magic Tours and Mohamed. Thanks to Hassan /Sahara Magic Tours and Mohamed, my family and I had an AMAZING experience in Morocco. Can't wait to go back!
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If you do not speak Turkish, avoid the airlines no matter how good that deal seems. The customer service is non existant.
We had a multi-leg trip with Turkish Airline from Rome to Istanbul to Cairo to Athens. We only ended up taking the flight from Rome to Istanbul.
Their flight from Rome to Istanbul was comfortable and relaxing. The staff was cordial. We only had carry-ons because of the horrible experiences other users have had.
Our overall experience with management, however, turned out to be extremely frustrating and awful. Our first interaction with them was when we tried to cancel our Istanbul to Cairo part of the trip because the US department highly suggested that no US citizens should travel to Cairo. We had called Turkish Airlines prior to the trip, but the staff spoke limited English and didn't understand that we wanted to cancel only one leg of the trip. They would planning on canceling the entire trip which we didn't want.
We then decided to keep the trip but use one of the layovers that was originally intended from Cairo to Greece but stops at Istanbul to get to our final destination- Greece. However, due to their international rule and regulation, they canceled our entire trip leaving us no way to get to Greece. They didn't inform us via email or phone like many other airlines do. We found out the day before we were supposed to leave when trying to check in for our flight.
We accepted the fact that there was nothing we could do but when we asked on the phone what we could have done to have prevented this, the manager started yelling that she couldn't help us, and that it was our fault for losing the tickets. We asked again. She admitted that she couldn't understand our question and started shouting at us that it was our fault and hung up on us. I was furious.
Looking at the other posts, I think the moral of the story is – Do NOT book with Turkish Airlines unless you speak Turkish. The staff's English is very limited, and trying to change flights or dealing with management is just a pain, ends up with customers losing money and valuable time.
I've had such bad experiences with the customer services at Turkish Airlines. ON the phone, the managers who are supposedly "English" do not understand simple sentences and when they don't, they get frustrated and hang up on you.
We had a multi-leg trip with Turkish Airline from Rome to Istanbul to Cairo to Athens. We only ended up taking the flight from Rome to Istanbul.
Their flight from Rome to Istanbul was comfortable and relaxing. The staff was cordial. We only had carry-ons because of the horrible experiences other users have had.
Our overall experience with management, however, turned out to be extremely frustrating and awful. Our first interaction with them was when we tried to cancel our Istanbul to Cairo part of the trip because the US department highly suggested that no US citizens should travel to Cairo. We had called Turkish Airlines prior to the trip, but the staff spoke limited English and didn't understand that we wanted to cancel only one leg of the trip. They would planning on canceling the entire trip which we didn't want.
We then decided to keep the trip but use one of the layovers that was originally intended from Cairo to Greece but stops at Istanbul to get to our final destination- Greece. However, due to their international rule and regulation, they canceled our entire trip leaving us no way to get to Greece. They didn't inform us via email or phone like many other airlines do. We found out the day before we were supposed to leave when trying to check in for our flight.
We accepted the fact that there was nothing we could do but when we asked on the phone what we could have done to have prevented this, the manager started yelling that she couldn't help us, and that it was our fault for losing the tickets. We asked again. She admitted that she couldn't understand our question and started shouting at us that it was our fault and hung up on us. I was furious.
Looking at the other posts, I think the moral of the story is – Do NOT book with Turkish Airlines unless you speak Turkish. The staff's English is very limited, and trying to change flights or dealing with management is just a pain, ends up with customers losing money and valuable time.
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Our family had been so excited to go on our make a wish trip.My daughter was diagnosed with a terminal cancer at age 2,and we waited till this month to go,so we knew she would be healthy enough to enjoy herself.When we got there we were very tired and it was around 5 in the afternoon.I first noticed the strange odor when we walked in the room,it was like they were trying to cover up something.Then later that night I started seeing little bugs everywhere.I am not native to Florida,so I thought it might be just some outdoor bugs.Then as the days went by,i kept seeing more and more.Knowing this trip was free,I didn't want to complain to much,but by the 3 rd night I was horrified.I got up to check on my daughter and there were bugs all over the kitchen counter.I was so disgusted,I slept in the car that night.My husband complained the next morning,and they sent a technician in.They were water bugs.That is so nasty.We did get moved,but the next room wasn't that clean either.This is a place for sick kids,and the rooms aren't clean.Come on.Then as we were walking to the restaurant,and man was spraying chemicals around the side walk,and he had a respirator mask on.So whatever he was spraying must have been really poisonous.And here he is spraying it around sick kids!!! I'm glad others had a good time,and loved this place,but I was not impressed.
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Just a note to let you know that the Holiday Inn SunSpree has been renamed and is now known as the Holiday Inn & Suites North Beach. See news article annoucement here . Just want to make sure there is no confusion when people click on their listing and arrive at the new site. The renovation was great and the hotel is still very family friendly. Keep it in mind if visiting Virginia Beach.
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