Best Places to Visit with Kids in San Antonio, Texas

Thank you to Visit San Antonio, SeaWorld San Antonio and Hotel Valencia Riverwalk for hosting us.

Growing up in Houston, I have such vivid memories spending almost every summer in San Antonio with my family. It’s special memories like that I hold onto of my dad, and why we love making those same ones with our own kids now. Not only is it a super easy drive from Houston (3.5-4 hrs depending on where you live), but it’s also reasonably priced with so many fun attractions and awesome food! You might remember we squeezed in two trips to San Antonio in 2021. We took the kids to SeaWorld for spring break, which I wrote a fun travel guide for, and then did a romantic couple’s getaway at the new Canopy by Hilton on the River Walk.

This time around we ended up planning a kid-friendly, but also adult-friendly, trip to San Antonio so we could all get in some much needed relaxation before school starts up again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the best way to plan a vacation in a new city is by reaching out to the visitor’s bureau. Working as a blogger on most of our trips, I always want to know the best places to go, hotels to stay at, and of course all the fun things to do. The team at Visit San Antonio helped me book a room at the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk – somewhere I’ve been wanting to stay for years since it reminds me of my time studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain. We were also gifted GO RIO River Cruise tickets which I was so excited about since we’ve never gone as a family, and it was my favorite thing to do on the River Walk when I was a kid.

We had such a fun few days together, and I’m so excited to share our guide to the best places to go with your family in San Antonio, Texas!

Where to Stay in San Antonio

Due to my husband’s crazy travel/work schedule, it’s not always easy to plan things, especially vacations. When we realized he’d have a few days off in the middle of the week – I immediately let my freelance job know (they allow us to take unlimited vacation so it wasn’t a problem), and I reached out to the awesome folks at Visit San Antonio. They sent me a list of hotel partners that were willing to host us with a free hotel room for 2 nights and parking – which is key when you’re staying anywhere downtown. When I saw Hotel Valencia on the list I told my husband that’s where we had to stay! Here are a few of the reasons we fell in love with this beautiful, Mediterranean-inspired hotel:

Hotel Valencia Riverwalk

Location

My husband and I both agree, when you’re visiting San Antonio you’ve gotta stay somewhere on the River Walk. I love that Hotel Valencia is situated in the quieter section of the River Walk, which especially comes in handy during busier times of year. We still had a lovely view of the River Walk from our room, and some rooms even come with a nice sized balcony depending on the suite. We also loved that we could walk right down from the hotel for a stroll in the mornings with the kids. The weather was surprisingly cool and breezy – a welcome reprieve from humid Houston weather! On our last day, after an amazing breakfast at La Panaderia, we decided to take the kids by the Alamo since it was only a short 10 min walk from the hotel.

Ambience

After reading that the hotel was voted by Conde Nast Traveler as a best hotel to stay at in San Antonio – we were already impressed before we even arrived. We were even more blown away when we walked through the wrought iron double doors, and greeted by the friendly staff at the front desk. The Spanish-style archways and textured ceilings were the perfect backdrop for the elegant and rich decor. It almost teleported me right back to traveling around the Andalucian region of Spain, where I had some of the best months of my life one summer during college. Their “Orange Grove” wall displaying rows of autographed hand blown glass oranges makes this hotel especially unique, and our kids loved reading the names of all the celebrities who’ve visited.

Luxury Meets Comfort

Some people may be nervous that a hotel this nice wouldn’t be the best place to stay with kids, but that’s the beauty of it. Along with all of the luxurious features also comes a sense of welcoming energy. Around every corner we found plush leather chairs and sofas for us to lounge on, and we never felt out of place with our kids in the various lobby common areas. We were even greeted with complimentary margaritas for my husband and me, and “fancy spa water” as our kids call it, which we enjoyed on the expansive patio and balcony area overlooking the River Walk. The classic double room was perfect for the four of us, and they even surprised us with amenities like red wine and traditional Spanish tapas aka a charcuterie board.

Cuisine

Speaking of Spanish cuisine, we ended up dining at their signature Argentinian-inspired restaurant Dorrego’s the first night. I ordered the beef empanadas which were delicious and our son, who is always so adventurous with food, ordered the paella – he was in heaven with all of the fresh seafood. Dining together as a family there reminded me so much of homemade meals my host-mom would make for my roommate and me in Sevilla. We loved it so much in fact that we went back the next morning for breakfast – which I think we enjoyed even more!

What to Do in San Antonio

SeaWorld and Aquatica San Antonio

My husband was actually the one who had the idea to go to San Antonio in the first place, since we’ve been talking about taking the kids back to SeaWorld. The team at SeaWorld San Antonio was so kind to hosted my family and even invited us to stop by Aquatica, SeaWorld’s waterpark, and it was the perfect way to end the day. Here are some tips we’ve learned along the way from visiting both SeaWorld San Antonio and San Diego – I hope they help!

Planning Your Visit

Visiting any theme park can seem daunting, then add kids into the mix and it’s enough to make any parent second guess their life decisions. But I have to say that SeaWorld has always been one of the smoothest experiences we’ve had when taking our kids anywhere like the zoo, museums, waterparks, etc. – here are my top helpful tips:
- Highly recommend downloading the SeaWorld App/Guide – it’s the best way to keep on top of the Shows & Presentations throughout the day. You can see all viewings, encounters or spotlights by animal, and the times for each so you can plan your route. This time we didn’t arrive quite as early as we meant to – it’s best if you can get there right at 10:30am when the park opens. We missed seeing the Beluga Whales on our last visit so this time we started with the Beluga Whales and Pacific Dolphins Ocean Discovery, then made our way to the Orca Encounter and ended with the Sea Lion & Otter Spotlight. The app also gives you walking directions from one show to the next wherever you are in the park, which I found really helpful this time.
- Since we’ve always been hosted on our trips to SeaWorld, we haven’t taken advantage of any of the perks they offer with the season pass. I do think it might be worth it if you live nearby and plan to visit at least a few times during the year. The 50% off discount on in-park offerings is enough to entice me considering kids always are starving or want an Icee, and those cute little gift shops just reel you in don’t they?
- I was so excited to also have complimentary tickets to their Aquatica water park. It took a bit of convincing the kids, since we were all pretty tired at the end of the day. Once we got some more snacks and they saw how much fun the wave pool was – all four of us ended up having the best time! We didn’t stay long so the next time we may want to block off a few more hours or come back the next day to really enjoy all of the waterslides, kiddie pool areas, etc.

River Walk, Alamo & The Pearl

Everyone knows San Antonio for The Alamo and River Walk. You literally can’t visit without seeing both – it’s an unspoken rule :). What I love the most though about exploring cities – are the amazing recommendations you get from the locals, and pretty much everyone agrees The Historic Pearl is where it’s at. I have to credit Visit San Antonio’s IG for first introducing me to this hidden gem, that happens to be just a quick 8 min drive from downtown San Antonio. We typically drive straight to La Gloria where you’ll get the best queso and tacos around, and in the cooler months they have an awesome outdoor dining space overlooking the river where kiddos can run around and dogs are welcome. The Pearl is just a short walk across the street where you’ll be amazed at how they transformed a historic brewery into an amazing space for strolling, shopping, dining and even entertainment.