The Best of San Antonio with Kids
/San Antonio, Texas with Kids
If you’re looking for the best things to do in San Antonio with kids, you’re in the right place! We spent a week in San Antonio while visiting my husband on one of his work trips. This multicultural city was more than I had imagined it was going to be. I was born and raised in South East Texas for 11.5 years before moving to Virginia. I am familiar with Texas, but I was happily surprised with all the family friendly things to do in San Antonio and all of it’s delicious food. My list isn’t exhaustive, but it covers some really fun and cheap family things to do in San Antonio that will keep your whole group entertained!
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Table of Contents
Click any of the places below to skip down!
Things to Do with Kids in San Antonio
San Antonio Missions (free)
The Alamo (Church is free)
The Japanese Tea Garden (free)
San Fernando Cathedral (free)
Morgan’s Wonderland (Ultra Accessible)
Texas Transportation Museum ( Sat & Sun ONLY)
San Fernando Cathedral
1) The DoSeum
Everyone visiting San Antonio with kids absolutely must visit the DoSeum! This 3 story, fully interactive museum is a must for any age. The DoSeum is inspired by the power of play and hands on learning. The sprawling complex hosts indoor and outdoor attractions, a very nice snack/coffee bar, plenty of family restrooms, elevators and a large store where you can shop for educational toys featured throughout the museum. There is something for everyone in your group; it’s fun for the whole family! Remember that Texas gets HOT in the summer, so add this to your itinerary for mid-day and beat the heat with one of the coolest indoor kid activities in San Antonio. If you don’t have kids or want time away from your kids, be sure to check out the museum’s “ReDo” events that are created for adults only. You must be 21 to attend those events and refreshments are provided with your ticket. The DoSeum is absolutely one of the best things to do for kids in San Antonio.
Charletta running and jumping her way through the DoSeum
The kids posing after we played for over 3 hours
As national park lovers, its obligatory for us to get photos with the park signs
2) The San Antonio Missions National Historic Park
One of the most education and family friendly things to do in San Antonio are to visit the historic Missions National Historical Park. There are 4 located within San Antonio, so I made the decision to start with Mission Concepcion.
All 4 of the Missions are run by the National Park Service and free to visit. We made sure to go in and get our National Park Passport stamped! We walked around, taking in this gorgeous piece of Spanish/Texas history. The churches located on the missions are still active and host weekly mass.
Our second stop was to Mission San Jose. This mission was different in that it had a larger parking lot, larger bathrooms, and a larger welcome center with a decent size indoor museum. The other striking difference was that this Mission is fortified with a large exterior wall much like a fortress would have. Once inside, it was mesmerizing. Turns out, all of the resident Indians lived within that wall, shared communal brick ovens, and shared a large common space near the church. The mission also had a very large grassy plaza within the walls. It was a beautiful day to walk around and see this piece of living history ands one of best free things to do in san antonio with toddlers.
The San Antonio Missions have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, so for all my avid travelers, get this one on your list!
If you love National Parks, check out my full guide to Big Bend National Park with Kids and the Best Hikes for Families in Big Bend!
The missions have incredible architecture
The kids exploring the missions
3) The Alamo
The Alamo is actually one of the 4 Missions in San Antonio. Anyone looking for family friendly things to do in San Antonio must add The Alamo to their list. Parking is expensive downtown, but it’s very convenient and, in my opinion, worth it. We paid $19 to park for an entire day in the downtown public parking garage.
I hadn’t been to The Alamo since I was a kid and it was much smaller than I remember, but felt very nostalgic as I spend my first 12 years of life learning Texas history while living South East Texas. The incredible story of how a group of volunteers surprised and overtook the Mexican garrison within the Alamo, ultimately seizing control of San Antonio is one that will not soon be forgotten. The entire complex is free, full of artifacts and special memorials for the courageous fighters. While we were touring, they had a living history demonstration within the courtyard that included firing off several muskets.
All of us in front of The Alamo
4) The River Walk
Our smallest Nomad enjoying his ride down the river
We walked from The Alamo to its neighbor, the San Antonio River Walk. The River Walk is one of city’s most famous tourist attractions, but is a fun place for families in San Antonio.. We stopped for some delicious street tacos at Rita’s, then jumped on one of the famous riverboat tours. I highly recommend taking one. The guide gives you a detailed history of San Antonio and the boats are child friendly. They even let us park our stroller on it and move to sit in the front, so it’s definitely kid friendly.
Another option for exploring San Antonio with kids is to let a tour guide lead the way and take a Riverboat Cruise and join the San Antonio Hop on Hop Off bus. Since the river boats are so family friendly, this ranks as one of my top things to do in San Antonio with baby.
Read Next: 12 Tips for Flying with Toddlers
The riverboad ctuise is information and really fun for everyone — a must do when visiting san antonio
The kids in front of The Witte
5) The Witte Museum
This museum is more geared toward school aged children or adults. Our kids did love the new dinosaur exhibit, the expansive Texas Wild Gallery and they loved running around inside the HEB Body Adventure. However, since they are only 1 and 2 years old, they couldn’t really understand any of the exhibits fully or participate in all of the Body Adventure because they were just too small. If we could go again, we would wait until they both can read and sit still for longer than 30 seconds. While we did enjoy looking at all of the incredible wild life (both stuffed and alive), it was more education for Jimmy and I than our kiddos. If your kids love animals and dinosaurs and are older than about 5, it’s worth every penny. This is a fantastic thing to do with kids in San Antonio.
There is a toddler area (photo below) that younger kids can play in
6) The Japanese Tea Gardens
Looking out over the Japanese Gardens
The Japanese Tea Gardens are a fantastic thing to do with kids in San Antonio. We spent about half a day relaxing and enjoying the gardens. We walked the gorgeously laid out grounds. The path takes you down to the coy ponds, over several bridges, by a tall waterfall, back through a bamboo forest and back around to either the fish or the café. Yes, you can actually get tea here too!! We indulged in some bubble tea and lemonade at the little café. This would be a fantastic place to bring a picnic and have a quirky photo op. The grounds are completely free too, so it was a great surprise on a day with good weather!
7) San Fernando Cathedral
Once we navigated the river with our River Boat Tour, our boat moored near the San Fernando Cathedral, so we disembarked and headed over to check out this gorgeous gem. This massive church sits in what is called “The Heart of the City” and has a large, pedestrian friendly plaza with tables, snack bars, and fountains. We visited the cathedral mid-day on a Friday and there weren’t many people out, so we didn’t have to try hard to get some amazing photos with this beauty. If you’re looking for things to do in San Antonio at night with family - on Tuesdays, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the city projects a free light show onto the cathedral. Before or after the show, you can walk over to the River Walk for dinner!
SAn Fernando Cathedral in downtown san antonio is a gorgeous spot to get photos and explore
8) Morgans Wonderland
Morgan’s Wonderland is the world’s first theme park designed with individuals with special needs in mind and built for everyone’s enjoyment. The entire park is completely wheelchair-accessible and features more than 25 ways to play including rides, playgrounds, and other colorful attractions. What I love most about this special park is that anyone with a special need is admitted free of charge, no questions asked. Morgan’s Wonderland is open to anyone and everyone and is very reasonably priced. Not only are there the typical theme park activities, btu there is also a waterpark — so come beat the Texas summer heat! This is one of the most fun family activities in San Antonio and inclusive to everyone.\
Morgan’s Wonderland Mission: To provide a safe, clean and beautiful environment free of physical and economic barriers that all individuals – regardless of age, special need or disability – can come to and enjoy.
9) Texas Transportation Museum
If your kids love trains and cars, then the The Texas Transportation Museum a perfect spot to spend an afternoon! The Texas Transportation Museum collects, preserves and displays historically significant transportation equipment and related items. The museum is only open on Saturday and Sunday. The Texas Transportation Museum does operate a fully functioning train and you can take a ride on it! This is one of the unique and fun things to do in San Antonio for kids and something they won’t soon forget. Children under 4 are FREE.
Natural bridge is locaed only 30 minutes from downtown san antonio
10) Natural Bridge Caverns
If you’re looking for family fun in San Antonio, the Natural Bridge Caverns is it! Natural Bridge Caverns was high on our San Antonio list and we ended up not getting to do it. I definitely want to go back to experience the caves and natural beauty! The Natural Bridge Caverns is Texas’ largest show caves. Visitors can take a guided tour through huge underground chambers or join one of the many other activities on the property! The kids will love finding their way through one of the only permanent outdoor mazes in Texas. Or panning for treasure, like miners panned for gold. If you’re looking for a more physical way to explore — kids(and adults) can test their balance, agility and strength against the ropes course and zip rails. Natural Bridge Caverns is one of the best things to do with kids in San Antonio because it offers a variety of activities to meet the entire family’s interest!
there are several family friendly cave tours!
Other ideas for what to do with kids in San Antonio would be the San Antonio Zoo, SEA LIFE Aquarium, SeaWorld, or explore LEGOLAND Discovery Center!
Best Places to Eat in San Antonio with Kids:
While there are many more kid-friendly restaurants San Antonio, these are a few we experienced and loved!
Torchy’s Tacos: From Breakfast tacos and mimosas to Lunch tacos with local beer -- you MUST EAT HERE! Torchy’s is a SATX icon and the food is absolutely delicious! You can order one taco at a time or several! They have a great kids menu too!
Rita's: Located on the Riverwalk & serves DELICIOUS street tacos.
Commonwealth Coffee: On Saturday we headed downtown early to grab some of San Antonio’s delicious food. We were given the recommendation to eat at Commonwealth Coffeehouse. There are a couple locations in San Antonio, but the menu is the same; FREAKING DELICIOUS. I had a Spanish influenced brunch while Jimmy had the French toast (it was gigantic) and the kids had an assortment of freshly baked pastries and cookies. I also had a yummy and very well made cappuccino!
The Alamo Beer Company: If you want to spend an afternoon drinking local brewed beer while playing cornhole or sitting outside, head over to The Alamo Beer Company. Both places are family friendly. The Alamo Beer Company is set up nicely where kids can see the trains go by, run free, but also are kept confined to the large courtyard by several large buildings and the parking lot.
Best Places to Stay for Families in San Antonio:
The best family friendly place to stay in San Antonio will depend on your group size and what you want to see. Most popular sights are located in Downtown San Antonio, a walkable area thanks in part to River Walk. The neighboring King William Historic District is South of downtown, and in Pearl/Broadway Corridor is just North of downtown. Outside of the downtown area, you will need to rent or hire a car to get you around.
Use this map to find a space that fits your group size and budget. Coming Soon: The Best Places to Stay in San Antonio with Kids
Have you ever traveled with your family to San Antonio? What is your favorite place?
