We spent our Spring Break in San Antiono with the kids. We camped (with our travel trailer- we cheat, not real camping).  We did something different in the area everyday and we had a great time! There are lots of family friendly places to visit in the San Antonio area. Here are the list of places to see that I can recommend (in random order, not ordered by preference):

1. Sea World

Amazing place for all ages. Located in San Antonio. I wrote a blog posting with my tips for your own visit to Sea World- My Tips for Visiting Sea World

If you plan to visit Sea World and other attractions then get the Explorer Pass to save 40% (see the end of this article for more info).

2. The San Antonio Zoo

They have a gem of zoo in San Antonio! It is a beautiful piece of property that has some of the most lovely trees I have seen in Texas. It is located on 35 acres with over 3,500 animals and 750 different species. My favorite part of the zoo were the birds. They had some very exotic, different birds that I hadn’t seen anywhere before. Like this blue pigeon (no joke, it’s a pigeon): 

We spent a half a day at the zoo and walked the entire zoo and saw all of the exhibits (at least I think we did, there is a lot there). Some of the highlights include giraffe, zebra, lions, bears, tigers, leopards, crocodiles, lemur, lots of different monkeys, and more. The zoo also has restaurants and food kiosks. When you are there check out the feeding times for the giraffe. For a few dollars, you can feed them too!

Here are some of our photos from our visit to the San Antonio Zoo:

My kids most enjoyed the petting zoo. It’s included in your zoo entry fee. They have brushes so you can also brush the pigs and goats. It is a large area too with plenty of animals for all the kids. 

One of the neatest things at the zoo (aside from the animals) is the carousel.  It isn’t like others with horses. This one is made with different animals. Each rider can chose a different animal- zebra, dolphin, hippo, etc. It is the coolest carousel I have ever seen in person.

There is quite a bit of walking at the zoo. We brought our wagon so the kids could ride when they got tired. I recommend a stroller or wagon if you have smaller kids.

3. The Alamo

The Alamo is a part of Texas history. A great battle was fought here in 1836. Here is more info and FAQs from the Alamo website:

It is free to visit, but please note that there can be long lines to get into the Alamo. I have visited twice and both times the line was over 2 hours long. I HIGHLY recommend getting there before it opens at 9am to avoid the longer lines that happen mid day and into the afternoon. It is open every day of the year except Christmas. 

4. Riverwalk and Boat Ride

The #1 thing to do in San Antonio (according to the Trip Advisor Website) is go down to the Riverwalk. The #2 on their list is visit the Alamo. Both are located downtown SanAntonio just blocks apart, so plan to see both during your visit. Here is some info about the Riverwalk from their website https://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com

You can walk the riverwalk sidewalks which are lovely, you can dine (I highly recommend as there are many restaurants right along the riverwalk), and you can also shop. Take a boat ride for the full tour of the riverwalk.  My kids enjoyed it and so did I! Thank you to my friend Kathryn for planning our time there and at the caves. It was lots of fun!

Here are some of our photos from our Riverwalk boat tour. We went on one of the Rio boats. Our boat driver was also our tour guide and he had a great deal of knowledge about the history of the area. He also had a good sense of humor, so the ride was entertaining.

 5. Natural Bridge Caverns

We visited this cave system with friends and it was interesting and fun!  We purchased tickets for the 9:00 tour (first of the morning), which was smart since it got quite crowded as the day progressed. Here is info about the Caverns.

We went on the discovery tour which took about 1.5 hours. The other cave tours we have been on have been cold. This one is not cold. It is 70 degrees inside the Caverns and it is quite humid. No need for jackets. Here is some info about the discovery tour from their website: https://naturalbridgecaverns.com

Here are our photos from the Caverns: 

After you go on the cave tour there are more fun things to do at this location. They have a ropes course for adults and kids. They also have a zip line!

6. Drive Thru Safari: Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

While you are in the area to see the Caverns be sure to do the drive thru safari. The Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is located on the same property as the Caverns, as they share the same entrance. It takes about 1.5 hours to drive through the African themed Safari park.  You can feed the animals while you are in your car (buy the park specific food for the animals when you get there). They also have a petting zoo. Here is some more info from their website: http://wildliferanchtexas.com

7. Snake Farm

I had a friend tell me to visit the Snake Farm. It is located on the outskirts of San Antonio in New Braunfels. There is no way I would have wanted to go to a snake farm except that my friend Katie highly recommended it. I am so glad she told us about this place. It was one of my favorite places on our entire trip because it was such a well run facility with up close experiences with the animals. They had teachings every half hour. Their little stage allowed opportunities for learning, entertainment and touching animals and snakes!

http://www.awsfzoo.com

They had far more than snakes. The snake farm has white lions, wolves, gibbons, monkeys, mountain lions, hyenas, zebras, lots of exotic birds, and more. Quite a few more animals than I ever expected at a snake farm! This place has a slew of animals and is well worth the visit. We spent only a short time inside the snake exhibit (wasn’t really my cup of tea), but we spent several hours outside at the other animal exhibits. We got to see the hyenas and mountain lions being fed. We also got to see and hear the lion roaring! Such a cool thing for us all to experience! I even got a short video clip: 

The gibbons were also quite playful while we were there. They were making a lot of noise and were swinging from the ceiling of the exhibit. I got a video clip of this too: 

The kids loved their petting zoo of course. It is included in your admission to the snake farm. They even had cute baby goats!

Here are more photos from our visit to the snake farm:

Bonus tip:

If you plan on visiting multiple attractions while in San Antonio then get the Explorer Pass. You can save up to 40% on your attraction passes by purchasing this pass. You don’t even have to decide which attractions you want to visit when you get the pass, you can determine after you purchase the pass. It takes 24-48 hours to get the pass emailed to your inbox, so be sure to purchase before you need to use them at least a couple days in advance.

Here is how the Explorer pass works:

 

We used Explorer Passes on our trip. Glad we did since we saw quite bit! Go to the Explorer Pass website to see what they offer for attractions: https://www.smartdestinations.com/san-antonio/_d_Sat-p1.html?pass=Sat_Prod_Exp&allInc=true