California is one of the world’s most family-friendly places to visit. With its wealth of theme parks, attractions, and museums, it is often lauded by travel experts as a top tourism destination for families. In addition to urban activities, California adds more family-friendly appeal with its unparalleled diversity of outdoor recreation. Where else can you ski the slopes and surf the waves in the same day?
Throughout the 840-mile length of California coastline you’ll find experiences to delight and entertain kids of all ages, whether it’s toddling around Sesame Place San Diego, touching manta rays at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, exploring the state’s nine national parks (where fourth graders get in free), or just enjoying family time at the beach.
These are 21 of the best family attractions in California arranged by your kids’ age group.
Best Family Attractions for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Disneyland Resort
Some would argue that the Disneyland Resort is a don’t-miss for all ages, but it’s especially true for little kids—they will not only delight in the character sightings but also find plenty of rides that they can enjoy with the big-kid and grown-up superfans, such as It’s a Small World, the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and The Little Mermaid–Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Be sure to spend some time in the Mickey’s Toontown area, where tots of all heights can ride Mickey’s Runaway Railway, as well as explore Mickey and Minnie’s houses and get hands-on at Goofy’s How-To-Play Yard. Best of all, the area has green spaces and shade where the whole family can sit down to relax and recharge.
Sesame Place San Diego
Geared toward the preschool set, Sesame Place San Diego is the first-ever West Coast amusement park where kids can visit Elmo, Big Bird, and all their fuzzy pals in a full-scale, interactive replica of Sesame Street. The Chula Vista park is also a designated Certified Autism Center that offers sensory guides, quiet rooms, and other specialized services to help guests with special needs enjoy the park.
San Diego Zoo
A visit to the San Diego Zoo is a chance for little ones—and animal lovers of all ages—to meet lions, penguins, koalas, anacondas, polar bears, and even the majestic California condor. You’ll do a lot of walking at this 100-acre zoo in San Diego’s Balboa Park, so be sure to bring a stroller for when tiny feet get weary, or take a break by hopping on the Kangaroo Buses that traverse the park.
SeaWorld San Diego
Take the tykes to the original SeaWorld theme park, and they’ll get to meet dolphins, penguins, and hundreds of other sea creatures, from gentle manta rays to impressively large beluga whales. Kids can ride on a variety of little kid–friendly rides, such as the giant-swing Octarock, and explore the Rescue Jr. play area, which pays tribute to the park’s real-life animal rescue organization.
Bay Area Discovery Museum
The interactive Bay Area Discovery Museum lies at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, and its target audience is kids, even infants as young as 6 months. The museum has a multisensory Tot Spot designed to stimulate STEM thinking skills through play, as well as hands-on exhibits, an outdoor maze, and a dazzling blue-water view of San Francisco Bay.
Sonoma TrainTown Railroad
At this unique attraction located 1 mile south of Sonoma Plaza, the whole family can ride a pint-sized model railroad through a whimsical Old West–style town with a school, jail, church, and other buildings. A kid-pleaser since 1958, Sonoma TrainTown Railroad’s excursion ride takes about 20 minutes. On the trip around the track, families can disembark at the petting zoo and other amusements.
Best Family Attractions for Elementary Schoolers
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Inspire your third grader to choose “marine biologist” as their future career with a visit to Monterey’s world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and its surrounding marine sanctuary. Kids can touch rays, marvel at neon jellies, watch sea lions bask in the Great Tide Pool, and watch penguin feedings. Don’t miss the one-of-a-kind Open Sea exhibit, where you can see everything from hammerhead sharks to 800-pound tuna.
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Through the federal Every Kid Outdoors initiative, fourth-grade students get free passes to all U.S. national parks, and everyone sharing a car with a fourth grader gets in free too. That’s a great incentive to embark on a family adventure to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, where you can snap photos of the world’s largest tree, the General Sherman, and drive through one of America’s deepest canyons on the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. Kids will especially enjoy exploring the underground world at Crystal Cave, and climbing the 350 stairsteps to the top of Moro Rock.
Turtle Bay Exploration Park
This 300-acre nature complex near Redding is a great place for elementary-school students to learn about Native American culture and California natural history. Turtle Bay Exploration Park is a museum, arboretum, and sculpture park that provides creative ways to learn about plants, wildlife, and the ways of the first Californians. After exploring the museum and park, walk across the Sacramento River via the Sundial Bridge for some fun family photo ops.
LEGOLAND California
Take your aspiring master builders to this “bricktastic” park in Carlsbad for a day of fun. At this fantasyland constructed of LEGO plastic blocks, kids can marvel at LEGOLAND California’s astonishing collection of LEGO models, including Star Wars characters and Miniland USA’s small-scale replicas of San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York. Take a submarine ride to spot underwater LEGO treasure, visit an aquarium with 200 different sea creatures, ride a giant inner tube in the splash-happy LEGOLAND Water Park, and ride the flying couch in the LEGO MOVIE World area.
Universal Studios Hollywood
Kids who love movies will delight in a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. This park offers dazzling immersive experiences including thrilling rides and attractions that recreate favorite films and pop culture experiences, from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Jurassic World to SUPER NINTENDO WORLD. If your kids are fans of Minions, head to Super Silly Fun Land for some water play. Be sure to take the World Famous Studio Tour so kids can see how movies actually get made on this working studio lot.
Best Family Attractions for Middle Schoolers
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a wonderland for kids who love nature and outdoor activities. Kids ages 4 to 12 should pick up a Junior Ranger handbook at one of the park’s visitor centers. They can complete a series of educational activities as they explore the park, then earn a Junior Ranger badge. Families will find endless activities here: Take your hike-loving kids on a trek to see one of the park’s breathtaking waterfalls, join in a photography or rock-climbing class, or just picnic on a beach by the Merced River and take in the stunning scenery.
California Science Center
Kids can put their budding science knowledge to use at the California Science Center, a Los Angeles institution in Expo Park that explores subjects ranging from life sciences to aerospace engineering. The center is home to the 132-foot-long Space Shuttle Endeavour, which arrived at the center after its 25th journey to space. Kids can touch its tires and landing gear and see a few ingenious innovations used in the crew compartment, including “Space Potty” vacuum toilets. Other exhibits at the California Science Center give kids the chance to design an earthquake-proof building, play with fire (safely!), wander through an underwater kelp forest, and visit a polar research station. Time your visit so you can enjoy some dazzling edu-tainment in the Science Center’s seven-story IMAX theater, which features 3D documentaries about African wildlife, life under the sea, and travel to outer space.
Knott’s Berry Farm
Knott’s Berry Farm is a family-friendly Orange County theme park that dates back to the Great Depression, when a local farmer grew a new kind of berry—the boysenberry—that tasted especially delicious in a pie. So many visitors came to try it that the farm started an amusement park to keep them busy while waiting for pie. Today the theme park features exciting roller coasters, themed rides and eateries, and Knott’s Soak City Water Park, where families can beat the heat in a 750,000-gallon wave pool. Sticking to Knott’s heritage, dozens of park eateries serve up boysenberry pie, boysenberry cream soda, and other yummy treats.
Catch a baseball game
California boasts an array of national sports teams—football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and hockey—and notable home fields, including Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The state is home to five Major League Baseball teams, for instance, which play in some of the country’s most scenic ballparks. Nab tickets for a San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, or Oakland A’s game and you’re guaranteed to watch great baseball and eat delicious ballpark food too. Be sure to check out Gallagher Square at Petco Park for a unique view of the game, visit the Dodgers Stadium trophy room, and wander through Giants Garden at Oracle Park.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Arguably the world’s most famous sidewalk, the Hollywood Walk of Fame will delight any photo-snapping middle schooler, even if they’re not big movie buffs. It’s practically a rite of passage to pose for a snapshot on Hollywood Boulevard’s sidewalks, where the names of 2,700-plus celebrities—from Alan Arkin to Renée Zellweger‚are embossed on terrazzo-and-brass stars. The Walk of Fame is just a short walk from other family-friendly Hollywood attractions like the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
Best Family Attractions for High Schoolers
Visit a California College
With teenagers in tow, why not cross off a few college visits while you’re in town? Even if they’re not sure about their college prospects, teens will be inspired by the more than 100 gorgeous campuses up and down the state, each with unique architecture and attractions. The Hammer Museum at UCLA, the dinosaur exhibit and Campanile Tower at UC Berkeley, and the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford are among many California campus must-sees.
Santa Barbara Surf School
Surf culture is huge on the California coast, and the Central Coast is a hot spot for beginners who want to learn how to ride the waves. Encourage your teenagers to take lessons from Santa Barbara Surf School, where they’ll be outfitted with wetsuits and boards and coached by a pro instructor. They’ll practice the basics of the beloved water sport at Ventura’s Mondos Beach, where the waves are gentle and consistent. Aspiring surfers might even run into a few of the sport’s living legends since many celebrity surfers choose to make their homes in Ventura and Santa Barbara.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The mile-long Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a blast for visitors of all ages, but teenagers will especially love its carefree, summer-fun vibes. Whether they’re playing mini-golf at Neptune's Kingdom, riding the Giant Dipper roller coaster (a wooden 1924 classic that’s also a National Historic Landmark), braving the famous under-the-Boardwalk Fright Walk, or playing laser tag or arcade games, they’re sure to have a great time here.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
With 20 roller coasters—the most of any amusement park in the world—and 100 other rides, games, and attractions, adrenaline is the name of the game at this Six Flags theme park near Santa Clarita. Six Flags Magic Mountain is a thrill-seeker’s paradise, boasting record-breaking rides like the world’s longest wood-and-steel hybrid coaster (Twisted Colossus) and the world’s tallest and fastest looping coaster (Full Throttle). Find cooler thrills in the summer months at the adjacent Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park, which has 20 waterslides and a tropical lagoon.
Comic-Con
If you’re a savvy advance planner who knows to reserve advance tickets, plan to take your superhero-loving teens to San Diego’s colossus of comic book conventions, Comic-Con. They can dress up in cosplay, meet their favorite artists and creators, and if they’re lucky, run into a few celebrities from their favorite films and TV shows. This extremely popular July event attracts at least 30,000 people each year, so snag tickets the minute they become available. And don’t forget that you can visit the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park year-round.
As you can tell, California is an amazing place for family vacations. For more family-friendly trip ideas, check out these tips for taking the family on a ski vacation in California. Or, if you’re looking to sneak a little wine- or beer-tasting into the experience, check out these family-friendly craft breweries and wineries across the state.
