Trip to San Antonio

The River Walk is great lots to see and many places to eat. There is a very old mission within walking distance from the River Walk and the Alamo is right there too.

About 20 minutes outside town, there is a great steak house (can't remember the name), but just ask someone and they will know....if a man goes there with a tie, they cut it off and hang it on the walls.

It's a great little town...have a good time.

Blessings....

Childrens Museum in downtown

I've not been to Lulu's but they were featured on Man vs Food for their Texas size cinnamon rolls.

You should go on a boat ride on the Riverwalk. It's a neat way to see some of San Antonio, it's near the Alamo (another great and free thing to walk through), and it's not expensive. I think for adults it's about $6 and the drivers are very knowledgeable and funny. The kids would love the ride. There is a Mexican market near there & a restaurant called Mi Tierras that is delicious. La Fogata on Vance Jackson is by far our favorite though.

Any tour of the Forts near downtown are great to see.

We've lived here 6 months now and I love it.

Considering the age of your children, children's museum is great. I had difficulty getting my kids and hubby out of there. And you MUST go to Alamo, sorry but leaving San Antonio without visiting the Alamo will be disrespectful :)

Be sure to go to El Mercado. It's easy to find downtown, and the kids will love it! You will, too. There are a couple of good restaurants, Mi Tierra (the restaurant is alright, but they have a great bakery!) and La Margarita (love it!). The market is a traditional Mexican market, and haggling is expected in many of the shops. Outside there are some nicer stores, and often there is live music. It's a very colorful, happy place. :)

The Alamo is a must see, as well, and across the street from the Alamo is a strip of entertainment places. There are all kinds of things to do there, like Ripley's Believe it or Not, The Wax Museum, and other places like that. The mall is right there, too, and it's a nice mall. The Riverwalk runs right up to the mall. Casa Rio is a tasty place to eat on the river.

My mom grew up in San Antonio, so we have always spent a lot of time there. I love it. It's such a beautiful city with so much culture. Have a wonderful trip!

LOTS to do! There's Six Flags of course! Sea World (down the road from Six Flags), the Alamo, the Tower of the Americas (Near the Alamo & Riverwalk), the Riverwalk...has an awesome river tour ride, Chinese Sunken Gardens...totally free, just park & walk in & is adjacent to the San Antonio Zoo (there's a walkway from the gardens to the zoo so you don't have to get back to your car & repark, just walk on over if you want to goto the zoo!), I do have to tell you, the directions for the gardens seems incorrect online, I highly recommend following the signs to go to the zoo. You will see the gardens entrance first, then the zoo so if you act like you're going to the zoo, you will get to the gardens, otherwise you may get confused & lost...I definitly was confused by the way the sideroads were laid out in that area...with the directions, it just didn't match what the directions said so I thought I'd mention this to save some possible frustration you might have. The zoo also has the train ride outside the zoo entrance which also stops along the way so you can get out & see other things there before or even after your zoo visit, plus the burger joint there at the train is pretty reasonable on prices & is pretty good burgers but know they don't provide lids or straws for their cups! At least they didn't when we were there a few months ago. There's lots of restaurants like the Magic Time Machine off of Loop 410 that might be fun or you can eat at the riverwalk. Along the Riverwalk & Alamo, there's IMAX in the mall there at the Riverwalk as well as the boat ride which I highly recommend (extra fee for the ride but I think definitly worth it), along the Alamo area, walking distance, the tower of the Americas & across from the Alamo, there's Ripley's Believe it or Not museum & Guinness Book of World Records museum & various shops, there's Splashtown on I-35 downtown (in the same localized area) as well as Schlitterbahn up the road in New Braunfels (has free parking!!!) as well as Natural Bridge Caverns in New Braunfels that also has an adjacent Safari tour as well as the Snake Farm which has an animal park & petting zoo, also just off of I-35 in New Braunfels. If you don't mind a short drive north, just 10 miles north of New Braunfels, in San Marcos there is Aquarena Springs which is now owned by the college there & has been turned into a wildlife sanctuary but they have glass bottom boat rides, free admission to the park but the boat ride has small extra fee required but well worth it to visit! It has a nice history b/c it used to be a resort that offered a tower ride & sky ride, a diving pig and a mermaid show that you viewed from within a real sunken submarine & of course the glass bottom boat ride which they still have...definitly ride the boat and do the nature walk if you go. Also in San Marcos, there's WonderWorld, a cave system formed by a natural earthquake, they have a train ride and other activities there to do too plus the cave! (You take exit 202 off I-35N, turn left at the light, go all the way to the end of Wonderworld drive to the main intersection then turn right at the light & follow the signs but you have to pay attention to the sign where you turn left again in town otherwise you may miss it coz it kinda blends in. If you reach the square in town, you went too far...just an FYI b/c we liked to have never saw the sign...just thought I'd save you frustration, lol Plus just to clarify, you turn right onto Hunter Rd off of Wonderworld like you're going into town, don't cross over onto the new bypass otherwise you'll be going to Wimberley...Wonderworld, surprisingly, is actually in town). There's lots more to do in San Antonio but New Braunfels & San Marcos has things to offer too if you don't mind a short drive north on I-35. Corpus Christi is only a couple hours drive south if y'all wanted to visit the beach. I'm sure other posters here have more suggestions but as for me, the aforementioned is all I could think of on the spot, lol OH one more thing, if you take a short drive northwest past Six Flags on I-10, there's also Cascade Caverns in Boerne, Tx. Boerne is really not that far northwest, just looks like it on the map, neither is New Braunfels & San Marcos, just looks far on the map. If you're driving down to San Antonio on I-35 down from Dallas or Ft. Worth area, there's also Innerspace Caverns in Georgetown right off I-35 that you can visit on your way down, if not, just remember it's there in case you're ever in the area. There's also signs for it too in case you don't happen to remember. Hope this helps y'all w/your trip, there's SO much to do & if you can't do it all, that's ok, it'll leave some for next time! :) Have a great time & remember, you can normally print off discount coupons on most of the attraction websites! :)

3 days is not a lot. There is so much to do in SA! The Alamo and Riverwak could be one day, since they are both downtown, Sea World, Fiesta Texas, Texas Folk Museum...

You have some great suggestions for San Antonio proper, but if you don't mind leaving town for a while, there are some great attractions in New Braunfels (20 mins north of San Antonio). My kids (6 and 11) loved Natural Bridge Caverns. In Greune (on the outskirts of New Braunfels), there are some great restaurants (Greune River Grill, The Gristmill, etc.) that overlook the beautiful Guadalupe River. Depending on the river level/weather, guided rafting tours on the river may be available. Google any of these attractions, there is tons of info out there. Hope y'all have fun!

One thing that we have done in San Antonio is go on a "Ghost Tour". They will give you little machine things and tell you to aim it at different buildings. It will show hot or cold. It was a lot of fun! It might be too much for the 5 year old but 11 year old would have a blast.

Riverwalk, SeaWorld are must dos as well. I never had a bad meal in SA! The food is great!!!

tripadvisor.com will give you everything you need. Have fun!

1st thing you have to do is decide where you will be staying! Downtown motels can be more expensive but worth it if you plan to just stay down there for the stress level of traveling with kids! The Children's museum is a MUST for both age groups-make sure you get in the giant body bubble, Magik Theatre has child friendly plays and is attached by walking to the Hemisphere Plaza which you can walk to La Mercada shops/restaurants, get to the riverwalk, the Tower (reasonable price for trip to the top and 4D movie). Also a nice playground by the theater which has unique items-like a platform swing you stand on. I would definitely take the river boat which leaves from the Rivercenter mall (which if you drive, is a good place to park-lots of spaces and central-less than $15 per day). Outside the Rivercenter mall on the backside is the Alamo.
Along Alamo Plaza is many tourist attractions that I have always thought were too expensive but your decision-Wax museum, etc. But on that same strip of the Plaza is a nice store that has items that change color in the sun-Solar something! If you time it right, you can watch a shoot out at noon at the Buckhorn museum (right across the street from the Children's museum).
Rivercenter mall is a good place to eat for lunch-typical mall food court. The Rain Forest Cafe is good with kids-ask to be seated in the section where the kids will get the most pleasure-we sat where they had storms!! It is expensive but a once in a lifetime!
If you are not going to the downtown area, let me know and I will give you more info on other places but with only 3 day, I would suggest this would be the easiest.
They have a site called S.A.V.E which gives discounts. This is thru the Chamber.

WOW! Nicole H. should be a travel agent! Awesome answer.
I can't top that.

Our family has found Sea World to be a much more family friendly environment that Fiesta TX. There is so much to do there---the shows are great, the rides for all ages, and the animals are awesome. Sea World is clean and wholesome.
Not everyone at Fiesta TX has family in mind --roving bands of teens, just ahnging out.

If you go to Lulu's ... get a chicken fried steak and get a cinnamon roll to share for dessert. They're known for their 4 lb cinnamon roll, but also for their huge and amazing chicken fried steaks!

If the kids like animals (dead - in a museum), the Buckhorn Museum downtown has a variety there. (They even have a two-headed sheep and some shrunken heads). Even if you don't pay to enter the museum itself, you can stop in, have lunch, see some animals in the lobby area, see a few of the cool framed designs made out of all rattler-tails. They used to have fried cheesecake that was pretty good. Not sure if it's still on their menu or not.

My parents are tour guides in San Antonio. I should know more. They are always talking about taking clients to Paesanos restaurant. Google it and see if it's kid-appropriate. Mom would say to definitely go to the Mexican Market (may be the same as El Mercado). Lots of cute little shops to go in. Get yourself a ten-year supply of mexican vanilla ($20 I think). I just finished off my 30 oz bottle of mexican vanilla last week and need to go to the Mex.Market to get more!

If you do the Riverwalk, why not do the barge ride? You'll learn about San Antonio's history along the riverwalk and the kids will like the boat.

If you're looking for a place for breakfast, I recommend stopping at Lulu's for one of their cinnamon rolls. The kids have fun with them. (All four split one! That's how big they are!)

The Riverwalk is ok. They have a Ripley's Believe it or Not down there across from the Alamo. The Witte Children's Museum is fun. La Cantera is an outdoor mall that's very pretty. Of course there is Sea World and Fiesta Texas. There are some great places to hike, and some awesome markets (mercados...I think I spelled that right!)

Download Urbanspoon for your phone. I use that app religiously to find great places to eat. It's great for when you're in your town and when you're in a new town.

Have fun!