It's never too early to start planning your next Spring or Summer family vacation. And, what better place to top your list than San Diego, California? San Diego has numerous family-friendly attractions to interest your family, including:

The San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo is known the world over as a great zoo to visit. The 100-acre zoo houses almost 4000 animals, all of which have plenty of room to roam around. Your family will be able to visit gorillas, goats, lions, leopards, polar bears, bats, and, of course, the Tasmanian Devil. Now, when's the last time your family saw a Tasmanian Devil? One of the most popular exhibits is the giant panda bears. Be sure to keep your camera ready for a shot of a panda sleeping in a tree.

Legoland

Though not located in San Diego, Legoland is just 30 minutes north of San Diego, which makes it a great day trip while you visit San Diego. Legoland is a theme park offering creations made of Legos, as well as rides your children will love. Be sure to visit Miniland USA, a reproduction of seven areas of the United States, constructed with 20 million LEGO bricks in 1:20 scale. Rides include Dragon Coaster, Volvo Driving School, Fun Town Fire Academy and the Coastersaurus. Most rides have height restrictions of 34", 40" or 42", so make sure you pay attention to those restrictions before getting in line.

Balboa Park

Does your family enjoy museums? Then you must head over to Balboa Park, which is home to 15 major museums, as well as renowned performing arts venues, beautiful gardens, and the previously-mentioned San Diego Zoo. Museums include:

**Centro Cultural de la Raza: Dedicated to Mexican, Indigenous, Chicano, and Latino art and culture.

**Mingei International Museum: Dedicated to world folk art.



**Museum of Photographic Arts: Devoted entirely to the photographic arts, and housing more than 4,000 works, which represent the entire history of photography.

**Reuben H. Fleet Science Center: Includes 100 interactive science exhibits, in addition to Kid City", where kids learn about the everyday world. You can also visit the world's first and San Diego's only IMAXÂ(r) Theater.

**San Diego Air & Space Museum: Air & Space Museum is where you'll learn about five centuries of aviation history.

**San Diego Automotive Museum: Devoted to, what else, the automobile.

**San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum: The nation's largest multi-sport museum.

The great thing about San Diego, aside from the many family-friendly attractions, is the weather. They say that no matter what type of year it is, it's never the wrong time to visit. With an annual high of 70 degrees and a low of 55 degrees, attractions stay open year-round. However, if you visit between December and March, you can catch some glimpses of the impressive gray whale. You can either go on a whale-watching cruise, or even just spot the whale from the coast.

A visit to San Diego also brings with it the opportunity to visit Mexico, as Tijuana, Mexico is only 23 miles to the south. Many people prefer to park at a parking lot on the U.S. side of the border, and walk across to Mexico, where you'll find great restaurants and good shopping.

Of course, you could just decide to bring a chair and sit on one of San Diego's beaches all day long and enjoy the ocean and beautiful sunsets. No matter what you want out of a vacation, San Diego will certainly not disappoint.