San Diego Segways with Kids

Last year, Rainer Jenss traveled around the world with his wife and two sons, and blogged about his experience here on Intelligent Travel. This year, he’s back with a new column that focuses on traveling with kids.

One of the main motivators for choosing California as our spring break destination this year was the abundance and diversity of family friendly activities the Golden State has to offer. If amusement parks aren’t your thing, and there are several–Disneyland, Legoland, Sea World, and Knott’s Berry Farm, among them–you can always spend time on the beach, in the mountains, or at a museum. Oh, and it also doesn’t hurt that the weather is almost always cooperative for outdoor pursuits as well.

Admittedly, the fact that my wife’s brother conveniently lives in Southern California certainly helped in our selection process, so with San Diego as a starting point, we set out to find some things to do other than the usual suspects.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Sea World or the San Diego Zoo, but we seem to go to at least one of them each time we visit. Couple that with the fact that the boys are now 13 and 10, we decided to mix it up and see if we couldn’t find something that even my brother and sister-in-law hadn’t tried. When we came across a listing for San Diego Segway Tours on TripAdvisor.com, I knew we had a plan.

If you’ve spent any time in Washington, D.C. lately, you’ve likely encountered people zipping around town on one of those two-wheeled, self-balancing electric transport vehicles that look so intriguingly awkward. The Nation’s Capital seems like an ideal city to get around on one of these devises–it’s flat, there are good distances between attractions, and it’s pedestrian friendly. I’ve never been on a Segway but was always very curious to try one. After signing up with Another Side of San Diego‘sAnother Side of San Diego‘s most popular Gaslamp Segway Tour, I had my chance.

Truth be told, I thought all you had to do was simply stand on the Segway and off you went. I was under the impression that there’s no way to wipe out, unless you actually made the effort. But there is some technique to riding one and you can fall over if you’re not mindful.

It’s not necessarily difficult, but it does get some getting used to.

That’s why my sister-in-law needed some extra practice (maybe 10-15 minutes) in the training area before feeling comfortable and venturing out on the streets. The kids, on the other hand, pick it up quick, and at a maximum speed of 12.5 mph there’s not too much concern for any high-speed collisions.

Once we got rolling (pun intended), our young and enthusiastic guide took us through the Gaslamp District, the Seaport Pier, the U.S.S. San Diego Memorial and Balboa Park. The complete loop was about 10.5 miles and took just over two hours, with frequent stops to get a full explanation of what we were seeing. This was “a tour” after all. Seeing how much the boys were enjoying themselves made me realize that if every city tour we’ve ever been on included Segways, they’d probably want to do a lot more of them. And if every city had the gorgeous weather and scenery of a San Diego, I’d be on-board as well.

Another Side of San Diego Tours also offers Segway excursions in Coronado Island, Mission Bay, and La Jolla, but somehow I couldn’t picture my family exploring La Jolla’s famous Cove or admiring the sea lions on one of these contraptions. Instead, we reverted to good old fashion foot power for that.

Have feedback? Let Rainer know via his Twitter feed, @JenssTravel.

[San Diego City Guide]

Photo: Rainer Jenss