4 Day Itinerary for San Antonio, Texas {Mother-Daughter Trip}

Plan a great adult-friendly getaway with this 4 day itinerary for San Antonio.

Last October, my mom and I took a trip to San Antonio, Texas. It was my first time in the Lonestar state and definitely won’t be the last!

San Antonio was an incredible city full of color. What I loved most was the beautiful clash of cultures present here. We loved seeing the influence of Mexico everywhere, and learning about the German population that settled in the city as well.

Our itinerary was the perfect mix of learning, fun and relaxation. I can’t recommend this city enough for a getaway! It is an extremely walkable city, with just a quick Uber/Lyft ride into the city from the airport. And during select times of the year, flights are very affordable out of Detroit.

Mother-Daughter Itinerary for San Antonio, Texas

Day 1

We were able to fly into the city early and check into our hotel room before getting out to explore. We began our adventure with the quintessential tourist must: A river cruise! The Go Rio River Cruise is an affordable way to get a taste of the city and comprehend the lay of the land. It’s a unique city with a river flowing through it, and this cruise helped us navigate later on.

We opted to stay at the Drury Plaza Hotel on the San Antonio River Walk because it was centrally located to the things we wanted to do. Additionally, their free breakfast and happy hour with apps were wonderful to supplement our meals and help save some major moula. We also loved the rooftop pool and hot tubs. Highly recommend!

Day 1 Deets

• Flight into San Antonio, Lyft ride into the city
• Explore the River Walk
• Lunch: Esquire Tavern {home of the longest bar in Texas}
• Go Rio River Cruise: $13.50/adults, $10.50/seniors {purchased tickets at the Aztec Theater and boarded directly outside}
• Check-in at Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk | 105 S. St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78205
• Dinner: 5:30 p.m. kick back at the hotel

DAY 2

I cannot recommend this all-day tour enough. We rode around in a mini bus with our tour guide, Alex, and he sure knew his history! We learned SO much and saw almost every major site around the city.

Sites we loved on this tour — the La Villita Historic Village {original settlement of Mexico now home to adorable art galleries}, Tower of the Americas, Historic Market Square, Japanese Tea Gardens, The Pearl District {a revitalized industrial space — if you can afford to stay here, I bet it’s incredible!}, The Grotto, and more.

We also visited Mission Concepción, which is the oldest unrestored stone church in America. The Spanish Missions were created to help convert the natives to Catholicism, and the history is pretty interesting, and in a way, sad. Regardless, it’s a part of American culture and worth seeing a few of the missions while in San Antonio. {But as my guide said, once you see one, you’ve seen them all}

While the price for this tour was high, it was so worth it for all the sites we were able to pack in! It would’ve cost us far more to take a Lyft around to each spot.

After our tour, we relaxed on our hotel before heading to happy hour.

Once our bellies were full, we walked over to the San Fernando Cathedral to watch their free light show called The Saga, which tells the story of San Antonio. It was beautiful!

Day 2 Deets

• Hotel Breakfast
• Full day tour to multiple sites – $109/person
• Lunch on tour: Mi Tierra {this place is incredible and SanAn MUST!}
• Dinner: Hotel kick-back + apps at Tiki-themed spot, Hugman’s Oasis
• FREE light show at San Fernando Cathedral {shows run Friday-Sunday. Currently closed, but hopefully will open back up in summer}

DAY 3

This day brought our visit to The Alamo. The tour itself is free, but timed reservations are required. It’s a small area, so this was fantastic for crowd control! We opted to add on an audio tour so we could understand what we were seeing. It was $9/person. In hindsight, it was a ton of listening and reading, so I think I would’ve just preferred to splurge and do a guided tour.

It was raining after our tour, so we decided to head over to The Briscoe Western Art Museum. This place was really neat! We loved learning how cowboys and Native Americans lived at one time, and seeing the incredible art of its time.

Then we decided to taste a bit of the German culture and head to Prost Haus. I loved having a German pretzel and beer while sitting in front of a Mexican Ofrenda. It definitely was a cool very SanAn moment!

After, we relaxed on our hotel for the afternoon.

In the evening, we walked to our haunted bus tour. Did you know San Antonio is one of the most haunted places in America? There are some very spooky things that have happened in its history. If that is your thing, I can’t recommend the Sister Grimms Ghost Tour enough! Spooky Suz was our guide and she was the perfect mix of haunted tales and humor. We loved this tour…and we even caught a few spooky photos in the graveyard at the end of the tour.

Day 3 Deets

• Hotel breakfast
• The Alamo {purchased the audio tour add-on}
• The Briscoe Western Art Museum: $14/adults, $12/seniors
• Lunch: Prost Haus
• Afternoon coffee + Mexican pastries: La Panderia {my first time trying concha…yum!}
• Hotel kick-back for dinner
• Sisters Grimm Ghost Bus Tour: Tours start at $49.99/person

DAY 4

Our flight didn’t leave until the afternoon, so we spent our morning touring the Spanish Govenor’s Palace and re-visiting Historic Market Square for souvenirs. After, we opted for lunch at Pinkerton’s BBQ, one of the most popular spot for Texas BBQ in the city. It was SO good!

Day 4 Deets

• Hotel Breakfast
• Spanish Governor’s Palace: self-guided tour: $5/adults, $3/seniors/children
• Historic Market Square for shopping
• Lunch: Pinkerton’s BBQ
• Lyft to the airport, flight home

Overall, this was such a memorable trip and a city that was easy to fall in love with. I would absolutely go back with kids…I think they would love it too!

Have you been to San Antonio? If so, where were your favorite sites to see?