SAN DIEGO ― Maybe you’ve always suspected that there was more to San Diego’s North County than beach towns, rolling hills, expat giraffes and a walled kingdom of brightly colored plastic. But frankly, they had me at beach towns.

I always figured the rest ― even the two marquee attractions, Legoland in Carlsbad and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido ― was just gravy. Or icing on the cake. Or maybe, given San Diego’s love of beer, the chaser after the pint.

But now I’ve spent several days on and off the beaches, and it looks as if you’re right: San Diego County’s northern reaches, beginning above La Jolla and ending at Camp Pendleton, deserve more attention than they get.

So here are 11 micro-itineraries, which are the latest addition to our ongoing Southern California Close-Up series. (To see others, go to latimes.com/socalcloseups.) They’re far from comprehensive but enough to get a beginner started. And, yes, the beaches, the beasts and the molded plastic kingdom are in here too.

The land of Lego

Apart from that guy who whispered “Plastics!” to Dustin Hoffman in “The Graduate” all those years ago, who suspected that little interlocking bricks would one day threaten to rule the world? The Lego people, that’s who.

Long known as a theme park that’s better for younger kids than older thrill-seekers, Legoland (1 Legoland Drive, Carlsbad) has grown to include more than 60 rides and shows, an aquarium and water park next door, and a new 250-room hotel coming next summer.

One-day admission is usually $75 for adults (13 and older) and $65 for children (ages 3-12). You’ll pay an additional $35 a person for a two-day pass that gets you into the water park and Sea Life Carlsbad Aquarium.

In other words, hefty fun and hefty bill. If you’re spending the night, consider the pleasant Sheraton Carlsbad Resort (5480 Grand Pacific Drive, Carlsbad) next door, which has its own Legoland entrance.

Or stay along the coast highway in Carlsbad at the kid-friendly Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort (3075 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad), which backs up to the beach.

Feeling naughty? Grab a sugary bite at Boxd (430 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad), which serves waffle sandwiches out of a converted shipping container in the heart of town.

Then jump in the ocean and see if you get cramps. (Despite what your mother told you, the evidence is thin.) After your dip, try lunch or a happy-hour dinner at Las Olas Restaurant (2939 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad), an ultra-casual Mexican place with an older sibling restaurant farther south in Cardiff. If you’re roughing it (and you’ve booked well ahead), you can pitch your tent at South Carlsbad State Beach campground (7201 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad), three miles south of town.

If you’re splurging, family-style (or have a ton of Hilton HHonors points), head for the kid-friendly Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort (1 Ponto Road, Carlsbad), which opened in June. Yes, $349 may seem a lot to pay for a room on the inland side of the coast highway, but everything is new and shiny, most of the rooms have ocean views, there’s a spa and a big pool with a neighboring baby pool, and when the summer masses go home, those rates will ebb.

Surfin’ Swami’s

Swami’s Beach (1298 S. Coast Highway, Encinitas) is a great spot for surfing, strolling or running, reached by a staircase just south of the Self-Realization Fellowship’s temple grounds. (Hence the name Swami’s.) For dinner, there are plenty of options along the coast highway, but there’s only one Q’ero Peruvian Kitchen (564 S. Coast Highway, Encinitas), a very tasty spot.

The San Diego Botanic Garden (230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas) is a 37-acre wonderland of plants that has been open (under various names) since 1971. It includes flora from around the world, including a hilarious band of semi-topiary musicians in the Mexican garden and the terrific Hamilton Children’s Garden, whose “spell and smell” garden covers the alphabet from aloe to zebra grass. The kids’ area also includes a treehouse, chalk zone and mud play area. Then catch your breath and recaffeinate at the Leucadia end of Encinitas, where you’ll find Pannikin Coffee & Tea (510 N. Coast Highway, Encinitas). It’s a surfohemian (you know what I mean) coffeehouse in an 1888 train station, full of artwork, coffee beans and kitchen goods for sale. Pannikin, by the way, is a San Diego chain (three locations) that’s been pouring fancy coffee since 1968, when Starbuck was still best known as Ahab’s first mate in “Moby-Dick.”

Safari in Escondido

If the San Diego Zoo is the tidy and compressed Twitter version of the animal kingdom, then the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido; formerly the San Diego Wild Animal Park) is the New Yorker article. It rambles.

The animals, scattered over 1,800 acres of dry hills in the San Pasqual Valley, are relatively free to roam. Your admission ($42 for adults, $32 for kids) includes a 25-minute narrated ride on a tram that chugs past giraffes, rhino, gazelle and perhaps an ostrich sniffing its eggs (which weigh about 3 pounds each).

It costs $40-$95 more to do the zip line, the ropes course or see animals up close from a special safari truck. Be sure to check out the lions ― they often snooze in the shade right next to an observation window.

On your way out, grown-ups can quench their thirst with a tasting at nearby Orfila Vineyards & Winery (13455 San Pasqual Road, Escondido). For beer or a pleasant dinner al fresco, head to the home of Arrogant Bastard Ale: Stone Brewing Co. and its World Bistro & Gardens (1999 Citracado Parkway, Escondido). The indoor-outdoor dining area is clever, and there are $3 tours in the afternoons and movie nights in summer.

By Christopher Reynolds

(Los Angeles Times)

(MCT Information Services)