It isn’t hard to center a day around San Diego’s Balboa Park, or even an entire trip! Seventeen museums, a plethora of diverse gardens and trails, multiple theaters, restaurants, and more – there is so much to experience in one single location. At 1,200-acres Balboa is the biggest urban cultural park on the continent, and the heart of the city. Whether you are looking for a day of free entertainment, or to see all of the major attractions, there is something for everyone here.
Museums
+House of Pacific Relations International Cottages
Sip on tea in England and learn about Dr. Who, Harry Potter, and the royal monarchy.
Nibble on a fresh dumpling in China and learn about your horoscope.
Visit Argentina and Iran. You can do it all in one day, and more, at at a complex of cottages which are relics of the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.
Each weekend thirty-two cultures are represented to promote multicultural goodwill and understanding.
Inside each of the houses you will find exhibits, a guide, and sometimes food samples to showcase the traditions of a nation.
Free admission.
+San Diego Museum of Art
Before you step inside the mood is set, the Spanish façade on the building is a work art itself.
Arts are represented from around the world ranging from 5,000 BC to contemporary times.
The museum has an intuitive layout, perfect for an hour or two of browsing.
A large collection of Spanish work is represented including artists Salvador Dali and Diego Rivera.
Check the museum website for deals and offers on admission, including Friday Nights after 5 where admission is only $5.
Don’t miss the adjacent open air May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden, which includes a café.
+Mingei International Museum
Fans of folk art will fawn over the colorful sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle outside, and have a world of fun ahead.
Hanging from the ceiling is another bold and vibrant larger than life work from the same artist.
Mingei means ‘art of the people’ and the crafts of all cultures of the world are represented here. Exhibits change frequently, but during any visit you may encounter Indonesian shadow puppets made from buffalo hide used in their complex method of storytelling,
a collection of Navajo weavings made by women from sheep’s wool honoring the woven web of the universe,
or an intricate traditional Mexican Huichol beaded carousel horse
On the third Tuesday of the month the museum offers free admission to all.
Note: The museum is undergoing renovations and scheduled to reopen on October 1, 2019
+Timken Museum of Art
A tiny gem for fine arts lovers, and those traveling on a budget. This museum is the only one in Balboa Park that is always free!
Largely showcasing classic European art, specifically Russian icons, which were brought to the US by exiles of the Russian Revolution.
The most cherished piece to seek out is the only Rembrandt housed permanently in any San Diego museum.
+Museum of Photographic Arts
Only three museums in the country are solely dedicated to photography, and this is one of them.
View snaps from all walks within the history of photography, and many rotating exhibits.
Captioning is in both English and Spanish, and one exhibit was on Pelirrojos, or Redheads. Thirty-two portraits of Mexican redheads challenge expectations of what this culture is assumed to look like.
Admission to this tiny treasure of a museum is pay what you wish.
+The San Diego Zoo
Fun fact: this is the most visited zoo in the country. San Diego’s zoo was a pioneer of open-air and cageless exhibits which imbue natural habitats of the animals that inhabit them.
It’s one of the few world zoos that has successfully bred the giant panda, a huge draw for visitors.
Throughout its history the zoo has had many escapes including but not limited to, Bornean orangutan Ken Allen AKA the hairy Houdini who had multiple getaways, Terrible Trudy the Malayan Tapir, and a Tasmanian devil who made it all the way to a residential garage. Admission charged.
Gardens and Trails
+Botanical Building
An oasis in a bustling park, filled with filtered light, lush ferns, and orchids.
Perhaps the atmosphere will be set with a busker playing lovely music outside the walls, you should only be so lucky.
Keep your eyes peeled for hummingbirds flitting about, sipping on water and nectar from the flowers inside.
This unique architectural gem is one of the world’s largest lath structures, free to enter.
+Desert Garden
Like something out of a Dr. Seuss novel, admire the zany cacti along a winding paths on the side of a canyon.
Enormous, intensely colorful, and unimaginable, the 1,300 some odd plants in the 2.5 acre garden are a must see – yet somewhat of a hidden gem.
Nestled on the eastern border of the park you may run in to it if you are visiting the nearby San Diego Natural History Museum or the adjacent rose garden, but plan a special stop regardless.
Free admission.
+Palm Canyon
Hidden in plain sight near to the Organ Pavilion parking, you almost won’t believe you’re inside of this urban park.
Cross the footbridge and find over four hundred tropical palms in the shady two acre canyon, which feels like a free and secret paradise.
Music
+Spreckels Organ Pavilion
With 5,017 pipes some as small as a pencil, others over thirty feet tall, this is the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world.
Free hour long concerts are held every Sunday afternoon, with additional shows in the summer time. Programs are anything but mundane, you’ll find fun tributes to Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin, music from Game of Thrones, and the remarkable classics.
Take a tour inside after the concert.
Next Time
+San Diego Natural History Museum
+San Diego Museum of Man
+Japanese Friendship Garden
+San Diego Air & Space Museum
+San Diego Lawn Bowling Club
Have you been to Balboa Park? What are you favorite places?
Actually the area used to belong to Mexico, but even before that it was claimed for Spain in 1542 by explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (and prior to European arrival the Kumeyaay people). Currently 30% of the population is Hispanic, so you can bet on excellent ethnic cuisine and culture to experience due to its past and present heritage.
Dubbed ‘America’s Finest City,’ this sprawling metropolis is equipped with many hilly trails and miles of picturesque coastline to make you completely forget you’re in an urban locale.
Being a major city, the eighth largest in the US, there are endless things to see, do, and eat in San Diego. Don’t let that overwhelm you – here are some of the best places in the city to get you started:
+Spreckels Organ Pavilion holds the record of being the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ, fun and free concerts are held weekly year round.
+International Cottages are only open on the weekends, so if you plan your visit right you could end up sipping tea in the House of England, or nibbling on a dumpling at the House of China, and learning a whole lot about the world.
Hiking trails are prevalent within the city boundaries due to the nature of the land, there are around 200 canyons and hills most of which are undeveloped. 
+Sunset Cliffs are as suggested in the name, most magnificent at sunset which is unparalleled.
+Mt. Woodson aka Potato Chip Rock is one of the most popular summits around due to its thin crisp photo-op at the top.
+Annie’s Canyon Trail is a hidden gem, a genuine slot canyon without having to trek all the way out to the desert.
+
Beaches in San Diego are distinctly beautiful to behold, but even in August the water temperature only hovers around 68 degrees! Most simply lay on the sand, the hardy can splash around, many surf with wetsuits, and others come to walk and tide pool – so here are some of the beaches with the best scenery in San Diego County.
+Centennial Park in Coronado has a sandy stretch with the best skyline view in the city.
+Coronado South Beach has a surprise hidden in plain sight, a shipwreck
+Blacks Beach is a bit of a hike, quite remote, with no facilities, and in some areas nudist.
+Taco Surf is laden with surf boards and loved for its build your own breakfast burritos.
Try Hillcrest Farmers Market on Saturdays and Little Italy Mercato Farmers’ Market on Saturdays.
+Julian, CA is just over an hour away, but at its higher elevation you may find snow in the winter, and certainly you will find some of the best apple pie on earth.
+Desert destinations within a two hour range include Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Palm Springs.
+
Situated in notoriously artistic 
So what is it that makes Meow Wolf so unique?
You aren’t just looking at art on the walls, but by walking through a mysterious place called the House of Eternal Return and sliding through its secret passages, you are a part of the story.
Warp your conception of reality for a few hours, you will need at least half a day to take in all of the details inside.
One place to pause in the middle of exploration is at the full blown arcade within the museum, complete with a pinball machine in perfect condition.
This magical and multidimensional madhouse is an unforgettable journey.
When you are finished with the exhibit, decompress and create your own masterpiece in the art room, or grab a bite in the onsite cafe.
For all of those who have fallen in love with Meow Wolf, or haven’t had a chance to experience it yet in the state of New Mexico – there is exciting news.
The idea is spreading all over the country, first to Las Vegas and Denver, next to DC and Phoenix, then who knows where next!
Hiding in plain sight in an unassuming locale – the Haiku Path at 
You won’t find it brimming with tourists like so many other places in the city, but a serene respite always open to the public.
The smooth adobe colored clay ‘stones’ blend in harmoniously with its surroundings in the style of the region.
Seek out over thirty whimsy haikus written by students and New Mexican poets in the quiet of the courtyard.
You’ll find that not all of them align with the five – seven – five of a traditional haiku, and there are even a few new additions standing on posts.
Lose the world around you as you find your zen in this hidden gem.
While many items stand on the menu, brownies and ice cream are a dime a dozen. You need to explore the elixirs where flavor profiles are divided by geography. Sugar stems from the old world while cacao is native to the new world. In Mesoamerica the Mayans and Aztecs elites would enjoy a chocolate beverage infused with chili and spices sans sugar – you can try these ancient recipes recorded by Spanish conquistadors.
Sample some from Column A and those from Column B, the European style drinking chocolate from colonial times after they were introduced to the cacao seed. Sip on a cup just in the fashion Marie Antoinette would have preferred with a hint of citrus. After a generous sampling we decided on a flight of our favorites including a powerful sweat inducing chili Mayan and a sweeter nuttier Jeffersonian.
Of course, all of the solid sweets cannot go unnoticed and there are many gems to indulge. Kakawa supports local farms and promotes regional ingredients in their exclusively small batch chocolates. A chocolate covered chili was too beautiful and intriguing to leave behind, though we were warned it would get spicier with each bite towards the stem.
Heat and sweet, it was an extremely satisfying combination. Scan the variety of truffles in the case, because even if you’ve had enough chocolate today there is always tomorrow. Gravitating towards the essence of New Mexico I filled my little box with piñon caramels, red and green chili chocolates, bites of pure heaven.
Without a doubt, this is the most innovative and best tasting chocolate shop I have ever been to.
The hike is four miles round trip, an out and back, gradually gaining just over 1,000 feet of elevation on a well marked and maintained track.
Perfectly challenging for those looking to get their feet wet with hiking, easy and enjoyable for seasoned hikers looking for a quick dip into the mountains. Though the trail is just a half an hour from the city, the weather can be a lot cooler here at this elevation – making a great relief on a hot summers day. Environmentally, this area is very different from the desert down below, a forested area without a cactus in sight.
During most of the hike there is little to see other than the woodland flora, aside from a brief view of what’s to come after a few more switchbacks.
Just before you reach the final vista there is a trail junction – here you can extend your hike, but if you’re just looking to complete this trail make sure to note where you came from.
A small plateau holds an incredible scene spreading over the Sandia’s and out into Albuquerque.
Admire the rugged landscape, perhaps in entire solitude as I was lucky enough to have on this lesser visited trail, but be prepared for wind!
Good to know:
The Tinkertown Museum has evolved over 40 years through the careful hands of one man, Ross Ward.
A teenager’s hobby of woodcarving in 1962 blossomed into a folk art dream – perfectly placed off of Route 66 and the Turquoise Trail.
Admission is under $4 for adults, ‘geezers and geezettes,’ just $1.25 for kids under 18, and free for those under four (2019)… but you’ll want to bring extra quarters make the scenes come alive. Put a quarter down the slot to animate Rusty Wyer and his band, can you believe Ward did this all while you were watching TV?
Penetrate the mysteries of ancient rites and rituals, offer another coin to Grandmother Esmeralda who will tell your future.
Watch as god and the devil duke it out in the heavens, and all that happens in the world beneath them.
Exploring the 22 rooms within the museum is a carousel for the senses, especially when you get to the circus.
Initially these carvings were on the road frequenting carnivals and county fairs and Ward, a self-taught artist, was a show painter. Learn about Emmett Kelly, the world’s most famous clown who was in the movie The Greatest Show On Earth. Find relics such as Big Louie’s clothes, a man who was 8’4” and 430 lbs, the largest man in the world who traveled with the Ringling Brothers.
Scenes of stationary wood carvings stem from when Ward worked in a general store, the devil is in the details!
Read every little bit, you never know what you might learn – “Nearly ever town in the old west had a Chinatown section, after the 1850’s the Chinese provided the cheap labor for the mines and railroads, and washed all those Levis.”
Odd and interesting collections are worth a hard look, especially the wedding cake toppers.
In the menagerie see if you can spy a wedding in a nutshell, the oldest couple in the collection from 1840, and the smallest bride & groom which are fleas dressed in fine silk. And just because, there is a wooden sailboat that someone traded their house for, and journeyed around the world!
Something to dream about after you go home. The gift shop is stocked with really great items, but if you are on a budget there is a free souvenir outside.
Fun Fact:
Coupled with the sculptures that are scattered around the sidewalks, there is always something interesting to look at.
One particular hidden gem, the college is home to one of the many acclaimed ‘center of the universes’.
Find the bunker like sculpture and take a walk through its 3D hallways known as X Y and Z.
On a sunny day around this area you never know what you might see. A group of turtles catching rays on the rocks,
a shimmer of a koi fish coming to see what lies beyond the surface,
or a group of ruddy ducks drifting on the ripples from the fountain.
A lively little waterfall adds a splash of excitement into the scene,
and a gilded canid sculpture waits hungrily near the source.
Perhaps most intriguing of all are the many museums free and open to the public within the halls of the school.
Rotating exhibits are charming; on my visit I got to know Meridel Rubenstein – a photographer with a unique medium, archival pigment on aluminum.
Meteorite Museum and Collection
A single small room displays meteorites of varying shapes and sizes from New Mexico and around the world.
+Maxwell Museum of Anthropology 
Take advantage of the free visitors parking pass offered by the museum.
Dark lava rocks contrast with Rio Grande style petroglyphs from approximately 1300 AD – you will see human figures, animals, and geometric designs.
Helpful and interesting descriptions are scattered around the site. This site is free to all.
+Boca Negra Canyon
The Mesa Point Trail winds up a small hill, but at the summit hikers are one mile above sea level with great views.
Along this path there are very interesting petroglyphs including what look like dragonflies, serpents, and a flute player.
The nearby Macaw Trail is home to my favorite image in the whole park, and namesake of the trail. It is so interesting because macaws are native to Mexico, showing the trading between regions at this time.
Connecting these two paths is the Cliffside Base Trail, which not only has petroglyphs, but botanical placards as well.
This is the one paid section of the park with a fee of $1 on weekdays, $2 on weekends, or free with America the Beautiful national parks pass.
+Volcanoes
This day use area has no petroglyphs, but it is a sacred cultural landscape with scenic trails that range from one to four miles.
Views of the Sandia Mountains and the Rio Grande Valley are gorgeous as the path encircles cinder cones and climbs to the top of volcanoes.