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?