Balboa Park is 1,200 acres of good times, boasting San Diego’s best museums, that one famous zoo, and some of the most delicious people-watching in the city.
That’s nearly double the size of New York City’s Central Park. Take that, New Yorkers. Actually, don’t. You guys intimidate me.
We spent A LOT of time in the park when we lived in San Diego for seven years, and our favorite things to do in Balboa Park were always at the top of our itinerary for visitors.
Honestly, it’s a must-stop no matter how many times you’ve been to America’s Finest City.
This is San Diego’s big backyard and an important piece of the city’s identity. It’s also super fun with lots to do.
Quick Tips for Your Balboa Park Visit
Your Flight: Seek out deals to San Diego using Skyscanner. Love deals? Subscribe to Going.
Your Accommodations: We lived in San Diego, but browse Booking.com or Hotels.com for some options. Vrbo is my Airbnb alternative.
Your Ride: You’ll likely need a car to get around San Diego. Book a rental car ahead of time.
Top Spots: Visit the San Diego Zoo, see the view from the California Tower, and grab a bite at Panama 66.
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Is Balboa Park worth visiting?
Balboa Park is many locals’ favorite spots in San Diego for a reason. The architecure and open plazas are reminscent of piazzas in Europe, and I’m not being hyperbolic.
It’s also home to iconic San Diego attractions like the San Diego Zoo, California Tower, and the city’s best museums.
How to Get Around Balboa Park
Balboa Park is best enjoyed on your feet. You know it’s huge, though, so wear those comfy shoes.
Parking throughout the park is free, with several lots available depending on where you’d like to begin. I tend to prefer parking on the side streets in and around the park, which are also free and often offer a shorter walk to the heart of the park.
You’ll also find plenty of folks getting to and around Balboa Park on their bikes. If you need a rental, check out Wheel Fun Rentals.
For fans of public transit, you do have a few options if you’d prefer not to drive to Balboa Park. MTS Bus 120 will take you from Kearny Mesa to the west side of the park.
MTS Bus 7 is a route right through the middle of the park, originating in Rolando. MTS Bus 215 also takes you through the park from the SDSU Transit Center.
Route maps and schedules are available from the Metropolitan Transit System.
How to Spend a Day in Balboa Park
We’ve spent quite a few perfect days in Balboa. Here’s what we’d suggest as a first-timer’s travel guide to Balboa Park:
- Choose between the San Diego Zoo or one of Balboa Park’s museums while you’re fresh.
- Relax with lunch at Panama 66.
- Snap a photo at the Botanical Building and Lily Pond.
- Wander the park’s gardens, like the Desert Garden or the Japanese Friendship Garden.
- Grab a drink at Pure Project Balboa Park just outside of the park.
- Indulge in one of San Diego’s best dinner spots at Prado.
Best Things to Do in Balboa Park
There’s plenty to do to fill up multiple days in the park, so you’ll need to make some choices if you only have the day. Check out my picks for Balboa Park things to do, in no particular order.
Visit the San Diego Zoo.
It’s not goat yoga, but it’s hard to talk about Balboa Park without talking about the famous San Diego Zoo. Its first president, Dr. Harry Wegeforth, got the idea for the zoo after observing caged wild animals at that fair. The zoo was established in 1916.
Today, it’s home to more than 3,500 different species. It’s also a well-regarded research institution, with a number of conservation programs through its San Diego Zoo Global Project.
Unfortunately, if you’re visiting for the first time, the borrowed pandas have been returned to their home in China.
Fun fact: You can take a look at their archival panda footage if you’re really desperate, or just like pandas. It’s soothing, really.
The zoo is expensive. For more bang for your buck and if you have more time in San Diego, you can add on a visit to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park up in Escondido.
It’s the closest thing to an African safari this side of Africa and a fun add-on to San Diego must-do lists. (OK, so it’s not really comparable to safaris in Africa, but I’m trying here.)
Tour the best museums at Balboa Park.
Balboa Park is home to the city’s best museums.
My favorite is the Museum of Us, formerly known as the Museum of Man, as they cater to millennials who like exhibits on topics like cannibals and beer.
The San Diego Natural History Museum, or The Nat, is also one of the best museums in Balboa Park, and where you can go get your fix of dinosaur fossils.
It was also the first museum in Balboa Park, and the oldest scientific institution in Southern California.
If you’re traveling with kids, they’ll love the San Diego Air & Space Museum, showcasing all things related to flight, and the hands-on Fleet Science Center.
Car junkies will love the San Diego Automotive Museum, and gem enthusiasts won’t want to miss the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society.
Note: Balboa Park museums are free to San Diego County residents and active military personnel and their dependents on various weekdays throughout the month. Tourists unfortunately have to pay up no matter when they’re there.
You may be interested in more than one museum stop on your Balboa Park visit, in which case you should consider Balboa Park Explorer Pass tickets. You’ll save some money that way, with an option to add the zoo if that’s what you’re after.
Here are the other museums included that I haven’t mentioned yet:
- Centro Cultural de la Raza
- Mingei International Museum
- Museum of Photographic Arts
- San Diego Art Institute
- San Diego Hall of Champions
- San Diego History Center
- San Diego Model Railroad Museum
- San Diego Museum of Art
- Timken Museum of Art
- Veterans Museum & Memorial Center
- WorldBeat Center
See the view from the California Tower.
If you’re already visiting the Museum of Us, upgrade your ticket for a tour up the California Tower. You can’t do this one without a docent, but I loved the job ours did in explaining the history of not only the tower, but the park.
The climb is pretty easy and includes lots of stops for docent chats on each floor if you’re worried about that part. The top is the best part, though. You’ll be treated to expansive views of the park.
Explore Balboa Park’s hiking trails.
Balboa Park is home to a number of free urban trails that crisscross their way through the park, including paths over scenic bridges and into wooded areas that will make you forget that you’re this close to downtown.
You won’t get waterfalls, but it’s still pretty great and Kimmy-approved.
My favorite is the Seven Bridge Walk, 5.5 miles of the city’s best urban bridges, including my favorite spot in the city, Cabrillo Bridge.
The best route for this loop is to start at the Park Boulevard Bridge and end at the Georgia Street Bridge in Hillcrest. For more details, check out the map from the San Diego Tourism Authority.
For more of a traditional hike, try the Florida Canyon Trail. This loop is just over two miles roundtrip and will take you through some of the park’s desert habitats. Several trails connect to this one, if you’d like a longer trek.
Fun fact: Visiting with your pup? Hit Nate’s Point Dog Park, Morley Field, or Kimmy Kibbler’s fave, Grape Street Dog Park. Balboa Park offers loads of fun for four-legged friends.
Snap the perfect photo at the Botanical Building and Lily Pond.
This is one of the most photographed spots in the city, let alone Balboa Park.
Even if you don’t go inside to check out the collection of tropical plants and palms, the view from outside looking out over the lily pond is a doozy.
Try visiting early in the morning to beat the crowds looking for that perfect shot.
Stroll the gardens in Balboa Park.
Start with the Old Cactus Garden, established in 1935 and home to a wide variety of large cacti. See the beauty of the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, with its koi ponds and cultural offerings.
Literally stop and smell the roses at the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden.
Balboa Park is home to lots of spaces for plant lovers and anyone who wants to make the most of that San Diego sunshine.
Do some people-watching.
Balboa Park is home to some of the best people-watching in the city, one of my favorite free things to do in Balboa Park.
With benches and informal seating throughout the park, find a spot that suits you and take a load off, watching the comings and goings that make the park so vibrant and lively.
I find that things often get particularly interesting around the water fountains, or whenever there is a live performance going on thanks to the frequent buskers and street performers in the park.
Grab a cocktail near the park.
Most of my San Diego itineraries include a stop (or two) for terrific cocktails times at some point. It makes sense in a city known for its drinking scene.
Here are my picks for where to drink in and around the park once you’re ready to have yourself a rest after your Balboa Park exploring:
- The Corner Drafthouse: This gastropub just outside of Balboa Park in Bankers Hill has an extensive food menu of fancier pub food. You’re here for that crazy draft list and their unique libations, though. Try the punny Rhuby Sipper.
- Lady Carolyn’s Pub: If you’re going to a show at The Old Globe, you may as well indulge in a cocktail or two at Lady Carolyn’s Pub, the theater’s bar option. The local wine selection is a delight.
Note: The pub opens 90 minutes before curtain time at evening shows at the Old Globe, and one hour prior matinees.
- Pure Project Balboa Park: This taproom just outside of the park in Bankers Hill features 20 different beers on tap, which is even more options than their Miramar location. Folks up north may know their Carlsbad location, too.
- Turf Supper Club: Just south of the park in Golden Hill sits this gem of a blast from the past. Established in 1950, it certainly feels that way. Come for the cocktails, stay for the grill-your-own steaks.
- Whistle Stop: As with any great dive bar, expect theme and game nights, specialty drinks, and live music. Find it just outside of Balboa Park, in the city’s South Park neighborhood.
READ MORE: South Park is charming as heck. Learn all about it in my South Park guide.
Best Restaurants in Balboa Park
Balboa Park is close enough to delicious San Diego neighborhoods like Little Italy and downtown’s Gaslamp that are great for lunch or dinner, but you don’t even need to go that far if you don’t want to.
Check out my favorite options for restaurants in Balboa Park, including the best offerings within the park’s museums, and restaurants around Balboa Park.
Alaska Airlines Flight Path Grill
Yes, the name’s ridiculous, and an obvious nod to a sponsorship with the airline. If you’re already visiting the San Diego Air & Space Museum, the Alaska Airlines Flight Path Grill is a decent option for a quick lunch.
Also, you could do worse than Alaska Airlines.
The menu’s very kid-friendly, too — think burgers, sandwiches, and inoffensive snacks — if you’re traveling with the family.
Albert’s Restaurant
It may not sound all that fetching to eat inside a zoo, but I promise you, this is a special experience. You’ll be dining on short ribs in the Lost Forest, home to monkeys, crocodiles, and a personal favorite, the okapi.
The only negative is that you do have to buy admission tickets to the San Diego Zoo to eat at Albert’s, so this may be a special occasion kind of place. Reservations are required and available online.
Cafe in the Park
If you’re looking for a quick snack or a caffeine boost before your next museum stop, Cafe in the Park is a great option. Its location is pretty fantastic, too.
The cafe sits inside the Casa de Balboa, home to a number of important sites in the park, including the Museum of Photographic Arts and the San Diego History Center. We always loved this spot as a rest stop between museum stops.
Craveology
Unique among the museum-based eateries, you do NOT need admission to the Fleet Science Center this one sits in to pick up some eats here, making it a good option for a quick lunch.
The flatbreads are decent, and the price points are more reasonable than some of your other options in and around the park.
The Flying Squirrel
If you’re visiting the popular Natural History Museum, or the NAT, you don’t need to leave the place for lunch.
The Flying Squirrel features a menu of some of the usual casual lunch fare — salads, wraps, sandwiches — but they do it well. Also, the name of this cafe comes from a museum project that centered around the San Bernardino Flying Squirrel, which is pretty fun indeed.
Mister A’s
This classic San Diego restaurant isn’t in the park, but just outside in neighboring Banker’s Hill.
In addition to a spectacular French-inspired menu that features some of the city’s best seafood and locally-sourced ingredients, the fact that it’s situated on the 12th floor makes this one of the best meals with a view.
If you’re on a budget, consider brunch or lunch at the restaurant. That’s how we’ve experienced this one and didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything. You’ll get the same views at lower prices, with similarly yummy eats.
This one’s a hot ticket no matter when you go. Reservations are recommended and available online.
Panama 66
This is my favorite relaxed eating spot while in Balboa Park, in part because it’s situated in the outdoor sculpture courtyard of the San Diego Museum of Art.
The food’s yummy, too, and includes a great salad and sandwiches selection that hits the spot after all that exploration you just did on your feet.
Oh, and they serve beer, wine, and cocktails, too, if you’re looking for that sort of thing while you’re in this primo people-watching spot.
The Prado
Those looking for something a bit more fancy will love The Prado, one of San Diego’s signature restaurants.
The menu’s eclectic with something to suit all palates, but don’t miss the risotto if it’s on the menu during your visit.
If you’re a history buff, the restaurant is located inside the historical House of Hospitality, originally built for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915 as the Foreign Arts Building. Reservations are recommended and available online.
The Tea Pavilion
This delightful option next to the Japanese Friendship Garden is known for not only its scenery, but its wide assortment of teas.
Hello, orange blossom oolong.
They also have a full menu of light lunch items if you don’t want anything too heavy, like rice bowls and miso soup.
WorldBeat Cafe
This vegan option in at the WorldBeat Cultural Center on the edge of Balboa Park will satisfy even the meat-eaters among you.
Flavorful options include Jamaican curries, Creole gumbos, and a variety of juices to have you leaving feeling lean and green.
Balboa Park Events
You may want to plan your visit to Balboa Park around some of their regular events, or you may want to avoid them if you don’t like crowds or want to make parking easier.
Check out some regular Balboa Park events below:
- Architectural Heritage Tours: On the first Friday of every month, you can learn more about Balboa Park’s history from The Committee of One Hundred with Architectural Heritage Tours.
- December Nights: December Nights is a celebration of all you know and love about the holiday season, sure to bring a smile to even the crabbiest of Grinches. It’s a free festival that brings out the city’s best vendors.
- Food Truck Fridays: Friday nights in the summertime are for food trucks in Balboa Park. More than a dozen trucks crowd the Plaza de Panama and El Prado walkways, feeding the masses that have fully embraced this event.
- Jungle Bells: If you already have plans to visit the San Diego Zoo and you’re visiting during the holiday season, consider coming in the evening to experience Jungle Bells. It’s as whimsical as it sounds and was a favorite for us each winter.
- Spreckels Organ Pavilion Concerts: Come listen to a free show and experience the largest open-air pipe organ in the world at a Spreckels Organ Pavilion Concert.
Where to Stay Around Balboa Park
We lived in San Diego, so didn’t need overnight accommodations around Balboa Park. That doesn’t mean I don’t have any advice for you. Check out my map below for accommodations with easy access to the park:
How long do you need in Balboa Park?
A full day in Balboa Park will allow you to choose a museum, grab lunch at one of the delicious options in and around the park, and stroll the Balboa Park gardens.
If you’re visiting the zoo, that’s pretty much a full day right there. With a few hours, I’d focus on spending as much time outside as possible with the urban trails throughout the park and an al fresco meal, but it all depends on what you’d like to prioritize.
Need more for your San Diego trip? Check out these guides:
- A San Diego Guide to 13 of the Best Sushi Stops
- A Pole’s Guide to Polish Food in San Diego
- Hit the Road on the Best San Diego Day Trips
- Planning a Halloween Trip? Check Out the Whaley House
- What to Do in Julian, California’s Apple Country
Learn more about my favorite San Diego neighborhoods:
- Take a Trip to University Heights
- What to Do on Trips to Ocean Beach
- How to Spend the Day in Pacific Beach
- La Jolla: Things to Do, See, & Eat!
- How to Visit Historic Old Town San Diego
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