Address
1549 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101
United States
Directions: Google Maps
Customer Service
Phone: 619-239-0512
Email: visitor@balboapark.org
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About Balboa Park
Located in the state of California, Balboa Park is one of the most popular tourist attractions in San Diego, and is the oldest metropolitan park in the United States. The park covers 1,400 acres of land, and is double the size, than the Central Park in Manhattan, and is the brainchild of Alonzo Horton, a real estate developer in San Diego. Established in 1968, the park stands named after Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the first European explorer to have set sail across the Pacific Ocean in the year 1910.
Balboa Park is a National Historic Landmark, containing around 14 restaurants, 16 museums, 19 botanic gardens, cultural institutions, public venues, and playgrounds. Abandoned for over 20 years, from the time of its inception, Botanist Kate Sessions revived Balboa Park with her untiring efforts, and is known as the Mother of Balboa Park. There are over 2,100 botanical plants, at the Park and around 7,000 vintage photographs, in the History and Arts Centre Museum.
With so much to explore and see at the Balboa Park, visitors can categorise the day visits based on the various zones of their interest. There are Museums, Performing Arts, Dance Classes, Group activities, Gardens, Themed attractions, Outdoor spaces, Shopping, Recreational activities, a Children’s Playground, Camps, Night events, and Guided tours. The Balboa Park has 6 Trails Gateway, 3 playground for children, 3 Dog Park, and 2 Bird Park for public use, and is open every day between 9:00am-6:00pm.
Major attractions at the Balboa Park are the San Diego Zoo, Cactus Garden, Botanical Building, Lily Pond, Zorro Garden, Japanese Garden, San Diego Museum, Centro Cultural de la Raza, Air and Space Museum, Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre, Spreckels Organ Pavilion, San Diego RailRoad Museum, and Balboa Golf course. The best time to visit Balboa Park is during the summers and winter nights, as there are a host of events, concerts, and activities, worth exploring, with families and friends.
Open all year round, Balboa Park is free for public access, and admission tickets are mandatory for museums, zoo, and the cultural institution centres, found inside the Park premises. The playgrounds, gardens, water fountains, walking trail, and outdoor venues are free for public use, and is open every day from 9:00am-6:00pm, and extend to 8:00pm during the summers. Visitors can purchase Balboa Explorer Passes, as per the availability, and can use them for multiple visits, and access museums, and other attractions at the Park.
Tickets and multi-day, one-day and annual pass can be purchased on the website using major credit cards. Note that all sales are final and are non-refundable or non-transferable. The Explorer passes are valid at Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego Art Institute, Fleet Science Center, San Diego History Center, San Diego Automotive Museum, Timken Museum of Art, among other participating venues. For complaints or queries on events, tickets, cancellation, restaurant, parking, photography, or others, reach the Balbao Park support.
On Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing The Grinch and it was a wonderful play. The parking, however, was another matter completely. My husband is disabled and we had a very difficult time trying to find handicapped parking. After driving around for a while I ended up dropping him off by The Old Globe and I then drove around and tried to find a parking spot for myself. The 2 lots that I normally use for handicapped had signs indicating authorized vehicles only and I looked at the parking areas and they had very few cars in the area and there would have been a lot of space for other cars.. It was so frustrating to try and find a parking spot on a Sunday and trying to get to the play in time. We got there an hour early and ended up driving around about 25 minutes and finally found a space. I talked to several people at the play and they also said they were not happy with the parking especially since for handicapped people it is especially hard since the parking is not very close to The Globe. It was especially hard since there were other activities going on during Sunday. Just needed to air my frustration about the lack of available parking.