The Private Balboa Park Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Where culture, science, and nature collide, Balboa Park is home to more than 16 museums, multiple performing arts venues, lovely gardens, trails, and many other creative and recreational attractions. A variety of cultural institutions among its 1,200 beautiful and lushly planted acres, there is something for everyone. Home of the San Diego Zoo. (Something to see another time).

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2. San Diego’s coveted secret for art lovers at Spanish Village Art Center. Located between the Zoo and theNAT these quaint buildings and colorful courtyard were originally built in 1935. They depicted a charming old village in Spain for the second California Pacific International Exposition.

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3. The Japanese Friendship Garden ("JFG") is an expression of friendship between San Diego and its sister city, Yokohama.

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4. Specializing in cultural anthropology, the Museum of Us explores the human experience from multicultural perspectives to spark dialogue, self-reflection, and human connections. During your visit, you’ll explore a variety of unique, interactive exhibits that cover a vast range of human history and culture.

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5. The Botanical Building with the Lily Pond and Lagoon in the foreground is one of the most photographed scenes in Balboa Park. The Lily Pond, built as a reflecting pool for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition features annual plantings of water lilies and lotus. The plantings inside of the Botanical Building include orchid displays, cycads and palms, a scratch-and-sniff garden, and seasonal displays.

   5 min

6. The San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat). From rattlesnakes and flesh-eating beetles, to dinosaurs and fossils, to historic archives and art, there’s something for every type of nature nerd here at the home of one the oldest biological research centers in the region. Visitors will be impressed by the unique, interactive exhibitions that span across five floors. The museum features a giant-screen theater with daily showings, as well as rotating exhibitions that bring nature to life.

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7. The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden contains more than 1,600 roses including Hybrid Teas, Florabundas, Grandifloras, Miniature Shrubs, and Old Roses.

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8. The Comic-Con Museum will encourage an appreciation of comics and related popular arts through exhibits, programs and events drawn from across the Comic-Con universe. Considered the cultural heart of San Diego, Balboa Park is already home to numerous museums, galleries and theaters along with the famous San Diego Zoo. Now, with the help of the City of San Diego, CCI is in the process of converting the 1935 Federal Building into what is planned to be a world-class museum by day, and a very unique fan community venue by night.

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9. The California Tower, the soaring, intricately detailed, portion of the California Building, is an icon of San Diego, and can be seen from miles around. The building houses the San Diego Museum of Us. The nearly 200-foot-tall Tower and Dome of the California Building are covered with intricate carvings, colorful tile, and glass beads.

   5 min

10. This unique organ contains more than 5,000 pipes ranging in length from the size of a pencil to 32 feet and is the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world. The Spreckels Organ is housed in an ornate vaulted structure with highly embellished gables.

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11. Modeled after Shakespeare’s Old Globe in London, the Old Globe. Theatre was built in 1935 for the presentation of abridged versions of Shakespeare’s plays as part of the California Pacific International Exposition.

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Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 24 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in San Diego

• Its from-price is 89% above the median of the 530 experiences we list in San Diego.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 138 of 530.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About San Diego

San Diego is a sunny Pacific port city in southern California, with long beaches, a park of museums, a Victorian Gaslamp district and the border close by.

San Diego is where Spanish settlers founded California's first mission and presidio in 1769, remembered today in Old Town. Balboa Park holds museums, gardens and Spanish-style buildings from the 1915 exposition, with the zoo beside it. The Gaslamp Quarter's Victorian streets, a restored waterfront, Coronado's grand seaside hotel and a retired aircraft carrier turned museum are other landmarks.

Top-ranked sights in San Diego: Downtown San Diego, USS Midway Museum, Coronado.

See all 530 experiences in San Diego