Balboa Park San Diego

Balboa Park is where the arts, culture, and history of San Diego come together to create a 1,200-acre wonderland filled with unforgettable experiences for people of every age. Thriving botanical beauty flourishes throughout and surrounds 15 museums, a variety of performing arts and musical theaters, exotic gardens, fabulous restaurants, upscale shopping, the San Diego Zoo, and exquisite Spanish Moor architecture. Known as America’s largest urban cultural park, more than 500,000 visitors come each year to delight in the beauty and amazing attractions of Balboa Park.

With 19 gardens, 17 museums, 13 recreation venues, 9 performing arts arenas, 9 various attractions and play spaces, restaurants, dog parks, and trails, San Diego’s Balboa Park offers something for everyone. Balboa Park’s land has been set aside for almost 150 years and has racked up quite an array of family-friendly activities. Beginning in 1868 as City Park, the land now home to San Diego’s most epic green space sat idle for more than two decades before the first beautification projects began. Known as the Mother of Balboa Park, it was Kate Sessions who first offered to plant 100 trees a year and donate foliage within the park’s boundaries in exchange for a small portion of land to be used as her nursery.