The Private Balboa Park Tour

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.