Other Attractions

You won't run out of things to see and do in San Diego especially if outdoor activities are high on the agenda. The San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, and the Wild Animal Park are the city's three top attractions, but Balboa Park's museums, downtown's Gaslamp Quarter, the beaches, shopping in Old Town, and a performance at one of our prized live theatres or a Padres game at brand-new PETCO Park are all attractions worth visiting..…..

In 2004, downtown San Diego completed a huge construction project, the Padres' PETCO Park which has extended the rebuilt downtown a few blocks farther east. Real estate developers in the "East Village" are stepping up to the plate in hopes of cashing in on a home run.

In the meantime, you can wander from the turn-of-the-20th-century Gaslamp Quarter to the joyful, modern architecture of the Horton Plaza shopping center. The Gaslamp consists of 16 1/2 blocks of restored historic buildings. It gets its name from the old-fashioned street lamps that line the sidewalks. You'll find many of San Diego's best restaurants and our most vigorous nightlife scene here. At Horton Plaza, you can shop, stroll, snack or dine, enjoy free entertainment, see a movie, and people-watch -- all within a unique and playful village framework.

Seaport Village is a shopping and dining complex on the waterfront. It was designed to look like a New England seaport community. If you find the views across the water alluring, another way to experience San Diego's waterfront is with one of several harbor tours.

New York has Central Park, San Francisco has Golden Gate Park. San Diego's crown jewel is Balboa Park, a 1,174-acre city-owned playground and the largest urban cultural park in the nation. The park was established in 1868 in the heart of the city, bordered by downtown to the southwest and fringed by the early communities of Hillcrest and Golden Hill to the north and east. Originally called City Park, the name was eventually changed to commemorate the Spanish explorer Balboa. Tree plantings started in the late 19th century, while the initial buildings were created to host the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition; another expo in 1935-36 brought additional developments.

The park's most distinctive features are its mature landscaping, the architectural beauty of the Spanish-Moorish buildings lining El Prado (the park's east-west thoroughfare), and the outstanding and diverse museums contained within it. You'll also find eight different gardens, walkways, 4 1/2 miles of hiking trails in Florida Canyon, an ornate pavilion with the world's largest outdoor organ, an IMAX domed theater, the acclaimed Globe Theatres, and the San Diego Zoo.

The park is divided into three distinct sections, separated by Highway 163 and Florida Canyon. The narrow western wing of the park is largely grassy open areas that parallel Sixth Avenue; there are no museums in this section, but it's a good place for picnics, strolling, sunning, and dog walking. The eastern section is also devoid of cultural attractions, but has the Balboa Park Municipal Golf Course. The central portion of the park, between Highway 163 and Florida Drive, contains the zoo and all of the museums.

If you really want to visit the zoo and a few of the park's museums, don't try to tackle them both the same day. Allow at least 5 hours to tour the zoo; the amount of time you spend in the 13 major museums will vary depending on your personal interests. I've also mapped out a walking tour that takes in most of the park's highlights. There are informal restaurants serving sandwiches and snacks throughout the park. For breakfast, Tobey's 19th Hole at the municipal golf course is a find; try lunch at the Japanese Friendship Garden's Tea Pavilion, or the Prado Restaurant is a San Diego favorite.

There are two primary road entrances into the heart of the park. The most distinctive is from Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street: Laurel turns into El Prado as it traverses the beautiful Cabrillo Bridge across Highway 163. You can also enter via Presidents Way from Park Boulevard, just north of downtown via 12th Avenue. Major parking areas are at Inspiration Point just east of Park Boulevard at Presidents Way; in front of the zoo; and along Presidents Way between the Aerospace Museum and Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Other lots, though more centrally located, are small and in high demand, especially on weekends.

Public bus routes 7, 7A, and 7B run along Park Boulevard; for the west side of the park, routes 1, 3, and 25 run along Fourth/Fifth avenues (except for the Marston House, all museums are closer to Park Blvd.). Free tram transportation within the park runs daily from 8:30am to 6pm, with extended hours in summer months. The red trolley trams originate at the Inspiration Point parking lot to circuit the park, arriving every 8 to 10 minutes and stopping at designated pickup areas. Stop by the Balboa Park Visitors Center, located in the House of Hospitality (tel. 619/239-0512; www.balboapark.org) to learn about free walking and museum tours, or to pick up a brochure about the gardens of the park.

Balboa Park Money-Savers--Most Balboa Park attractions are open free of charge one Tuesday each month; there's a rotating schedule so two or more participate each Tuesday. If you plan to visit more than three of the park's museums, buy the Passport to Balboa Park, a $30 coupon booklet that allows entrance to 13 major museums (the rest are always free) and is valid for 1 week. If you plan to spend a day at the zoo and return for the museums another day, buy the Best of Balboa Park Combo, which provides one ticket to the zoo, and 3 days' admission to the 13 museums, for $55. The passports can be purchased at any participating museum or the visitor center.

Balboa Park Guided Tours--There are rewarding guided tours of the park that cater to a wide variety of interests. The visitor center conducts free rotating tours on Saturdays at 10am that highlight either the palm trees and vegetation or park history; they meet at the visitor center (tel. 619/235-1122). The park rangers lead free 1-hour tours focusing on the park's history, architecture, and botanical resources Tuesday and Sunday at 1pm, also meeting in front of the visitor center. The author of Discover Balboa Park conducts free walking tours of the park on Fridays at 11am and 1pm, meeting at the visitor center; call tel. 619/239-0512 for more information.

The Committee of 100 (tel. 619/223-6566), an organization dedicated to preserving the park's Spanish colonial architecture, offers a free exploration of the Prado's structures on the first Wednesday of the month at 9:30am, starting from the visitor center. The Globe Theatres Tour visits the three performance venues on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30am; the tour costs $5 for adults, $1 for seniors and students (tel. 619/231-1941). Plant Day at the San Diego Zoo is held the third Friday of each month from 10am to 2pm, and features self-guided and guided horticultural tours and functions; the orchid house is open to the public on this day (zoo admission required; call tel. 619/234-3153 for more details).

Mission Bay is a man-made, 4,600-acre aquatic playground created in 1945 by dredging tidal mud flats and opening them to sea water. Today, this is a great area for walking, jogging, in-line skating, biking, and boating. The boardwalk connecting Mission Beach and Pacific Beach is almost always bustling and colorful. If you get fogged out by June Gloom, head for The Plunge, the 175-foot-long indoor pool at the foot of the Giant Dipper.

For a spectacular view, drive north on Mission Boulevard, past Turquoise Street, where it turns into La Jolla Mesa Drive. Proceed up the hill3/4-mile and turn around. From here you'll see the beaches and Point Loma in front of you, Mission Bay and the San Diego Bay, downtown, the Hillcrest/Uptown area, and (on a clear day) the hills of Tijuana, and to the east, San Diego's backcountry.

One of San Diego's most scenic spots -- the star of postcards for more than 100 years -- is La Jolla Cove and the Ellen Browning Scripps Park on the bluff above it. The walk through the park, along Coast Boulevard (start from the north at Prospect St.), offers some of California's finest coastal scenery. Swimming, sunning, picnicking, barbecuing, reading, and strolling along the oceanfront walkway are all ongoing activities, and just south is the Children's Pool, a beach where dozens of harbor seals can be spotted lazing in the sun (sorry, no swimming here). The 6,000-acre San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park, established in 1970, stretches for 10 miles from La Jolla Cove to the northern end of Torrey Pines State Reserve, and extends from the shoreline to a depth of 900 feet. The park is a boat-free zone, with undersea flora and fauna that draw scuba divers and snorkelers, many of them hoping for a glimpse of the state fish, the brilliant orange garibaldi.

Sightseeing highlights in town include Mary Star of the Sea, 7727 Girard (at Kline), a beautiful Roman Catholic church; and La Valencia Hotel, 1132 Prospect St., a fine example of Spanish colonial structure. The La Jolla Woman's Club, 7791 Draper Ave.; the adjacent Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the La Jolla Recreation Center; and The Bishop's School are all examples of village buildings designed by architect Irving Gill.

At La Jolla's north end, you'll find the 1,200-acre, 22,000-student University of California, San Diego (UCSD), which was established in 1960 and represents the county's largest single employer. The campus features the Geisel Library, a striking and distinguished contemporary structure, as well as the Stuart Collection of public sculpture and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Architect Louis Kahn's masterpiece is probably the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Rd., a research facility named for the creator of the polio vaccine. Farther north is an ersatz jewel, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, a modern re-creation of early-20th-century Craftsman style in the guise of a 175-room luxury resort; it overlooks the revered Torrey Pines Golf Course.

For a fine scenic drive, follow La Jolla Boulevard to Nautilus Street and turn east to get to 800-foot-high Mount Soledad, which offers a 360-degree view of the area. The appropriateness of the 43-foot-tall cross on top, erected in 1954 in this public park, has been a subject of a 15-year legal fight involving the ACLU (religious symbols are prohibited on public land).

Hidden Attractions--While droves of folks stroll the sidewalks adjacent to La Jolla Cove, only a few know about Coast Walk. Starting behind the Cave Store, 1325 Coast Blvd. (tel. 858/459-0746), it meanders along the wooded cliffs and affords a wonderful view of the beach and beyond. The shop also serves as entry for Sunny Jim Cave, an evocative natural sea cave reached by a precipitous constricted staircase through the rock. The tunnel was hand-carved in 1903 -- it lets out on a wood-plank observation deck from which you can gaze out at the sea. It's a cool treat, particularly on a hot summer day, and costs $3 per person ($2 for kids 16 and under). Hold the handrail and your little ones' hands tightly.