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From the A*List Deals Weekly Newsletter
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San Diego Walking Tour
Excerpt from National Geographic Traveler: San Diego guidebook
Text by Marael Johnson and Joe Yogerst Photo by David Sussman
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The Casa del Prado is a reconstruction of a Pan-American Exhibition building. |
San Diego's Balboa Park is vast—filled with so many attractions they can't possibly be seen in a single day. Even long-time residents have yet to explore every nook and cranny. Museum exhibits change often, as do theater productions and concert programs, making the grounds and gardens a year-round spectacle. If you're pressed for time, pick and choose among your favorites; otherwise, schedule several days to cover more territory (wear sturdy walking shoes!). An alternative is to catch the free tram that stops at various points throughout the park, allowing visitors to hop on and off.
*Bolded names and numbers in the text below correspond with our map of this tour.
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The park's main attractions lie in the area bounded by Sixth Avenue, Park Boulevard, Interstate 5, and Upas Street.
Enter the park's western edge on Laurel Street. (Arrive early enough and you may find parking on Balboa Drive, the first right.) Walk east across Balboa Park West, a broad grassland thronged with picnicking families, Frisbee throwers, lawn bowlers, runners, exhibitionist sun worshippers, street people, and dog walkers. Most of the latter will be headed down the hill to your right for Nate's Point, an area devoted to dogs and their owners.
Cross busy Calif. 163 and its wide canyon on the Cabrillo Bridge (1) (also known as the Laurel Street Bridge). This approach provided a dramatic entrance for fairgoers to the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition; among the first to cross it on April 12, 1914 (the day it opened) had been Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Balboa Park's official gateway, the archway at the east end—adorned by reclining male and female figures pouring water from jugs—signifies the Panama Canal's link of the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean. As you pass beneath the arch and enter the park, you'll find yourself on El Prado, the main east-west artery.
On the left, the 1915 Spanish Colonial-style California Building (2) immediately strikes most visitors. Presided over by its landmark 200-foot-tall (61-meter) California Tower—topped by a caravel wind vane and a 100-bell carillon that chimes the quarter-hour—this was one of the most ornate constructions for the early exposition. Among the impressive architectural elements is the gleaming dome covered in yellow, blue, and white ceramic tiles, and the decorative facade that incorporates life-size sculptures of early San Diego historical figures. Housed within, the San Diego Museum of Man (also established in 1915) offers outstanding archaeology and anthropology displays. The Tudor-style Globe Theatres complex, in Copley Plaza behind the museum, is home to the renowned 1935 Old Globe Theatre and two other stages.
As you continue along El Prado, gardens pop up on both sides of the street. The Sculpture Garden, on the left, is part of the San Diego Museum of Art, enabling all who pass by a glimpse of works by artists such as Henry Moore and Alexander Calder. On the right, stroll through Alcazar Garden (behind the Art Institute) for its seasonal blooms and tile fountains, modeled after the grounds at Spain's Alcazar Castle.
East of the garden, the Spanish-style House of Charm—a 1990s copy of the original 1915 building—is home to the San Diego Art Institute, a showcase for local artists, and the Mingei International Museum, which exhibits colorful folk arts and crafts from around the world. The House of Charm's northeast corner meets Plaza de Panama, the focal point of the park, marked by Anna Hyatt Huntington's 23-foot-tall (7-meter) equestrian sculpture of El Cid Compeador, in place since 1930.
Centerpiece of the plaza, with its magnificent Spanish Renaissance-style facade, is the San Diego Museum of Art (3). Fine collections of Italian Renaissance, Spanish baroque, and Asian works, as well as important traveling exhibits, make this a top West Coast art museum. At the east edge of the plaza, the circa-1960s Timken Art Gallery displays a private collection of American and European master paintings, and an extraordinary selection of Russian icons. The Balboa Park Visitors Center (+619-239-0512) is located in the House of Hospitality (4), at the plaza's southeastern edge. Aside from providing information and selling maps, this is the departure point for various park tours. Also inside is Prado Restaurant, a popular lunch and dinner spot with dramatic decor and contemporary cuisine. Behind this building, the Japanese Friendship Garden affords a peaceful place to relax and reflect in a Zen-like environment. Traditional tea ceremonies are held in the teahouse.
Facing south from the plaza, the open-air Spreckels Organ Pavilion (5) (donated by sugar magnate John Spreckels for the 1915-16 expo) is home to the world's largest outdoor pipe organ. The 2,400-seat pavilion welcomes listeners to free Sunday afternoon and summer evening concerts. Walk counterclockwise around the Organ Pavilion to reach the United Nations Building, the start of the Pan-American Plaza and a lengthy loop of sights. The 18 cottages, south of the United Nations Building, make up the House of Pacific Relations. Dating from the first expo, each continues to represent the cultures of various nations. The Balboa Park Club and Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre reside just west of the cottages. Wandering southward you'll pass the San Diego Automotive Museum, with its collection of vintage vehicles, and the circular San Diego Aerospace Museum, distinguished by the Blackbird A-12 spy plane. Returning northbound, you'll pass the Starlight Bowl, where summer musicals are performed, and the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum, which recognizes local athletes.
Return to Plaza de Panama and El Prado—now a pedestrian-only walkway as it travels east. Street mimes and musicians often play to visitors who lounge around the languid koi-filled Lily Pond, across from the visitor center. More than 500 types of tropical and subtropical plants fill the redwood-lathed Botanical Building, behind the pond. Back on El Prado, lovely Casa del Prado is a venue used by various community performance groups. Across the way, Casa de Balboa is home to such popular attractions as the highly respected Museum of Photographic Arts, enlightening San Diego Historical Society Museum, and the captivating San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
An enormous fountain greets you at Plaza de Balboa on the park's eastern edge. To your right, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (6) offers hands-on exhibits and an IMAX Theater with exciting films. To the left, the renovated 1933 San Diego Natural History Museum (7) offers impressive displays focusing mainly on southern California and Baja California, and geared to all ages.
Behind the museum, the Spanish Village Art Center, constructed in the style of an ancient Spanish village for the 1935-36 expo, is an inviting ramble of studios and galleries—many with on-site artists who invite you to watch as they work.
Leaving Spanish Village, two attractions loom for kids and kids at heart—a 1910 carousel, complete with brass rings to grab, and a half-mile miniature railroad powered by a small version of a General Motors F-3 locomotive. Those intriguing sounds from beyond the lush eucalyptus groves mean you've reached the entrance to the World-Famous San Diego Zoo (8).
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