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Sumptuous Balboa Park
contains one of the largest groups of museums in the
US, scattered either side and to the south of El Prado, the
road that bisects the park. Yet its greatest charms are its
trees, gardens, statues, traffic-free promenades and Spanish
Colonial-style buildings. Within easy reach of downtown by
buses #7, #16 or #25, the park is large but fairly easy
to get around on foot - if you tire, there's a free
tram. The $30 Balboa Park Passport , which allows
one-time admission to all twelve of the park's museums and its
Japanese garden (though not the zoo), is available from the
visitors information center (daily 9am-4pm; tel
619/239-0512), inside the beautifully reconstructed House of
Hospitality. Most of the museums are closed on Mondays, and
most are free on varying Tuesdays.
Minor works by Rembrandt and El Greco and a
stirring collection of Russian icons make the stifling
formality of the Timkin Museum of Art (Tues-Sat
10am-4.30pm, Sun 1.30-4.30pm; closed Sept; free; gort.ucsd.edu
/sj/timken) worth enduring. The San Diego Museum of Art
(Tues-Sun 10am-4.30pm; $8; ) has few individually striking
items in its permanent collection, save for a small selection
of 17th-century Dutch works by Hals and Rembrandt, but it's
the main venue for touring shows and offers some exquisitely
crafted pieces from China and Japan. Outside, don't miss the
free Sculpture Court and Garden , with formidable works
by Henry Moore and Alexander Calder. The Museum of Man
(daily 10am-4.30pm; $6; ), which straddles El Prado, veers
from banal crafts demonstrations to excellent Native American
displays, artifacts, folklore and physical remains.
The child-oriented Reuben H. Fleet Science
Center (Mon & Tues 9.30am-6.30pm, Wed-Sun 9.30am-9pm;
science center $6.50, with theater or simulator $9, all three
$11; ), close to the Park Boulevard end of El Prado, is
notable mainly for its Space Theater's huge IMAX screen and
virtual reality simulator, which take you on stomach-churning
trips into outer and inner space. Across the plaza, the
Natural History Museum (daily 9.30am-4.30pm; $6; ) has
a great collection of fossils and pulls no punches in its
coverage of threatened species. Just behind, in the Spanish
Village Art Center (daily 11am-4pm; free), craftspeople in
37 studios and galleries practice skills such as painting,
sculpture, pottery and glassworking.
The enormous San Diego Zoo (daily: mid
June-early Sept 7am-10pm; early Sept-mid June 9am-dusk; last
entry an hour before closing; ), immediately north of the main
museums, is one of the world's best. Its wide selection of
animals, many of them rare, are restrained in "psychological
cages," without bars. (Don't depend on the much-hyped but
usually sleeping Chinese pandas for entertainment, however.)
Basic admission , including the children's zoo, is
$18.50 (kids 3-11 $9.50); a Deluxe Tour ticket ($28.50, kids
$16.50) includes a bus tour and a round-trip ride on the
Skyfari overhead tramway.
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Back to San
Diego
- SeaWorld San
Diego
San Diego, CA
92109
800-380-3203
(Phone)
619-226-3952
(Fax)
800-SEAWORLD (Toll Free)www.seaworld.com |
- San Diego Zoo
Park Blvd. & Zoo Pl.
San Diego,
CA 92112-0551
619-718-3000
(Phone)
619-718-3021
(Fax)
800-628-3066 (Toll Free)www.sandiegozoo.org |
|
|
- LEGOLAND
California
One Legoland Dr.
Carlsbad,
CA
92008
760-918-LEGO (Phone)
760-918-5408 (Fax)
www.legoland.com |
- Pacific Islander Festival
Association
P.O. Box 86046
San Diego,
CA 92138
619-699-8797
(Phone)
No Fax (Fax)
www.pacificislanders.com |
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- Kobey's Swap
Meet
3500 Sports Arena Blvd.
San Diego,
CA 92110
619-226-0650
(Phone)
619-523-2715
(Fax)
800-506-4019 (Toll Free)www.kobeyswap.com
San Diego's largest open-air
market |
- Scuba and Kayak San Diego,
Inc.
1775 E. Mission Bay Dr.
San Diego,
CA 92109
619-260-1880
(Phone)
619-275-7992
(Fax)
800-586-3483 (Toll Free)www.scubasandiego.com |
- Cannibal Bar-Catamaran
Resort Hotel
3999 Mission Blvd.
San
Diego, CA
92109
858-539-8650
(Phone)
858-539-8809 (Fax)www.cannibalbar.com |
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- Catalina
Express
Berth 95
San Pedro,
CA 90731
310-519-1212
(Phone)
310-548-7389
(Fax)
877-358-6363 (Toll
Free)mail@CatalinaExpress.com
Fastest boats and most
frequent departures to Catalina Island from San Pedro,
Long Beach and Dana
Point.
|
- Bahia
Belle
998 W. Mission Bay Dr.
San Diego,
CA 92109
858-488-0551
(Phone)
858-488-7055
(Fax)
800-576-4229 (Toll Free)www.bahiahotel.com |
- Classic Sailing
Adventures
1220 Rosecrans St. Suite
137
San Diego, CA
92106
619-224-0800
(Phone)
619-223-2113
(Fax)
800-659-0141 (Toll
Free)
www.classicsailingadventures.com
Daily sailing cruises, sunset sails and
seasonal whale watching |
- Hard Rock Cafe - La
Jolla
909 Prospect Ave.
La Jolla,
CA 92037
858-456-7625
(Phone)
858-551-0614 (Fax)www.hardrock.com
|
- Onyx Room
852
Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA
92101
619-235-6699
(Phone)
619-702-6699 (Fax)www.theonyxroom.com |
Dont Forget About
Disneyland |
