Balboa Park

Statue of El Cid

San Diego is renowned for outdoor landmarks, like its zoo and Sea World, but it has attractions that will appear to the indoor crowd, too. Balboa Park has been nicknamed Smithsonian west because of the 15 museums that dot its 1,200 acres (“the nation’s largest urban cultural park”) near downtown San Diego.

The museum pass entitles the pass-holder to one visit per museum over a consecutive seven-day period. The price was a bargain $35 (no charge for parking). We spent three leisurely days walking around Balboa Park and its museums. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the temperature never rose above 80 degrees.