Experience arts, science, history, culture, and more! The Balboa Park Explorer Pass is your ticket to some of the best museums San Diego has to offer all in Balboa Park. Get the most out of your visit to Balboa Park with affordable Pass options: Annual (365 days of unlimited exploring in all participating venues!), Parkwide (7 consecutive days of access to all participating venues), and Limited (visit up to 4 participating venues in one day). See what venues are included below and purchase your Balboa Park Explorer Pass today!
Participating Venues
Centro Cultural de la Raza
Start your journey at the Centro Cultural de la Raza, a lively community cultural center that creates, preserves, promotes, and educates about Chicano, Mexicano, Latino, and Indigenous art and culture. Be sure to check out the vivid murals; each is 15 by 25 feet and mixes indigenous graphics with contemporary design and color.
Fleet Science Center
Discover the possibilities at the Fleet Science Center where you’ll find more than 100 interactive exhibits that connect people of all ages to the power of science.
ICA, San Diego
Experience something new and exciting at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego. Founded in 1941, ICA showcases contemporary art and artists from the Southern California/Baja Norte region, with a focus on San Diego County.
Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum
The Japanese Friendship Garden has plenty of paths to explore. Keep an eye out for koi fish; they were born in Japan and hand-selected for the Garden by the Koi Club of San Diego, who proudly maintain the fish and pond.
Mingei International Museum
Dedicated to art of the people (mingei) from all eras and cultures of the world, Mingei International Museum features dynamic, changing exhibitions of historical and contemporary folk art, craft and design.
Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art
Stroll down El Prado to check out one of the few institutions in the country devoted to photography, film and video. The Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Arts’ collections represents the entire history of photography, its aesthetic movements and technological advancements.
Museum of Us
Interested in exploring the human experience? Museum of Us, the city’s only museum devoted to anthropology, will help you do it with dynamic exhibitions such as Beerology and Race: Are We So Different?
San Diego Air & Space Museum
Head over to the San Diego Air and Space Museum to join the ranks of other great explorers. Discover artifacts from the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and other pioneers.
San Diego Automotive Museum
Speed on over to the San Diego Automotive Museum to see cars and motorcycles to see a variety of makes and models that highlight car culture throughout history. Its collection even includes a motorcycle that belonged to legendary movie star Steve McQueen.
San Diego History Center
Brush up on the region’s past at the San Diego History Center. With 45 million documents, 2.5 million historic photographs, 1,700 oral histories, 1,500 films, 15,000 historic objects, 7,000 items of historic clothing, and a significant collection of San Diego artwork, there’s something here to spark everyone’s interest.
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
There’s a whole tiny world to explore at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. With more than 115 scale miles of track, see models of local railroad lines like the San Diego and Arizona Eastern and the Cabrillo Southwestern. Be on the lookout for whimsical details—like a shark in a swimming pool!
San Diego Natural History Museum (the NAT)
Learn about the unique biodiversity of Southern California and the Baja California at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Watch out for dinosaurs!
The San Diego Museum of Art
Wander the beautiful galleries of The San Diego Museum of Art, which host a fine selection of European old masters, 19th and 20th-century American art, an encyclopedic Asian collection, and growing collections of contemporary and Latin American art.
Timken Museum of Art
There’s more art to discover at the always-free Timken Museum. While small in size, the museum’s collection is impressive and features European old masters, 19th-century American art and Russian icons. The collection also includes the only Rembrandt painting on public display in San Diego.
Veterans Museum at Balboa Park
Located on Park Boulevard, honors the memories of all men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces and Wartime Merchant Marine. Highlights from the museum’s collection include WWII artifacts such as the pen that Admiral Nimitz used to sign the Japanese surrender document and the first American flag captured by the Japanese in the Philippines. Also, see if you can find Sen. John McCain’s autograph on its elaborate mural.
WorldBeat Center
The WorldBeat Cultural Center highlights the African diaspora and indigenous cultures of the world through music, art, dance, education, sustainability and technology. Its vivid murals by local artists commemorate important leaders and historical cultures.