Balboa Park

This 1,200-acre park, which hosted the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, is home to many of San Diego’s museums and cultural attractions such as the Old Globe theatre, which hosts a summertime Shakespeare festival. Other highlights include the park’s iconic conservatory building with its serene lily pond, the Natural History Museum, San Diego Museum of Art, a darling carousel and miniature railroad train. Several gardens dot the grounds, a legacy of local resident Kate Sessions, who donated hundreds of trees to the park in exchange for using a portion of a land as a nursery. A free daily tram provides access to many of these attractions.