Balboa Park is 485 hectares of San Diego’s pride and joy. The cultural, urban park is filled to the brim with various attractions and leisure activities of every description and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
One of the most famous attractions in Balboa Park is the San Diego Zoo, home to over 4,000 rare and endangered animals and made up of over 800 species. The San Diego division of The United Nations Building is also there, its presence requested by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1956. Art lovers can enjoy the Spanish Village Art Centre with daily art demonstrations from local artists and the Photographic Arts Building, built in 1913, and provides a dedicated space for amateur photographers to practise the art of photography. The park’s 1910 Carousel with its original hand-carved European murals and the Miniature Railroad’s rare model G16 running through one acre of some of the 20 theme parks and gardens and will help take the weight off traveller’s feet for a while too.
The park is served by San Diego’s trolleys to the City College stop and a northbound bus from nearby Park Blvd. If driving, parking is available, and the Balboa Park Activity Centre provides easy access to the heart of Balboa Park via the tram.
Balboa Park is named for the Spanish maritime explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa and was built in the styles of Spanish Colonial, Mission and Pueblo Revival. It was placed in reserve in 1835 and is one of the oldest sites in the United States dedicated to public recreational use. The Park was host to both the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition, providing architectural landmarks that remain to this day.