Balboa Park Visitors Center in Alpine

Since Balboa park is massive and can be overwhelming to new visitors, make sure this is your first stop. This place could compete with the state visitor centers. Huge souvenir shop with tons of pamphlets and staff to guide you in the right direction, tailored to your interests. Everyone was so pleasant and friendly.

A recommended stop for all first time visitors to Balboa park. Be sure and investigate acquiring an explorer pass for each member of your party. They are available for one or more days, or even a year, and will give you access to almost all of the museums and attractions in the park. It does not include the zoo or the Comic-Con Museum. They also have a nice assortment of souvenirs.

Fantastic customer service! We were lost trying to find the hidden golden treasure Railroad museum. Thank you for helping us with directions and providing us with a Balboa Park map 🍀☘️

Always an interesting place to visit, walk, and people watch.

Easter 🐣 Sunday is so much funbe whit my familyThank you

Small visitor center with a gift shop . You can get a map of the park and the audio guide here.Thumbs up to all the volunteers.*April 2022 - The Saturday tours indicated on the website are not scheduled anymore, double check.

Go hear first if you are visiting the Balboa park for the first time. You will get valuable guidance from them.

Very nice, and helpful. Expect to maybe spend an extra few minutes there if you need to rent a wheelchair, because they have to go through a 3rd party.

Lady with burgundy hair wearing green work shirt was asking for donation for a map guide. She told me “next time offer donation when someone gives something”. LADY I OFFERED A $20 APPLE PAY DONATION TO A MAN PRIOR TO GOING TO YOU. I just did not have cash on hand at the time. She then ASSUMES that some man who “pretends” to have a child was the one who I gave a donation to.

Helpful staff and good selection of Balboa Park and San Diego themed gifts/ souvenirs.

Beautiful to visit outdoors. Most exhibits were great, but the Cosplay Museum was terrible and wasnt worth paying money for. My daughter was very disappointed.

Very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Maps, calendars, passes and souvenirs available.

Excellent customer service and help. Nice gift shop also, but the prices are the usual high California rate.

The volunteers here are really something to go out of their way to help. Not only did they point me to the main attractions I wanted. I have been looking for a certain styles of hat for years and finally found it but they didnt have my size. The volunteer contacted another visitors center but had no luck there then ended up providing the suppliers details. Ive ended up buying it on sale as I was patient! I cannot wait to wear this hat out!

The staff is very helpful. Be sure to pick up a map of the park. The park is huge and you need to know your way around.

This place is beautiful! It will be even more beautiful after the plague and things normalise! 😷🙄🦋

Best place to replace your mind and enjoy woth family. Good for taking pictures..

Wonderful Balboa Park resource with educated and friendly staff. You can get all your Balboa Park goodies here and get informed and detailed info at any time. Delightful.

Best park to walk and just enjoy an afternoon with friends and family.

A stunning and must do party and surrounding area!! There is so much to see and do here we were taken by surprise. The garden atrium covered area was a personal favorite for us both, but its gorgeous throughout.There are several shops and restaurants here as well so you can really make a while day of it. Several museums and attractions also share the slave within walking distance. I recommended the city pass if you are doing more than one thing in the area to save some money.Bring comfortable shoes and dress for the weather as its a lot of walking and large stretches of outdoor space with no coverings.Overall: A++A gorgeous area that is an absolute most for anyone busting the area!!

Great place to star if you are unfamiliar with the grounds. They give you a map and plenty of advice. Very friendly and informative.

Its beautiful park. I love walking in the early evening. I am always amazed at all the plant species and wild life.

Very nice place to come visit with friends and family, its so beautiful the gardens are amazing the buildings have a lot of history. Wish I had taken pictures but I was so taken by the views but take my word for it. You have to stop here! You wont regret it.

Well it was indeed a relaxing place to walk around, some street shows were happening. Hopefullu more entertainments are about to build up soon

Balboa park is spread across 1200 acres. If you are wondering where to start and have only a couple of hours, this is great start. The castles and other architectural buildings are in this area. The pipe organ amphitheatre, Japanese garden, a tea cafe and a great veranda style restaurant are all in 10 mins walk vicinity.

Staff tell you all about what you can do. They are very friendly. Everything is beatiful in this park except zoo.

Balboa Park is all about classical music, beautiful gardens and amazing architecture. Very nice vibe to spend a Sunday afternoon. Free outdoor organ concert in Sunday. Didnt want to leave. My favorite place in San Diego.

Not only is the Visitors Center an amazing resource for Park visitors, but they are incredible. Today, I lost my car key and, lo and behold, they had it! I cannot imagine that happening in any other city! The folks who work at the Park are lovely, helpful and kind.I have consulted the Center when Ive visited to find out which museums were free or what exhibits were ongoing. I have always gotten great assistance.

The whole area is very nice. It has so much stuff to see, some places you will need to pay and others are free. Theres also a garden, a few restaurants and restrooms. This is a nice place to take pictures and to go for a walk.

Balboa Park Visitor Center is the heart of the park! They have information on all the happenings in the park! You can go home with a great souvenir too!

We picked up some information, they can help if you are a companion for someone some of the zoos & museums alow a free companion. It was actually cheaper with our gopass from costco not to go that route. They were very helpful.

The staff is really nice here. They give you map and introduce details for you. We learned from them that there are many free Garden also know there is a free museum. They also suggest us to go to the international house. They suggest desert and rose garden to us. And indeed they are all really nice. Thanks for the tour they provide

Must visit place. No admission fee. It is stuffed with lots of fun such as free tram ride, scooter rides (paid), different religious stalls (you may not find always), magician, fountain, several museums and much more. Also can be considered as nice picnic spot.

Make the Visitors Center your first stop when visiting the multiple museums, walks, gardens, art galleries, and events in Balboa Park. Their free park map is quite helpful. In addition to a manned by volunteer info. desk, you can buy some small gifts and cards in their gift shop.

The atmosphere is really nice. Familia enjoying a walk, performers entertaining the crowd, photographers capturing special moments, the smells of fact restayrants, etc.

Excellent place to visit unfortunately the best places are of pay

Im rating this location as a gift shop, though its main reason for being is as a help desk and general guide to the park. If you are looking for San Diego and Balboa Park-themed items, youll find a treasure trove of options here without having to go into all the museum gift shops. There is a price range to fit most budgets.

It is very sad to see homeless people living in the yard. But this park is very well organised. We had a great time. You can spend a whole day around

One of the most beautiful places in San Diego. The worlds greatest Zoo. Lots of museums and things to see and do. Or just a casual hike around the park itself is a great way to spend the morning or afternoon

More of a souvenir shop then a visitor center. They do have a couple of people behind a counter answering questions though. They like to solicit you for contributions for any advice they give you. But its a little tiring at times.

Lovely place. The organ is spectacular!

Great place with snow fall pleasant weather

Beautiful buildings with plenty of history, some exhibits are free and some are pricy.

Very fun!! I suggest the rose garden.. absolutely stunning... Wish I didnt have to leave.

They go out of their way to help.... Annual pass a great deal..... kids love museum of man.... ask about upstairs mummys & kids escalations room with QUEENS CHAIR

You can spend the full day with so much to do! The cactus and rose garden are gorgeous and diverse. There are bunch of museums like the Museum of Man, and Natural History which will cost to enter but there is so much more to see for free!

The guides were very helpful and you can gt discounted zoo tickets! Check out the cafe next door and get the best chain latte you have ever had.

Si visitas San Diego no te vallas sin antes aver visitado este lugarIf you are visiting San Diego dont leave without visit this historic place

Fantastic park, deserves a visit

This park is picturesque! Lots of items to see and enjoy. I enjoyed the artistic feel everywhere. From performers to photographers, to tourist and students painting, this place has a great vibe.