Balboa park

[laura&fam]

We'll be heading to Balboa park for half a day (not long enough I know). What are the best gardens and what shouldn't we miss?

Also are there any restraunts around for lunch?

 

[LavenderPeach]

We just went there in July. We had never been around the park before except to see the zoo. I would highly suggest you avoid the Japanese Tea Garden. What was there was nice but we couldn't believe how small it was! Especially since they charge you to get in ($3 i think). We've been to the one in San Francisco several times and were expecting to see something like that so we were very disappointed. It's more like walking along a path with Japanese gardens on either side of you. We got to the end of the path (which took maybe 2 minutes) and we were like "where's the rest of it?". The also had a building there that they put exhibits in. When we were there they had an exhibit of things made by people in the Japanese internment camps during WWII which was interesting.

I don't know what sort of eating place you were looking for but we found a really good restaurant there called The Prado. It's near the visitor's center. It was more of a fancy restaurant but it wasn't too terribly expensive. They have a nice patio area outside. We got the best dessert there which was a chocolate lava cake.

Next to the Japanese Tea garden there was a little place where you could get food (teryaki and sushi and stuff like that). It was a counter service place and the food looked okay but we were really glad we went to the Prado instead.

Hope that helps!

 

[laura&fam]

Thanks.

Since it's just DH and I, we would rather not do a lunch counter. Anything without a playland would be a treat. I think we'll try the Prada.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We were just there and it is beautiful. As Lavender Peach already said that one restaurant is pretty much it, and other than the little snack cart kind of places there is nothing else nearby.

We just wandered around and enjoyed the grounds and architecture of the buildings since we didn't have a lot of time (and we were getting hungry and didn't want to eat there). The Botanical garden is pretty and free (it opens at 10am), and the ponds and fountains around there are really pretty. There are plenty of nice museums, but we didn't have time to go in and check them out.

We found tons of great places to eat over in Old Town which is just minutes away on I-5. There are tons of great Mexican restaurants and other options as well. We had some good pizza there.

I hope you have a great time!

 

[LavenderPeach]

Thanks.

Since it's just DH and I, we would rather not do a lunch counter. Anything without a playland would be a treat. I think we'll try the Prada.

The Prada sounds like it will be perfect for you then! We went on our anniversary and it made for a nice celebration lunch. Our waiter was really great too. He was very friendly and gave suggestions on what he thought was good. We had wandered around the park a little before going to lunch and we were sort of feeling like the people we encountered weren't very friendly and they were people who you would think would be (like the ladies who worked in the visitor's center) so when we got the the restaurant we were pleasently surprised by how nice everyone there was. Hope you have a good time there!

Don't forget to save room for dessert! DH and I still talk about the yummy dessert we got there.

 

[wdwrich]

Actually, the name is "The Prado". Enjoy!

 

[ScooterL]

I agree with the Prado restaurant recommendation - it's quite nice! As far as gardens go...the Rose Garden (across Park Blvd from the Reuben Fleet Space Museum) is nice, and I also like the Botanical Garden. Walking around Spanish Village (where all the little artists' shops are) is kind of interesting, too.

 

[LavenderPeach]

Actually, the name is "The Prado". Enjoy!

Oops. I typed it right the first time. Guess I wasn't paying attention when I wrote it again.

 

[cedarparkgirl]

I read on the Balboa park website that they often have free admission on Tuesdays on a rotating basis. Does anyone know how to find out which places will be free? Also we have 2.5 days of free time in San Diego. Our children are 8 and 6. Can you tell me how many days does it take to go through this park? And is purchasing a park passport worth it? Or should we just do the free things in the park. Thanks in advance

 

[wdwrich]

The schedule of free Tuesday admissions is on their web site:
http://www.balboapark.org/calendar/detail.php?EventID=370

It's hard to say how long it would take to get through the whole park. Depends on which museums you want to explore and how in-depth you want to be with them. Some would probably be uninteresting for your children. My grandkids love the model train museum!

 

[cedarparkgirl]

Thanks for the reply. I'll add model train exhibit to our itinerary!

 

[laura&fam]

We didn't have our kids with us, but the museum of man was interesting and it did have a kids area upstairs.

There is some free stuff and the gardens were nice, but if we were going to spend more time there I would have bought the pass. I would recommend checking out the balboa park website, seeing what you realistically want to go to and have time for and then seeing if it's financially worth it to buy the pass.

 

[heatherbelle]

i've just been reading my guide book ( unoffical guide with kids), and it recommends the reuben space theatre and science centre. it's not signed posted in the park, , but it'sacross the fountain plaza from the natural history museum.

it advises to visit on a school day after lunch. i've added it to our list of things to do.

 

[ElenitaB]

If you're looking for other things to do with kids in the San Diego area, I'd add a visit to The Cove in La Jolla (pretty for parents and sea life for the kiddos) and maybe a visit to the Birch Aquarium, further up the road in La Jolla. Go much further up the road, you'll end up in Carlsbad and Legoland.

Balboa Park (and the Zoo) are a great place to visit... and The Prado is located in a very pretty location. I worked there way back when it was the Cafe del Rey Moro. Its current incarnation has received some pretty decent reviews on Yelp.com.