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.

Wonderful grounds, gardens, buildings and art museums

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.

Balboa park is pretty big, so it's ideal to stop by here to start your exploration.

The visitors center at Balboa Park is a great place to get information, purchase passes, and pick up 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 🍀☘️

Excellent tour

Best place to visit at night. They have heaters in the sitting area so you can get comfortable. Less crowded on weekends.

Very knowledgeable about what to see and do

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.

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.

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

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 it's 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 it's 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!!

Balboa Park is absolutely beautiful and so many places for a walk with those much beatiful plants and flowers! Very family friendly plenty of things to do. Nice views and gardens.

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

Beautiful architecture, beautiful purchasable items. There's not much to say other than "Yep, it's a gift shop" and a gift shop with good service. You can buy Balboa Park passes at the shop, which I highly recommend to those who live two hours away. A great start to entering one of California's most beautiful city parks!

Love love love their gift shop & staff. Great souvenir & gift items for holiday & everyday. I love their garden flag selection.

Beautiful, familiar, open, full of small museums but with very beautiful collections. The spaces for children, fountains, carousel, the little train, are beautiful. The El Prado restaurant is a haven

Bought a shirt here. I tried to return it, but since it's rather difficult to get into Balboa Park, it took me a while to get back to the store. When I brought it in for a refund, they said they have a 15-day refund policy and could not do anything for me. 15 days is ridiculous, especially for a shop that is essentially a tourist attraction. I'll never buy anything here again.

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.

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.

Fun place for photos and exploring. If there are other people in the room it makes photos more challenging. Neat little break from reality, has a variety of rooms, and is worth the price for the novelty if you've never experienced something like this.

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.

Very knowledge personal available to answer any and all questions and offer suggestions.

Great welcome from the visitors center staff! We were given a free map and plenty of advices to discover Balboa Park. Thanks so much!

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 didn't have my size. The volunteer contacted another visitors center but had no luck there then ended up providing the suppliers details. I've ended up buying it on sale as I was patient! I cannot wait to wear this hat out!

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

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.

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