Top Summer Things to Do for Free in San Diego

Best Activities Cost Nothing in Balboa Park or on the Beaches

Jun 6, 2009
Donna Dailey

Enjoy San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter for Free - Donna Dailey

For the visitor on a budget, there's lots to do this summer for free in San Diego, including beaches, Balboa Park, Gaslamp Quarter, wildlife, and the Children's Museum.

From Balboa Park to the Gaslamp Quarter, from the city's beaches to the sea lions in La Jolla Cove, many of San Diego's best things to do can be enjoyed for free.

Balboa Park and the Gaslamp Quarter

It costs nothing to admire the architecture of places like Balboa Park or the late-Victorian buildings of the Gaslamp Quarter downtown. Balboa Park has plenty more to enjoy for free too. Stroll through the many beautiful gardens which include the Alcazar Garden, the Desert Garden, the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, the Japanese Friendship Garden, and the impressive Botanical Building.

Several of Balboa Park's many museums have free admission on certain days or evenings of the week. Check with the Balboa Park Visitor Center. There are also free organ concerts on Monday evenings throughout the summer at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion as part of the International Summer Organ Festival.

San Diego Beaches Cost Nothing

San Diego has 33 beaches along its golden sandy coastline and right in the city too, so make the most of that coast whether it's for entertaining the children, surfing, posing, or just plain sunbathing. San Diego beaches are free.

Visit the San Diego Children's Museum for Free

The new Children's Museum in downtown San Diego offers free admission to everyone on the second Sunday of each month. This contemporary art museum for kids showcases art works they can not only touch but move, play with, and climb on. They can also get good and messy creating their own art works.

Watching Wildlife in San Diego

To the north of San Diego at La Jolla Cove visitors can watch sea lions in this protected marine sanctuary. It's also a perfect spot to watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. There are also plenty of places where you can go whale watching for free from the San Diego shoreline. In several places whales, during the migration season, come close enough in to be able to watch them from the shore.