Downtown San Diego Attractions

 

Downtown San Diego is known for its postcard skyline. Bordered by two regional assets, San Diego Bay and Balboa Park, downtown is a beautiful location rich in amenities and activities. More than 30,000 people live downtown and 75,000 people work here daily. Below are a few downtown San Diego attractions any visitor to San Diego will enjoy.

 

 

Gaslamp Quarter

San Diego's Historic Gaslamp Quarter has become one of San Diego's most popular neighborhoods. Filled with Victorian commercial buildings, the beautifully restored structures, in the heart of downtown, house some of the city's finest restaurants, live entertainment and distinguished arts and cultural events.

 

This 16 1/2-block neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the 94 structures identified as historically or architecturally significant now house more than 100 restaurants and nightclubs, movie theaters, stores, offices, galleries and lofts.

 

 

San Diego Embarcadero

Located in San Diego bay, the Embarcadero offers visitors a waterfront adventure. There are lots to do for the entire family. From the Maritime Museum to Seaport Village. The Embarcadero allows visitors to walk the San Diego harbor for spectacular view of ships, sights and storefronts.

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San Diego Children's Museum

Located in downtown San Diego, the new eco-friendly San Diego Children's Museum provides a dynamic, playful public space and community center for children and families. If you have kids, the San DiegoChildren's Museum is a must-see destination.

 

The Museum experience features innovative and provocative artworks that kids can touch, climb, or move. The exhibits encourage learning through the arts with hands-on art making opportunities and a variety of arts-based classes and workshops.

 

San Diego Children's Museum provides a comfortable and engaging environment for the entire family to enjoy together with abundant seating and an outdoor park. Don't forget to visit the organic cafe and the unique retail shop on the premises.

 

200 West Island Avenue
(near the Amtrak station at Santa Fe Depot and Convention Center Trolley Station)
San Diego, CA 92101

Phone: 619-233-8792

Website: www.thinkplaycreate.org

Admission: Adult $10.00, Child $10.00

Hours: Closed New Year's Day, Fourth of July, and Christmas Day

 

 

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego - Downtown

The recently expanded Museum, in the heart of downtown San Diego, features the new Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building and David C. Copley Building. It is located on Kettner Boulevard between Broadway and B Street. The downtown museum features a number of permanent commissions by artists such as Richard Serra and Jenny Holzer, large, light-filled gallery spaces in the renovated historic Santa Fe Depot baggage building, a lecture hall, and much more. MCASD presents a rapidly changing program of temporary exhibitions as well as evening programs including the popular TNT (Thursday Night Thing), the first Thursday of the month.

 

1100 & 1001 Kettner Blvd. (at Broadway)

San Diego, CA 92101

Phone: 858-454-3541

Website: www.mcasd.org

 

 

Little Italy

Established in the 1920s, the sloping landscape at the northern edge of San Diego Bay was once home to a highly successful tuna fishing industry and the many Italian families who derived their living from the coastal waters. Today Little Italy is Downtown San Diego’s oldest continuous business district. Its unique streetscape now offers a lively urban village with single-family homes, condominiums and apartments. The recently revitalized India Street is alive with restaurants, small cafés, galleries, specialty shops and abundant public art. The neighborhood also plays host to several popular annual events, such as Art Walk.

 

 

Firehouse Museum

The Pioneer Hook & Ladder Firehouse Museum displays over 150 years of firefighting history from around the world. An antique collection of firefighting equipment including fire engines, helmets, photographs spanning generations of the fire service and tons of memorabilia are all displayed in San Diego's oldest firehouse. Fire Station 6 (built in 1906).

 

Learn what it took to save lives and property and how the fire service has evolved while maintaining many of the same traditions.

 

1572 Columbia St.

San Diego, CA 92101

Located in downtown San Diego's 'Little Italy'

Phone: 619-232-FIRE

Website: www.thesdfirehousemuseum.org

 

 

PETCO Park

The new 'crown jewel' of downtown San Diego, PETCO Park is home to the San Diego Padres. The park serves up baseball Southern California style-complete with swaying palm trees and a sandy beach beyond centerfield.

If you are a sports enthusiast, you might enjoy a guided tour of the facility which will take you through restricted-acess areas that few guests see. Highlights of the tour include an exclusive premium lounge and private luxury suite, the press box, dugouts and the bullpen, and the warning track.

 

100 Park Blvd.

San Diego CA 92101

Phone: 619-795-5000 ; 888-MY-PADRES

Website: www.padres.com

 

 

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