San Diego Natural History Museum — Attraction in San Diego

Quick Facts: Size: Large (4 Floors) Price: $20 (Adults) $12 (Kids over 2) Est. time in Museum: 2.5 - 3.5 hours Recommended for: Families Best Feature(s): 3D movie theater

One of the larger museums in Balboa Park and arguably the best 'family' museum in the park. The Nat focuses on the subject of animals (from dinosaurs to present day) and nature. The Nat has 4 floors: exhibits occupy the top 3 floors and the bottom floor having the snack/food area, gift shop and a 3D movie theater--which is included in the cost of the ticket! There is also a kids play area in the back so that small kids can let off some steam and energy.

The animal exhibits present the animals in a wide variety of ways from life size recreations, fossils, and taxidermy. The nature exhibits aims to educate visitors on current issues such as global warming, wildfires, human encroachment, etc. For each exhibit there is a good amount of information to explain to you what your looking at.

The strength of the museum is the design of the exhibits and the interactive aspects. There are several 'walk-through' or 'walk-in' exhibits that attempt to re-create a specfic environment so that you really feel immersed in the exhibit. There are also touch screen displays that present video and further info about the exhibits. Overall, the design of each exhibit is interesting and completely different from one another, adding to variety.

The Nat is DEFINITELY NOT the old school "look but don't touch" mentality of a lot of museums. There is plenty of things that kids and adults can touch and play around with which makes the visit more fun. Best of all, you get to see 1 FREE 3D movie with your visit. The movies play every hour in a medium sized theater and is presented in a national geographic-style documentary. Movies are 30-45 min long and the 3D effect is decent.

Well worth the slightly above average ticket price considering everything that is here. The Nat gets my vote for the best 'family' museum in Balboa park and is arguably the most...

This review is specifically for The NAT as a wedding venue.

From the moment we stumbled on the San Diego Natural History Museum, we knew we found our perfect wedding venue - the perfect combination of fun, unique, and affordable. There’s just something special about having cocktails amongst dinosaurs, wildflowers, and a megalodon, before having dinner and dancing in front of a full Allosaurus skeleton! And our guests agreed, with so many of them calling it out as one of the most unique wedding venues they’d been to, and how much fun they had!

We had our ceremony on the rooftop, cocktail hour among the exhibits on the 2nd floor, and the reception in the first floor atrium, which gave a nice flow and unique feel to every phase of the evening, each of which stood out in their own way! And they also gave the wedding party access to their boardroom to use as a chilling/staging area before things kicked off (and to stash our things while they were in progress). All the facilities were outstanding and they provided us with all the tables and chairs we needed, plus uplights, and they coordinated seamlessly with all of our vendors. And as a key highlight, they also have their own liquor license, and as such they were able to provide open bar packages at a super reasonable cost!

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced us to postpone our wedding twice, The NAT was great about working with us to find new dates and roll everything over.

The only thing that keeps them from a full 5 stars in our book is that communication was consistently slow and difficult. Emails routinely took over a week (and in some cases multiple weeks) to get a response even with multiple follow-ups, and this created additional stress during the final weeks and months of preparation as we were finalizing details and decorations and the like. But at the end of the day, the event itself went smoothly as can be, and we had the night of our lives in such a...

This museum is a good place to take kids. A lot of the displays focus on the natural history of Southern California in particular.

Kids will probably love the second floor best with dinosaurs, ice age animals, and modern California ecosystems. The first floor has a room that is good for particularly young children where they can play and dress up. The third floor has an interesting area on botanical art and scientific art books if you are an art fan. It also has a collection of different animal skulls. The 4th floor has a photography exhibit. There is a very small display on flourescent minerals in the basement as well as an escape room (escape room requires a reservation).

Compared to the Smithsonian's museum of natural history in Washington DC, this museum has similar content but is FAR smaller. In comparision, this musuem is less crowded and it's easier to keep track of your family members in it. You can also get through this museum in a day and feel as though you have read & seen everything.

The displays are designed to engage and interact with kids. For example, there are areas designed for kids to crawl into and through and there are levers that can be used to show how animals move. The Eiocene Age area has a spot and find card you can use to get more out of the exhibit. There is enough information to keep adults occupied too.

I took a 5-year-old with me, and we ended up spending several hours here. Overall, I found it worth visiting.

Also as an artist, I may get a membership to the museum to take advantage of their program which allows you to view specimens from their shelved collection in order to draw them. Teachers can also take advantage of this program for...