7 Best Sights in San Diego, California

The newest museum addition to Balboa Park celebrates San Diego's popular Comic-Con convention  and all things related. Rotating exhibits explore topics such as the history of animation, Cosplay design and the evolution of Pac Man, as well as tracing the growth of Comic-Con itself from a small gathering of enthusiasts 50 years ago to the international showcase it is today. Interactive exhibits offer visitors chances to tinker, animate and game, while daily scavenger hunts offer prizes. The gift shop is worth a browse with its interesting selection of collectibles and books.

This is not really a house but a cluster of red tile–roof stucco cottages representing three foreign countries. The word "pacific" refers to the goal of maintaining peace. The cottages, decorated with crafts and pictures, are open weekend afternoons between 11 am and 5 pm, when you can chat with transplanted people and try out different ethnic foods. Folk-song and dance performances are presented on the outdoor stage around 2 pm most Sundays—check the schedule at the park visitor center. Across the road from the cottages, but not affiliated with them, is the Spanish colonial–style United Nations Building. Inside, the United Nations Association's International Gift Shop, closed Monday, has reasonably priced crafts, cards, and books.

Even if you don't know a choke from a chassis, you're bound to admire the sleek designs of the autos in this impressive museum. On rotating display are gems from the museum's core collection of vintage motorcycles and cars—ranging from a pair of Steve McQueen's dirt bikes and an extremely rare Bizzarrini (only three were ever made), to a 1981 silver Delorean (remember the time machine in Back to the Future?)—as well as a series of visiting special exhibits. Be sure to see the Fabulous Car of Louis Mattar, which was ingeniously kitted out to set the cross-country endurance record in 1952 (6,320 miles nonstop from San Diego to New York City and back, refueling from a moving gas truck); a video display shows highlights such as Mattar and his codrivers changing the tire while in motion and pouring a glass of water from the onboard tap. There's also an ongoing automobile restoration program and an extensive automotive research library.

Check the calendar if visiting in December as the museum has varying early closing hours during the holiday season.

Firefighting artifacts of all sorts fill this converted fire station, which at one time also served as the repair shop for all of San Diego's firefighting equipment. Three large rooms contain everything from 19th-century horse- and hand-drawn fire engines to 20th-century motorized trucks, the latest dating from 1943.

When the exhibits at this 27,000-square-foot museum are in operation, you can hear the sounds of chugging engines, screeching brakes, and shrill whistles. Local model railroad clubs built and maintain the four main displays, which represent California railroads in "miniature," with the track laid on scale models of San Diego County terrain. Out back, the Centennial Railway Garden features replicas of the streetcars and scenes of Balboa Park during the 1915 Exposition. The Toy Train Gallery has an interactive Lionel exhibit and whimsical vignettes.

There are 8 million fossils, dinosaur models, and even live reptiles and other specimens under this roof. Favorite exhibits include the Foucault Pendulum, suspended on a 43-foot cable and designed to demonstrate the Earth's rotation, and Ocean Oasis, the world's first large-format film about Baja California and the Sea of Cortés. Permanent exhibits highlight citizen scientists and the regional environment, and traveling exhibits also make a stop here. Films shown at the museum's giant-screen theater are included with admission.  Check the website for information about films, lectures, and free guided nature walks.

This three-room museum pays tribute to textile artists and the quilting community with impressive fabric works on display. An on-site shop is stocked with jewelry, baskets, books, textile hangings, and other items related to fabric art. Monthly workshops are hosted regularly.