San Diego Museum of Us

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Housed in the iconic 1915 California Building, this anthropological museum is packed with exhibits hopscotching from ancient Egypt to local Kumeyaay people, from beer to monsters and cannibals. The California Tower will once more able to be climbed upon completion of a seismic retrofit (expected in early 2020; separate fee).

It sits just north of where El Prado passes under an archway, which marked the main entrance for the 1915–16 exposition. Figures on either side of the arch represent the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, while the arch itself symbolizes the Panama Canal.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Children's Pool

    Children's Pool

    10.83 MILES

    Built in the 1930s behind a wave-cutting seawall, La Jolla’s Children’s Pool was created as a family beach but has since been invaded by herds of seals…

  • Star of India at the Maritime Museum on the Embarcadero.

    Maritime Museum of San Diego

    1.43 MILES

    Next to the new Waterfront Park, this collection of 11 historic sailing ships, steam boats and submarines is easy to spot: just look for the 100ft-high…

  • Birch Aquarium At Scripps, La Jolla, California. (Photo by: Education Images/Citizens of the Planet/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    Birch Aquarium at Scripps

    10.87 MILES

    This state-of-the-art aquarium is a wonderous underwater world home to 5000 fish. Visitors can watch sharks dart, kelp forests sway, and even meet a…

  • Estudillo Museum, Old Town State Historic Park.

    Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

    3.07 MILES

    On the site of San Diego's first European settlement, Old Town consists of a cluster of restored or rebuilt historic 19th-century buildings filled with…

  • New Children’s Museum

    New Children’s Museum

    1.61 MILES

    This interactive children’s museum offers interactive art meant for kids. Installations are designed by artists, so tykes can learn principles of movement…

  • San Diego Main Library

    San Diego Main Library

    1.57 MILES

    A couple blocks east of Petco Park, the city's recent landmark is a beauty. Crowned by a steel-and-mesh dome, the futuristic, nine-story library features…

  • San Diego, AUG 2 2014 - Overcast view of the entrance of Sunny Jim Sea Cave; Shutterstock ID 2148197953; GL: 65050; netsuite: Online editorial; full: POI updates: San Diego; name: Ann Douglas Lott 2148197953

    Cave Store

    10.63 MILES

    Waves have carved a series of caves into the sandstone cliffs east of La Jolla Cove. The one below the Cave Store, a shop selling vintage curios, is 200…

  • Parque de la Amistad

    Parque de la Amistad

    13.7 MILES

    For a glimpse at what a wall between neighbors really looks like, find your way to binational Friendship Park. On the Mexico side of the wall in Playas de…

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Nearby San Diego attractions

1. San Diego Museum of Art

0.12 MILES

Pride of place in SDMA's permanent collection goes to its Spanish old masters (El Greco, Goya) and a respectable selection of works by other international…

2. Balboa Park Museums

0.12 MILES

Balboa Park is a 1200-acre space with 17 museums and cultural institutions, including key attractions San Diego History Center, San Diego Air & Space…

3. Timken Museum of Art

0.17 MILES

Don’t skip the Timken, home to a small but impressive collection of American and European paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Rubens, El Greco,…

4. Japanese Friendship Garden

0.17 MILES

Designed using the simple principles of Japanese gardening, this well-maintained quiet garden includes flowers like the cherry blossom.

5. Botanical Building

0.19 MILES

The Botanical Building looks lovely from El Prado, where you can see it reflected in the large lily pond that was used for hydrotherapy in WWII when the…

6. House of Pacific Relations

0.19 MILES

Here are 15 cottages from the 1915 exposition, inside which you will find furnishings and displays from various countries, plus about 15 cottages built…

7. Spreckels Organ Pavilion

0.19 MILES

South of Plaza de Panama looms the tiered benches, curved colonnade and ornate pavilion housing a 5017-pipe organ, said to be the world’s largest of its…

8. Casa de Balboa

0.2 MILES

The Casa de Balboa has a fabled past. A Spanish renaissance-style structure was built in this very spot for Balboa's 1915 exposition. It burned down in…

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