SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 17, 2018: The Fleet Science Center, a science museum and planetarium, along with the historic Bea Evenson fountain, both located in Balboa Park, an urban city park.; Shutterstock ID 1027097284; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

Sherry V Smith/Shutterstock

Fleet Science Center

San Diego


A top pick in Balboa Park, this hands-on science museum features interactive displays, including a room geared to the milk-tooth set. Look out for opportunities to build gigantic structures or to become a human battery, and ask about demonstrations of the mysterious Tesla Coil. The biggest draw, though, is the Giant Dome Theater, which presents several different films and planetarium shows daily.

The hemispherical, wraparound screen and 152-speaker state-of-the-art sound system create sensations ranging from pretty cool to mind-blowing.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby San Diego attractions

1. San Diego Natural History Museum

0.06 MILES

The 'Nat' houses 7.5 million specimens, including rocks, minerals, fossils and taxidermied animals, as well as an impressive dinosaur skeleton and an eye…

2. San Diego History Center

0.08 MILES

The San Diego Historical Society operates this center, with permanent and temporary exhibitions on city history. Previous exhibitions have included the…

3. Casa del Prado

0.09 MILES

An ornate reconstruction of a building to honor the 1915 Panama–California Exposition fair held in San Diego. It's not possible to go inside the building,…

4. Museum of Photographic Arts

0.1 MILES

Tracing the history of photography, the museum offers special exhibits from crowd-pleasing animal themes to landscapes by Ansel Adams and avant-garde cell…

5. San Diego Model Railroad Museum

0.1 MILES

Your (inner) four-year-old child will love this railroad museum; one of the largest indoor railroad museums in the world, it has some 27,000 sq ft of…

6. Casa de Balboa

0.1 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…

7. Timken Museum of Art

0.15 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,…

8. Japanese Friendship Garden

0.15 MILES

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