The center hosts powerful exhibitions of Mexican and Native American art, including temporary exhibits of contemporary indigenous artwork, dance, theater and musical performances. The round, steel building, originally a water tank, is impressively painted with 240 feet of murals. It's on the edge of the main museum area of Balboa Park.
Ron Niebrugge/Alamy
Centro Cultural de la Raza
San Diego
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Children's Pool
11.17 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…
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
11.22 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…
Maritime Museum of San Diego
1.52 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…
New Children’s Museum
1.5 MILES
This interactive children’s museum offers interactive art meant for kids. Installations are designed by artists, so tykes can learn principles of movement…
Parque de la Amistad
13.41 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…
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
3.39 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…
San Diego Main Library
1.34 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…
Pasaje Rodríguez
14.88 MILES
This atmospheric arty alley reflects TJ's growing urban art scene. The walls are painted with vibrant graffiti-style murals – the perfect backdrop to the…
Nearby San Diego attractions
1. Spreckels Organ Pavilion
0.15 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…
2. Japanese Friendship Garden
0.2 MILES
Designed using the simple principles of Japanese gardening, this well-maintained quiet garden includes flowers like the cherry blossom.
3. Museum of Photographic Arts
0.23 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…
4. San Diego Model Railroad Museum
0.23 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…
5. Fleet Science Center
0.23 MILES
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…
6. San Diego History Center
0.23 MILES
The San Diego Historical Society operates this center, with permanent and temporary exhibitions on city history. Previous exhibitions have included the…
7. Casa de Balboa
0.23 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…
8. House of Pacific Relations
0.23 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…