Museums for All (free or reduced admission throughout the year)
Before visiting a museum, please call or check their website to see if they are open or require advance registrations. Many museums are offering virtual resources—check your local museum’s website for more information.
Through Museums for All, those receiving food assistance (SNAP benefits) can gain free or reduced admission to more than 700 museums throughout the United States simply by presenting their EBT card. Search here to find a participating museum near you!
Barona Cultural Center and Museum
Birch Aquarium at Scripps (La Jolla)
California Center for the Arts, Escondido
Mingei International Museum (Balboa Park)
Marston House Museum and Gardens
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (Downtown)
Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla
Museum of Making Music (Carlsbad)
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across America, offering free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve. The 2022 Blue Star Museums program begins on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 21, 2022 and ends on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2022. More details at https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/blue-star-museums.
Participating San Diego San Diego Museums Include: Bonita Museum and Cultural Center, Coronado Historical Association, Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House, Japanese Friendship Garden, Mingei International Museum, Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum – MECM, Museum of Making Music, Museum of Photographic Arts, The New Children’s Museum, San Diego Automotive Museum and San Diego Museum of Art.
Over a dozen San Diego County Museums are free year-round for the whole family.
These museums offer free admission or have a donation-based admission policy that doesn’t charge a fixed admission fee but looks to your generosity to help make them accessible to all in our community.
Free Year Round
Coronado Historical Association
Institute of Contemporary Art Central (Balboa Park)
Institute of Contemporary Art North (Encinitas)
Junipero Serra Museum
La Jolla Historical Society
Lemon Grove Parsonage Museum
MCRD Command Museum
Mission San Luis Rey
Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum
Mingei International Museum (First Floor)
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Photographic Art (MOPA)
San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art (Museum without Walls)
Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center
Timken Museum of Fine Art
Visions Art Museum
Women’s Museum of California
Balboa Park’s Residence Free Days
Balboa Park has Residents Free Days. Park museums offer free general admission on a rotating basis throughout each month to residents of the City and County of San Diego, and to active military personnel and their dependents. Find the details at here.
