California

One of San Diego's biggest attractions, this superb zoo has a worldwide reputation, a colourful history and an enlightened zoo management program. Highlights of the zoo include the Tiger River bioclimatic exhibit, which realistically re-creates an Asian rainforest environment, and Gorilla Tropics, which does the same with an African rainforest.

Packed into 100 acres of clever design in the northwestern corner of Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo is a compendium of some of nature's largest, smallest, noblest, oddest and most endangered creatures. (Check the website for news of the most recent zoo baby arrivals.) One of the ways the San Diego Zoo shines is through its pioneering methods of housing and displaying animals that mimic their natural habitat, leading to a revolution in zoo design and, so the argument goes, to happier animals. The zoo also plays a major role in the protection of endangered species. In its efforts to re-create those habitats, the zoo has also become one of the country's great botanical gardens, tricking San Diego's near-desert climate to yield everything from bamboo and eucalyptus to mini-African rain forests. A big, free, parking lot is off Park Blvd. Bus 7 will get you there from downtown. The zoo is open daily at 09:00, but closing times vary with the season; call for current hours. The 'deluxe admission package' includes a 40-minute guided bus tour and a round-trip aerial tram ride on the Skyfari cable car. The extras probably aren't worth it, unless you have sore feet or are in a hurry.