Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala

This mission is a must see when visiting San Diego. There is a lot of history in this small mission. The staff were very friendly. The building and grounds are beautiful. You can see everything in an hour and a half, so make the time to stop and check it out.

Bucket list stop while in San Diego, take a few minutes to see this restored 1759 mission built by the Franciscans. It was the first mission built in California. Take a tour and stop by the gift shop. Services are still celebrate here every week. Enjoy.

This is also a must see in San Diego from a historical point. If you are Catholic, this is a beautiful place to attend a mass and enjoy the scenery with the family.
Easy to find, great parking availability.
Grounds are well cared for, and the gift shop is impressive!
5.00 admission fee to tour independantly the grounds.

Historic… This is the first Mission in California and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to actually visit this wonderful landmark. The Mission is in a very inconspicuous location. When WAZE told us where to go, we were confused, but as soon as you see it on the road, it’s such a treasure. My goddaughter’s baptism occurred here at the beginning of April. It’s a little confusing as to where the baptisms were. It is located inside a small little chapel that probably sits about 30 people. There were 4 baptisms occurring and not everyone was able to see the entire ceremony, sadly.
The space is pretty dark and old smelling — so don’t be alarmed! There is cobblestone all around, so definitely be careful as to what heels you are wearing for the day! Also, be careful with your strollers if you have little ones. Some of the pavement and sidewalks are wobbly.
The service lasted for about an hour and parking is atrocious since the service is running concurrently with the masses. There is parking all around the church but if you’re not familiar with the layout, you can be confused. For us, we arrived early and we parked right in the front of the church and walked around. There are different places to visit — visitors center, gift shop, chapel, etc…
We also attending the 9am mass in the church towards the back. I have to say I really like the priest! He’s personable and funny and his homily was less than 8 mins (so he said).
Great landmark to visit in my hometown!

We attended Sunday service here, while on our vacation.
What a great experience. Going to Church service at the very first Mission in all of California was spectacular!
For being built in the year 1769 this place is in impeccable condition. I am so thankful, for all of the hard work people have put into restoring this wonderful Mission. And keeping this place around. I love the acoustics of this old building.
The sermon, and the congregation were wonderful.
I love all of the Simplistic, yet extremely beautiful touches of this amazing sanctuary.
The Church, gardens, and grounds are all very spectacular.

I didn’t give it 5 stars because I didn’t really want to do the entire tour. I felt mandated to pay the $ 5 (tour) when all I wanted was to get to pray inside the church. Other mission churches I’ve visited were free.
Anyway, still giving it 4 stars… Just because I made it a personal goal to visit all of the mission churches in California

Certainly in the 4-​star range for California historic missions. 5-​star missions I would say are Santa Barbara Mission and San Juan Capistrano. Most others are 4-​star with a few that are sub-​par. This one was not super memorable, but the grounds are immaculate, the gardens are beautiful, and the museum and information placards along with video are fairly substantial. Not nearly as much educational content as San Juan Capistrano, but the admission fee is much cheaper at around $ 5. Meandering through the gardens was the highlight for me.

This is my 6^th mission visited and it was a very nice one. It’s a bit on the small side though. The bells were wonderful and you get a nice photo op from the gardens. The church was like most mission churches. It was open past the 4:30 closing time which was good. Didn’t take much more than an hour to take everything in.

I had no idea this place was close to my house.
The mission is tiny and so peaceful, beautiful any time of year.
We spent a lot of time in the gift shop, the ladies are very sweet and so helpful.
Beautiful fountain and historic mission, small price for admission and a good place
for adults and kids.

Beautiful old basilica church with beautiful gardens.
I always bring people to this church when I have out of town visitors.
It is amazing to think about how long it’s been there and how many people walked the grounds.
A must see if visiting SD to see the grounds of Saint Junipero Serra.

I have been wanting to check out Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala for a while and finally got the chance. This is California’s first mission, first of 21 in California to be exact. The Mission was founded in 1769 and is currently an active parish as well a place where people of all walks of life can come and learn about centuries of history and what the Mission means and actually is. Basilica is a name given when a church is of important historical significance and given by the Pope. Currently only 4 of the 21 of the Missions are basilicas.
They do ask for $ 5 per person to check everything out. If you are coming to mass or just wanting to pray there is never a charge. I really enjoyed everything I saw. They have signs near the different notable areas to teach people about the way life was back then that are easy to read and informative. Not every Mission is the same and I like seeing for myself what each one has to offer and the history behind it. The lady working in the gift shop was very nice, polite and most of all helpful when it came to picking out a keepsake Mission Bell and blessing some holy water for me to take home. This was an hour well spent!

There is something about the Mission Churches that brings me closer to God. It is very solemn and I love the simplicity and peacefulness of the place. A feeling of awe and reverance for our Divine Creator. I am very thankful that we have pious people who preserve holy places like this. God bless them always.

I wish I visited this place years ago. Kid number four had to do the California missions project for school and I had never been to a mission. Some California native, huh? I think we might have been the only family there that day. It was a weekday morning. Gorgeous weather which is good since you’ll be outside or in a non air conditioned space for the trip. It is a self guided tour. Take your camera because the grounds are beautiful. There is a gift shop that has the brochures needed for the tour. They are free and the docents working there delight in giving information to the kids. It only takes a few hours or less if history and architecture are not your thing. I learned things that I didn’t know about California. Parking is available.

There are 21 missions along the coast of California. This is the first of those 21 and is known as the «Mother of the Missions». It was completed in 1775 and then burnt to the ground during an attack by the «Indians» in 1776. By 1790 it was restored and a defense wall was built around the complex.
They have mass in the main church and in the St. Francis Center which is located in the adjacent parking lot.
I caught the tail end of the choir performance during the 12:00pm mass and would DEFINITELY recommend in checking it out. However, it gets packed (people stand outside) so I’d suggest you get there early to grab a seat.
Here’s the Sunday mass schedule (as of 5÷31÷15):
7:00am
8:00am
9:00am — St. Francis Center (Folk music)
10:00am
11:00am
11:00am — St. Francis Center (Spanish)
12:00pm (Choir — Highly recommend)
5:30pm
Also, you can get here easily by taking the Green trolley line. You can catch it at the Santa Fe depot or even from the Gaslamp district. It’s $ 2.50 one way and the ticket is good for 2 hours so you can stop off at Old Town to grab breakfast before making your way to the mission. It’s a good ¹⁰⁄₁₅ minute walk from the «Mission San Diego» stop.

While in town for a military reunion, we attended Sunday Mass and offered greetings from the Tampa Franciscans to the San Diego Franks. Toured parts of hte mission while there, and we warmly greeted by parishioners at Mass. Fairly easy to get there by green trolley, then a 10 minute walk.
Interesting to note that the ancient missions here were established by Fr. Junipero Serra in the 1700’s, nearly 200 years after the missions founded in Florida and Georgia. however the eastern missions were wiped out by English/​Colonist invaders while those under longer Spanish/​Mexican control survived.

My first experience with California’s missions was near Orange County, CA, at Mission San Juan Capistrano. I was a bit hesitant to tour another mission thinking it would be the same, but made the decision to do it remembering how much fun I had enjoyed Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala is a bit out of the way from the rest of San Diego and no tourist trolley tour takes you here unfortunately. You can Über to this neighborhood though. When I requested an Über after my visit I waited only 5 minutes to be picked up. Regardless of your transport method, it’s worth the effort to come here.
Upon arrival you enter via a gift shop where you pay for your ticket ($ 5) and can buy the audio guide if you want to. A sign says the guide is $ 3. I was charged $ 5 but didn’t complain as the mission is a worthy cause for two extra dollars.
The audio guide is a cassette tape even thought the sign says Mp3. Yes they give you a footlong cassette tape player and no headphones. I was the only one touring the mission at the time, but if it was crowded I imagine having people playing the tape all around you would be distracting. The guide has a bit of general information on it to begin so have a seat and listen to it. The tape will tell you when to go into the first building and from there will give you directions around the entire mission. This guided tour adds much value to the experience and I highly suggest getting at least one for your group.
I heard the bells toll when I was there. One of the maintenance men climbed the steps and by hand rang one of the lowest bells. It was noon.

This is our eighth California mission visited in the last six months due to my son’s insatiable desire to see as many of the missions as possible. I always go into these visitations with mixed feelings… on the one hand appreciating the architecture, gardens and fountains that are inevitably a feast for the eyes… but on the other hand, saddened by knowing of the indignations suffered by the Native Americans during the history of these missions. It is truly a mixed bag for me.
There were several highlights during our visit here: The white bell tower was visually striking. There are lots and lots of different statues and sculptures. I loved the «scavenger hunt» handout given to my fourth grader, which encouraged kids to be on the lookout for certain features, statues, etc. on their tour. The handout had photos of the things the kids had to search for along with short blurbs of information. This was so helpful for the adults too! For example, I learned that the statue to the right of the church altar was that of Father Junipero Serra. I would have never known that without looking at the handout:). I also learned that there were five padres buried at the altar, one being Father Jayme, who was the first person deemed a martyr in the state of California.
It was rather odd seeing the main fountain in the center of a parking lot, which sort of took away from the whole mission experience. It made the tour seem disjointed. Such a contrast to my visits to La Purisima or San Juan Capistrano, where you really experience being enveloped by the mission. Still, it was very educational and we were glad we had the chance to visit the very first mission in California.

Our first Mission when we arrived in Mission San Diego, California was to attend mass. This beautiful mission was the first built in the 1700’s. It’s a huge property with a gift shop, flower gardens and just a beautiful and peaceful place and a great place to take some photos. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. We found our new home to serve God when we visit San Diego.

It’s the first mission established in California, being a history teacher I appreciate the historical aspect of it. The garden is beautiful and the chapel imho is more of a sight than the actual church. It’s a small mission that you can run through in a couple of hours.
There is a long corridor that has a big crucifix with Jesus, it’s pretty amazing. It leads you to the museum (it’s a room).

If you’re looking for some culture and history right in the heart of Mission Valley then look no further. This is the first mission that was built in California and quite an interesting historical landmark.
Starting in the late 1700s the mission was constructed and later was used by the Army troops during war.
It’s such a beautiful environment with a little chapel and flowering gardens surrounding the landscape. When you walk onto the grounds you cannot help but to feel at peace.
Or is a small entrance fee to go into the gift shop and the inner grounds. I like to come here when I just need some peace of mind and smell the flowers and walk around the outside part of the mission. There are sculptures and statues sprinkled all over the area and it’s a great place to take pictures.