USS Midway Ship and Museum

On our list of the best activities in San Diego.

Commissioned eight days after Japan's surrender in 1945, the USS Midway served 47 years, through carrier operations in Vietnam and the first air strikes of the Gulf War in January 1991, before decommissioning in 1992. It reopened as a museum on its current downtown San Diego pier in 2004, with the flight and hangar decks now holding restored aircraft alongside exhibits on the daily life of a 4,500-person crew, haircuts, laundry and meals for a floating city. A self-guided audio tour narrated by Midway sailors runs in six languages, and docent-led tours cover the ship's island and bridge.