For Palo Alto tourism, downtown is the easiest starting point: a compact, walkable core centered on University Avenue, just a couple of minutes from the Palo Alto Caltrain Station.
The Cardinal Hotel: The combination of a prime location, accessible pricing, authentic 1920s design, and a remarkably friendly staff makes this feel "just right." Note: This is not a luxury hotel. Location: 235 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Graduate by Hilton: Formerly the Hotel President, this beautifully restored landmark is a favorite for Downtown Palo Alto visitors seeking a polished, nostalgic stay. Its rooftop bar, President’s Terrace, offers standout city views and an easy walk to dining, shopping, and Stanford-bound transit. Location: 488 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Restaurant Recommendations
Evvia – A first rate rustic Greek-Mediterranean restaurant: The menu leans into grilled meats, fresh seafood, and big, shareable plates. It’s an easy pick for date night or out-of-town guests who want “one great dinner” in the center of town. Location: 420 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Tamarine – A standout for Palo Alto dining, Tamarine serves Vietnamese cuisine. It is especially well known for its signature Shake Beef and rich garlic noodles, making it a popular choice for both locals and visitors exploring Downtown Palo Alto. Location: 546 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Oren’s Hummus – Oren’s is a casual Israeli spot known for very good hummus, pita, salads, and straightforward comfort food. The vibe is relaxed and efficient, and it’s very takeout-friendly if you’re eating on the go. Location: 261 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Quick Bites:
Palo Alto Creamery - A classic American diner (est. 1923). Go for shakes, burgers, breakfast plates, and that timeless “booth-and-menu” comfort that never goes out of style. The bakery is a real bonus—locals come specifically for pies and pastries. It’s family-friendly with always dependable good food. Location: 566 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Café Venetia – This is a friendly, cozy downtown cafe that serves genuinely good coffee. The atmosphere is warm and a great place to meet locals. Bonus: it stays open later than many cafes. Location: 417 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
California Avenue is Palo Alto’s chill “second downtown,” and it’s perfect for tourists because it’s small, walkable, and packed with food. You’ll find lots of restaurants and cafés within a few blocks, and the vibe is usually way calmer than University Avenue. It’s an easy place to end a Stanford day—grab dinner, get dessert, and just wander.
The easiest way to get here (especially without a car) is Caltrain. Get off at the California Avenue station and you’re basically already in the neighborhood—no complicated navigation.
The California Ave farmers’ market is its Sunday morning pulse. Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (year-round, rain or shine; check the closure schedule on the market site).
Quick Bites:
Izzy’s Brooklyn Bagels: A kosher establishment with 30 different varieties of delicious bagels and LOTS of great food. Supervised by the Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California. Hours are Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 3 PM. Weekends: 7 AM - 3 PM. Holidays: 7 AM - 1 PM. Location: 477 California Avenue.
Joanie’s Cafe: Great when you want straightforward brunch comfort—especially on a weekend morning when downtown is already lively. Location: 405 California Avenue
Many of Stanford University's first faculty members chose to settle in the Professorville neighborhood, which is now a registered national historic district.
That single fact explains why Professorville feels different from almost any other neighborhood in Palo Alto. This was not speculative real estate, nor a later suburban infill. It was a purpose-built intellectual village that emerged in parallel with Stanford University itself, beginning in the early 1890s just after the university opened.
Professorville represents the first off-campus residential expression of Stanford’s academic culture. Long before Palo Alto became synonymous with technology and venture capital, this neighborhood embodied an earlier engine of influence: scholarship. Faculty members built permanent, custom homes within walking distance of campus and the early town center, creating a setting where academic life, family life, and civic identity were tightly interwoven.
Professorville’s significance is reinforced by the architectural styles preserved within it, most dating from the 1890s through the early 1910s:
Queen Anne residences are the most visually elaborate, marked by asymmetrical forms, turrets, wraparound porches, bay windows, and ornate redwood detailing. These homes conveyed confidence and status at a moment when both Stanford and Palo Alto were still establishing themselves. See more about Queen Anne Style.
Colonial Revival houses emphasize symmetry, classical proportions, and restrained ornamentation. Popular among academics with East Coast ties, the style visually linked Stanford’s young faculty to older American and European university traditions. See more about Colonial Revival Architecture.
Shingle Style homes prioritize craftsmanship and form over decoration, using continuous wood shingles, strong horizontal lines, and flowing rooflines. In California, the style blended well with climate and landscape, producing houses that feel both substantial and understated. See more about Shingle Style Architecture.
Early Craftsman-era elements include low-pitched roofs, exposed rafters, deep eaves, and natural materials. More about Craftsman Style Architecture.
Professorville sits immediately adjacent to downtown Palo Alto. It is about a 10-minute walk from the University Avenue Caltrain station and directly borders the area around the HP Garage on Addison Avenue.
Midtown is the authentic, lived-in counterweight to the glitz of Stanford and the bustle of Downtown. It is where the "real" Palo Alto lives, defined by its flat, tree-lined streets and a large inventory of mid-century modern architecture.
Midtown Palo Alto is “Eichler country”—a cluster of Joseph Eichler’s 1950s modernist tracts, where you can spot classic post-and-beam lines, atriums, and indoor-outdoor layouts on a simple neighborhood stroll. Across town there are about 2,700 Eichler houses.
South Palo Alto generally refers to the part of the city south of Oregon Expressway (Page Mill Road): quiet residential streets, creekside parks, and the kind of calm that feels like a deep breath. Here, modernism isn’t in a museum. It’s on the street, baked into the everyday rhythm of the neighborhood.
South Palo Alto puts you right next to Mountain View—a compact, easy day-trip city where Silicon Valley’s past and present sit side by side. A strong starting point is the Computer History Museum (see next section), which walks you through the milestones that shaped modern computing.
The Google campus in Mountain View is a global tech landmark, offering a glimpse into the whimsical culture of Silicon Valley's most famous search giant. The "Android Lawn Statues" remain a popular photo stop, featuring giant dessert-themed figures that represent different versions of the Android operating system.
The nearby Google Visitor Experience at the "Gradient Canopy" office provides a rare public window into the campus, featuring a café, a retail store for hardware, and public plazas designed for lounging and community events.
The most significant hurdle for tourists is that there are no public tours of the office interiors or the famous "Googleplex" buildings; the experience is strictly limited to the outdoor plazas and the official visitor center.
To balance all that tech with nature, head to Shoreline at Mountain View, a large bayfront park with wide trails, a sailing lake, and the restored Rengstorff House—right next to the energy of Shoreline Amphitheatre when there’s a show. Find out more about Mountain View on wikivoyage.org and mountainview.gov.
Fun Things To Do & Must-See Sights
Baylands Nature Preserve is a massive stretch of San Francisco Bay wetlands between Mountain View and East Palo Alto—salt marsh, mudflats, and huge sky.
It’s about 1,940 acres with roughly 15 miles of multi-use trails, and it’s one of the best “reset your brain” walks in Silicon Valley.
The preserve is open 8 AM till sunset, and some entrance gates/parking lots close based on the posted signs—plan to be back before closing.
For most visitors, the highlights are birds: Wintering ducks, shorebirds (best at low tide), plus species you’ll often hear people get excited about like Black-crowned Night Herons, Snowy Egrets, Black-necked Stilts, American Avocets, Black Skimmers, Forster’s Terns, and American White Pelicans are regular visitors. More: Area Map, and Baylands Map of Bird Sighting Hotspots.
Tip: Tides change what you see. In winter, extreme high tides can be especially dramatic for bird watching, while low tide is prime time for shorebirds on the mudflats.
Note: Some routes get extremely muddy in rainy season, so pair the tide chart with recent rainfall when deciding where to walk (and how far).
Best Parking: There is no "right place to start a walk". The all-round simplest (for parking and access) seems to me to be the trailhead at 2698 Terminal Boulevard, Palo Alto, CA 94303.
Safety: The Baylands uses posted location markers. If you ever need help, call 911 and give them that marker/location plus the trail name (e.g., “Boardwalk Trail near the Interpretive Center”).
Important note: Don’t feed wildlife, and please don’t shout or try to flush big groups of birds into flight just to get that “great” photo.
Winter Lodge is Palo Alto’s storybook outdoor ice rink—tucked into the Midtown neighborhood at 3009 Middlefield Road—and it’s been a local tradition since 1956. What makes it especially fun for visitors is the setting: you’re skating outside under the trees, but the experience still feels cozy and festive, with the lodge atmosphere offering classic winter comforts like cocoa and fireplaces alongside the rink itself.
For planning, know that public-session tickets are online-only and must be bought in advance (up to 30 days ahead) by using the booking page.
The current posted season runs October 18, 2025 to April 12, 2026, with specific holiday closures listed on their public-skating page.
Standing on the banks of San Francisquito Creek, El Palo Alto is far more than a simple tree; it is a silent witness to a millennium of California history and the namesake of both the city of Palo Alto and the seal of Stanford University. While its height has been diminished by time and industrial progress, it remains one of the most historically significant specimens of Sequoia sempervirens in existence.
The tree’s distinctive dual-trunk silhouette changed forever in the late nineteenth century. Sometime between 1885 and 1886, a major storm or the construction of the nearby Southern Pacific Railroad caused the north trunk to fall. This loss provided historians with the first concrete data regarding the tree's longevity. A ring count performed on the fallen trunk revealed it was nearly a thousand years old at the time of its collapse. While earlier estimates of the remaining tree's age varied widely, a scientific core sample taken in 1955 found that the tree was 1,015 years old at that time. Given this data, as of 2026, El Palo Alto is approximately 1,086 years old, meaning it likely germinated around 940 AD during the height of the Viking Age. (Some raise questions about the methods used and put the age of the tree at no more than 450 years).
Despite its resilience, the tree nearly perished during the industrialization of the Santa Clara Valley. By the early twentieth century, over seventy steam trains passed the creek daily, coating the redwood’s needles in coal soot and essentially suffocating it. Simultaneously, the explosion of local fruit orchards led to massive groundwater pumping, which dropped the water table and left the tree’s roots dangerously dry. It was not until the mid-twentieth century that concerted conservation efforts by the City of Palo Alto and Stanford University began to reverse the decline. Today, the tree is supported by a specialized treetop plumbing system that provides artificial fog and irrigation, ensuring its survival in a landscape that has shifted from wild creek bank to the heart of the global technology industry.
The Palo Alto Historical Association maintains extensive digital archives, including the earliest known photographs of the twin trunks, while technical data and precise coordinates are available via the Famous Redwoods Database. Location: 117 Palo Alto Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
This local institution, founded in 1934, is a central destination for families. Following a major reconstruction project, the facility reopened in 2021 with significantly expanded and modernized exhibits. It offers a unique combination of a hands-on science museum and a small, intimate zoo, making it an ideal outing for children primarily from birth to nine years old.
The museum component features interactive exhibits designed to engage children's curiosity about natural phenomena such as gravity, motion, electricity, and magnetism.
The zoo houses approximately 200 animals from over 50 species, focusing primarily on indigenous wildlife like bobcats and raccoons, alongside highlights such as flamingos and meerkats. Find out more at paloaltozoo.org. Location: 1451 Middlefield Road.
Frenchman’s Tower is a two-story red-brick Gothic structure built in 1875 on what was then the Matadero Ranch. Its creator, Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon, was a French financier who fled to California under the alias Peter Coutts.
The structure likely functioned as a water tower for his complex irrigation system, though its lack of an internal staircase and its ornate, narrow arched windows make it look more like a medieval European ruin than a utilitarian farm building.
Visitors can find convenient parking in a small gravel pull-out directly across from the structure. While the tower is situated on Stanford University land and protected by a chain-link fence that prevents entry, the site remains a premier destination for photographers and local cyclists. Location: 2065 Old Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304
Magical Bridge Playground
While most parks are designed for "typical" physical abilities, Magical Bridge was built from the ground up to be accessible to everyone—including those with physical disabilities, autism, sensory challenges, and even the aging population.
Of Note:
The 24-String Laser Harp: One of the park's coolest features—you "play" music by breaking invisible laser beams with your hands. It feels like something out of a science museum.
The Slide Mound: Features extra-wide slides (so parents and kids can slide together) and "Dignity Landings" at the bottom, which provide extra space for those who need time to transition to a wheelchair or mobility device.
Hideaway Huts: Small, quiet "retreat" spaces for children who might feel overwhelmed by the noise and activity and need a moment of sensory calm. Learn more at paloalto.gov. Location: 3700 Middlefield Road.
Museum of American Heritage
Located in a quiet neighborhood, MOAH is the antithesis of a slick tech museum. Housed in the historic Williams House (circa 1907), it explores the history of invention through the lens of everyday life.
The Collection: They rotate exhibits featuring vintage technology (from early toasters and vacuum cleaners to 1920s radios).
The Gardens: The house is surrounded by the Williams Garden, a historic garden that is free to roam. It features early 20th-century landscape design and is a peaceful spot to sit under the trees. Find out more: Museum of American Heritage. Location: 351 Homer Ave.
The Palo Alto Art Center is the city’s “see and make art” hub—free/low-cost exhibitions plus studios and classes that make it feel more like a creative campus than a traditional museum. It’s a relaxed stop for contemporary shows and hands-on art energy. It is a city-run venue adjacent to the Rinconada Library. Location: 1313 Newell Road.
Palo Alto Children’s Theatre
Palo Alto Children’s Theatre is the City of Palo Alto’s youth performing-arts hub—producing family-friendly shows while also running classes, camps, auditions, and teen programs. It’s based at Lucie Stern Community Center, making it an easy “arts stop” on a downtown visit, especially for families. Location: 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301. More: paloalto.gov.
Lucie Stern Community Center
Lucie Stern Community Center is one of Palo Alto’s key civic arts-and-recreation hubs—home to city programs and a lively calendar of classes, gatherings, and community events. The Spanish-Mediterranean style complex is also closely associated with Palo Alto’s local theatre scene, with venues on site used for performances and cultural programming. Location: 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301. More: paloalto.gov.
If you are visiting between mid-December and New Year’s Eve, the 1700 and 1800 blocks of Fulton Street are a must see! Known locally as "Christmas Tree Lane," this neighborhood has coordinated elaborate holiday displays since 1940. It is not a commercial event; it is residents keeping a massive tradition alive.
Lights are typically on from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM daily during the two-week window.
For a deep-cut local experience, visit the Cubberley Community Center (4000 Middlefield Rd). The site is a former high school turned community hub, but the real draw for visitors is the Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) Book Sale. This isn't a standard library cart sale; it is a massive monthly operation held in portable classrooms and a gym-sized "Bargain Room" where books go for nearly nothing. It feels less like shopping and more like a treasure hunt for vintage vinyl, rare hardcovers, and children’s classics.
If you’re here on the 2nd weekend of the month: You are in luck. The main sale runs Saturday and Sunday. Check fopal.org for specific hours, as they vary by room (Main Room vs. Bargain Room).
People call it the “Stanford Mall,” but the official name is Stanford Shopping Center—an upscale, open-air retail district.
Unlike a typical enclosed mall, it’s laid out as a garden-like stroll of outdoor walkways, making it feel more like a polished neighborhood than a box of stores.
What makes the place work is the open-air California design: you move between shops under the sky, with landscaping and little “pause” zones that make it surprisingly pleasant even when it’s busy.
It’s also very easy to navigate because it’s essentially one level, with a straightforward set of promenades. See the official Mall Map.
My Favorite Places:
Practical Information:
Location: 660 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304.
Parking: Ample free parking is available surrounding the center, with electric vehicle charging stations near major entrances.
Note: It is a particularly dog-friendly mall.
Located directly across El Camino Real from Stanford University, Town & Country Village is a historic open-air center first established in 1953 that feels less like a mall and more like a refined western outpost. It features a diverse mix of local boutiques, national brands, restaurants, and services. With pedestrian-friendly walkways and a modern open-air layout, it’s a favorite spot for shopping, dining, and community events in Palo Alto. Visitors can easily navigate the stores using the Official Directory.
Note: There’s a genuinely first-rate bookstore here! Head to Books Inc. (Building 2, Suite 74) for great browsing.
Barron Park Donkeys (at Bol Park)
Bol Park is a 13.8-acre neighborhood park in South Palo Alto’s Barron Park area, with open lawn, tall trees, and an easy path along Matadero Creek. The donkey pasture next door is the main draw: it’s a small, beloved local landmark and a great quick stop for visitors.
Donkeys have lived here since 1934. The best-known was Perry, often credited as an inspiration for Donkey in Shrek (a story the City of Palo Alto has repeated and that was widely reported again when Perry died).
Important: this is a viewing experience, not a petting zoo. Don’t bring food for the donkeys, don’t reach over fences, and keep things calm and respectful. For updates and more background, see barronparkdonkeys.org.
One name note to avoid confusion: Barron Park is the neighborhood. Bol Park is the park. The donkeys live beside Bol Park.
Find out more: barronparkdonkeys.org. Location: 3590 Laguna Ave.
The HP Garage is the one-car, 12×18-foot garage behind 367 Addison Avenue, where Bill Hewlett and David Packard worked in 1938–1940 and formalized what became Hewlett-Packard in 1939. The location was memorialized as the “Birthplace of Silicon Valley.”
Note: The garage and house are not open for public tours, but can be respectfully viewed from the sidewalk.
Overview: The house dates to 1905 and was converted into two flats in 1918 (often summarized as 1918–1920); the garage is generally dated to about 1924. In 1938, newly married Dave and Lucile Packard rented the ground-floor flat (#367) while Hewlett lived in a small shed behind the house; they chose the property specifically for the garage workspace and began with about $538 in working capital.
Their first product was the Model 200A audio oscillator; a modified version, the Model 200B, led to a famous early order of eight units from Walt Disney Productions for work tied to Fantasia’s sound system. In 1940, HP moved into larger rented quarters on Page Mill Road.
The site is California Historical Landmark No. 976 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 2007; HP bought the property in 2000 and completed a period restoration in 2005.
We read: "(...) The single story garage at the west corner of the property is rectangular in shape, topped by a simple gabled roof with a broad eave. There is a pair of automobile doors facing the driveway, and one window at the back. The walls are single-wall construction consisting of a 2X4 wood top plate a flat-framed chair rail and a bottom plate, connected by vertical board siding. The wood siding is exposed on the exterior with wood battens at the vertical joints, and is stained a dark brown. (...)" Source.
Sand Hill Road: Not one building—more like a symbolic spine of Silicon Valley funding culture, lined with venture capital firms. If you’re explaining “why here?”, Sand Hill is part of the answer: money, networks, proximity to Stanford, repeat. Location: spans Menlo Park / Palo Alto / Woodside.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
SLAC — National Accelerator Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory operated by Stanford University, located on Stanford University property in Silicon Valley. Built around its two-mile-long linear accelerator, SLAC is now a multi-program research center with major facilities for accelerator science and photon/X-ray science, supporting discoveries across physics, materials and energy research, chemistry, and related fields. Free public tours are offered on select dates, but advance online registration is required (generally ages 12+; ages 12–17 must be accompanied by an adult/guardian). Online signup required: www6.slac.stanford.edu/. Location: 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Xerox PARC — Palo Alto: A legendary research center tied to the ideas that shaped modern personal computing—especially the “windows and mouse” way we all use computers now. It’s not a public museum, but it’s a meaningful drive-by because so many breakthroughs trace back to work done here. Think: innovations that influenced the wider industry, even when products didn’t ship directly from PARC itself. Location: 3333 Coyote Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.
SRI International — Menlo Park
SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) is one of the region’s deepest “quiet giants”—a place where foundational R&D happened long before most people were talking about Silicon Valley. Douglas Engelbart’s team developed the early computer mouse here, part of a broader push toward interactive computing. It’s a working campus rather than a visitor attraction, but it’s powerful context if you like origin stories. Location: 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Tesla Engineering HQ: Tesla’s Palo Alto engineering site is a strong “present tense” landmark: this is where major engineering work has been centered in the region. It’s not a visitor attraction, but it’s a good contextual stop—especially if you’re already on Page Mill. Location: 1501 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.
Google Visitor Experience
Google Visitor Experience — Mountain View: This is Google’s visitor-focused space at its Gradient Canopy campus—designed for curious outsiders, not just employees. It’s one of the few “walk in and explore” Google-adjacent stops, with a public-facing setup. Location: 2000 N Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, CA 94043.
Computer History Museum — Mountain View. While technically in neighboring Mountain View, this museum is the intellectual companion to a Palo Alto visit. It is a 15 min drive from University Ave in Palo Alto. Open Wednesday–Sunday (usually 10 AM – 5 PM). It is a paid venue and offers a depth of content that can easily fill half a day. Find out more on computerhistory.org. Location: 1401 N Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, CA 94043
Intel Museum: A museum stop that turns chip history into something you can actually see (and it’s free). This is one of the most visitor-ready “semiconductor history” places in the region, and it complements your Fairchild / integrated-circuit marker nicely. Location: 2200 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara, CA 95054.
Apple’s downtown Palo Alto store is located at 340 University Avenue. It’s a geek landmark. It is a popular Silicon Valley stop, but it is not the original Apple Store location. (Apple’s first two retail stores opened on May 19, 2001 at Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia and Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California).
Note: The first Apple Store in Palo Alto opened later, with a grand opening on October 6, 2001 at 451 University Avenue. The current downtown store opened in October of 2012, replacing the earlier downtown location a short distance away.
Palo Alto also has a second Apple Store at Stanford Shopping Center.
Meta Sign — Menlo Park: It’s the famous headquarters sign spot (once the Facebook sign), and it’s intentionally visitor-friendly in the sense that you’re not trying to enter the campus. Keep it simple: photo, respect the space, and don’t block traffic. Location: 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Facebook Early Office (startup history plaque in downtown Palo Alto): This is the “small marker, huge impact” kind of stop—a simple plaque for a company that scaled into a global platform. It’s right downtown, so it’s easy to pair with coffee or a walk. Location: 471 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Nikola Tesla Statue — Palo Alto (photo stop): A quirky little Palo Alto landmark that’s half tribute, half local Easter egg. It’s known for a time capsule element (and yes, it’s a fun “tech pilgrimage” photo). Because it’s on a street corner, it works best as a quick stop while you’re already nearby. Location: 260 Sheridan Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94306.
Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory Site
This is where early silicon device work helped launch the region’s semiconductor story. Today it’s more of a “stand where it happened / look for markers” stop than a preserved historic building. Location: 391 San Antonio Road, Mountain View, CA 94040.
Google Garage: Larry Page and Sergey Brin rented the garage (and rooms in the house) from Susan Wojcicki while Google was getting off the ground in 1998. It’s a private home today.
Fun extra: Google has published a Street View “time-capsule” look inside the original garage. Location: 232 Santa Margarita Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Site of Invention of the First Commercially Practicable Integrated Circuit
The building at 844 East Charleston Road is officially designated as California Historical Landmark No. 1000, marking it as the site where the modern electronics industry shifted from individual components to integrated systems.
Federal Telegraph Laboratory
Federal Telegraph Laboratory: The evolution of the Federal Telegraph Company (FTC) across Palo Alto began in 1909 at a humble backyard workshop at 913 Emerson Street (the corner of Channing and Emerson), where Dr. Lee de Forest famously perfected the vacuum tube amplifier, a milestone now commemorated by California Historical Landmark No. 836.
As the company’s success grew, particularly with World War I Navy contracts, operations transitioned in 1916 to a sprawling industrial factory located between El Camino Real and Alma Street near University Avenue—documented in the Pacific Coast Architecture Database—where high-power vacuum tubes, including the 5 kW water-cooled models, were mass-produced by specialists like glassblower James F. Lee. By 1921, the company expanded its footprint toward the Palo Alto Baylands at 2601 East Bayshore Road, establishing the "Marsh Station" (now known as the ITT Building).
This Mission Revival-style facility, detailed in the City of Palo Alto Historic Inventory, served as a vital hub for trans-Pacific radio communication and famously intercepted early warning signals during the attack on Pearl Harbor; while the earlier downtown lab and factory sites have long been replaced by commercial buildings, the Marsh Station remains a standing architectural relic of the city’s early electronics era.
"The Lucky Building": A downtown office building tied to successful startup incubation. Location: 165 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Location: 1044 Bryant Street.
This is a private home.
We read: "Russell and Sigurd Varian were co-inventors, with William W. Hansen, of the klystron and rhumbatron and co-founders of Varian Associates. Educated at Stanford University, physicist and inventor Russell Varian began his career with Philo Farnsworth on early television technology and with Humble Oil on instrumentation for oil exploration. In 1935, he returned to Stanford. Joined by his brother, Sigurd, a pilot with Pan American Airlines, he began work on microwave technology as a research assistant with Professor William Hansen. The klystron patent brought both financial gain to the University and the attention of federal research agencies, while leading to the formation of Varian Associates, one of California's first Silicon Valley companies. (...)" Source: oac4.cdlib.org. Related: Discover the Klystron.
Often called Apple’s birthplace, though even pro-Apple writeups note the “garage” story is partly mythologized. Still a famous drive-by pilgrimage stop. Location: 2066 Crist Drive, Los Altos (a short drive from Palo Alto).
Apple Park Visitor Center
The visitor-facing way to experience Apple Park (without trying to access the campus). This is a real tourist stop: you can browse, see the model, and get a feel for the scale and design language. It pairs well with your Palo Alto tech loop as a “modern era” capstone. Location: 10600 N Tantau Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014.
Steve Jobs' Palo Alto House: What makes it striking is how un-flashy it is—more “family neighborhood” than “tech monument.” Jobs lived here for many years, and it’s often noted as the place where he died in 2011. Location: 2101 Waverley Street. (Treat it as a quick curbside moment, not a destination where you’d stop for long).
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We read: "The Stanford campus is located on 8,180 acres in the center of the San Francisco Peninsula. Stanford land features 49 miles of roads, two separate water systems, three dams, two open water reservoirs for irrigation and three closed potable water reservoirs, and 88 miles of water mains. It includes a historic equestrian barn, biological preserve, center for automotive research, and educational farm. Stanford’s Central Energy Facility utilizes heat recovery and thermal storage to maximize efficiency in the university’s heating and cooling systems. Take a virtual tour or a self-guided walking tour." - More/Source: facts.stanford.edu.
Note: Access May Change
Palm Drive is Stanford’s signature threshold: a straight, palm-lined approach that carries you from Palo Alto into the heart of campus. The avenue’s repeating rows of Canary Island date palms form a deliberate corridor that slows the pace and focuses the view toward the Oval, where the roadway curves around an open lawn before the campus unfolds into arcades, courtyards, and the Main Quad.
It’s a classic first stop for visitors—worth walking at least a short stretch so you can feel the shift from city street to campus landscape and take in the perspective looking both toward Stanford and back toward Palo Alto. (See an article I wrote for inmenlo.com: "Palm Drive’s Open Threshold").
The Stanford Oval is the campus’s formal front lawn and a designed “pause” at the top of Palm Drive, where the straight approach breaks into a circular drive around the lawn before you step toward Memorial Court and the Main Quad.
The space is built around strong geometry: a broad expanse of lawn with a central walkway that formerly functioned as a much wider carriage path, and at the geometric center a round emblem garden planted in red and white flowers to depict Stanford’s block “S,” ringed by symmetrically placed benches.
The planting shifts from iconic palms to shade trees—only a few palms remain around the Oval itself, while California live oaks and nearby oak groves create cooler edges, including shaded patches with picnic tables. It’s also treated as a pedestrian zone, so the default experience is walking, jogging, lingering, and low-impact use of the lawn and internal paths unless it creates obstructions or damages landscaping.
The Main Quad is Stanford’s classic courtyard—the heart of campus and the scene most first-time visitors picture. It was planned and designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (who helped design New York City’s Central Park), and it’s framed by warm sandstone, arches, and red-tile roofs. See a dedicated page about the Main Quad.
Memorial Church: Dedicated in 1903, the Church is Christian-centered by design, but non-denominational and inter-faith in practice. Step inside to see the stunning Byzantine-style mosaics that cover the walls—a feature that is a true rarity in American churches. The mosaics are composed of over 20,000 distinct shades of glass. See information about self-guided tours and find out about Docent-led tours.
Hours: Monday - Thursday, 9 AM - 5 PM and Friday, 9 AM - 1 PM.
Location: 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305.
Burghers of Calais: This is a major work by François Auguste René Rodin which you can see outdoors in Memorial Court, just outside the church.
It is a 1889 created project of six life-size figures installed at ground level so you can move among them. The monument commemorates the heroism of six leading citizens (burghers) of the French city of Calais. In the fourteenth century, at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War, they offered their lives to the English king in exchange for the lifting of his siege of the city.
Plan 15 minutes. Walk a slow loop and view each figure from multiple angles—the faces, hands, and posture read differently as you move.
If you’d like to see more Rodin sculptures, visit the nearby B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden. (Note: See the following paragraphs for details).
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts
Originally opened in 1894, it once held the title of the largest privately-owned museum building in the world.
The museum found its modern identity in 1999 when it was expanded and renamed for lead donors Iris and B. Gerald Cantor.
Today, its collection spans 5,000 years with over 38,000 works of art, making it one of the most visited university art museums in the country.
A central feature of the museum is the B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden, which officially opened to the public in 1985 and remains open 24 hours a day, serving as a notable highlight of the university campus. This beautifully landscaped outdoor space showcases twenty monumental bronzes, including the massive and intricate Gates of Hell.
The presence of these works at Stanford is the result of decades of philanthropy by Gerald Cantor. He did not merely collect existing statues; he worked closely with the Musée Rodin to commission new casts from the original molds, ensuring they were produced with the highest level of historical accuracy. (Note: If you came to this section from the Table of Contents then scroll up a little to information about the Burghers of Calais located about 8 minutes away by foot at Memorial Court).
Dining with a View: Tootsie’s at Cantor. (The cafe overlooks the sculpture terrace, offering a refined atmosphere that feels more like a European plaza than a university campus).
See Current Exhibitions
📅 Since early January, 2026, the Cantor Arts Center has shifted its operating hours. The museum is now open on Mondays to accommodate long-weekend visitors, but will remain closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Here are the details:
Monday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday & Wednesday: CLOSED
Thursday: 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The Anderson Collection at Stanford
A deep dive into American modernism, located right in the heart of the Stanford Arts District. Unlike the encyclopedic Cantor next door, the Anderson is a focused, high-impact collection of post-WWII American art. It’s based on the personal collection of Hunk and Moo Anderson (and their daughter Putter), who famously lived with these masterworks in their Bay Area home before gifting them to the university.
Why it’s worth the stop:
The decision to place the Anderson Collection directly adjacent to the Cantor Arts Center was a strategic move by Stanford University to create a unified, world-class Arts District. While the two museums are distinct in their focus, their proximity is designed to offer visitors a seamless journey through the history of art.
Instead of trekking across campus, you can experience a 5,000-year timeline in a single afternoon. You can start with the Cantor’s ancient artifacts and Rodin bronzes, then walk 40 feet across the plaza to see how 20th-century American artists broke all those traditional rules.
See Current Exhibitions & Programs
New Anderson Collection Hours
📅 2026 Schedule Update: The Anderson Collection has shifted its operating hours. Mirroring its neighbor, the Cantor, the museum is now open on Mondays to accommodate long-weekend visitors, but will remain closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Here are the details:
Monday: 11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
Tuesday & Wednesday: CLOSED
Thursday: 11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
Admission remains free of charge, and as of 2026, advanced reservations are no longer required for general entry.
A short walk from the cactus garden is the Stanford Mausoleum which serves as the final resting place for the university’s founders, Leland and Jane Stanford, and their son, Leland Junior. Completed in 1889, the granite and marble structure was originally intended to be the site of the family's grand country mansion; however, after their son's untimely death, the plans changed to create a university and this permanent memorial instead. >> Video.
This is a marble monument commissioned in 1901. The sculpture depicts a grieving angel collapsed in mourning over a funeral altar and is widely regarded as a powerful symbol of loss and remembrance. It was installed at the request of Jane Stanford in honor of her younger brother Henry Clay Lathrop, following his death and after she had already endured the losses of her husband, Leland Stanford, and their son, Leland Stanford Jr.
Location: Arboretum Road.
The Hoover Tower is an iconic 285-foot landmark (87 meters). It was completed in 1941 to celebrate the university's 50th anniversary. The tower was designed by Arthur Brown Jr. (architect of San Francisco’s Coit Tower).
An elevator whisks visitors up to the 14th-floor observation deck, which offers sweeping 360-degree views of the sprawling Stanford campus, the foothills, and—on a clear day—the San Francisco skyline. While up there, look for the massive carillon of 48 bells, the largest of which bears the inscription, "For Peace Alone Do I Ring." Before or after your ascent, explore the ground-floor lobby galleries featuring historical exhibits on Herbert Hoover (Stanford’s inaugural class of 1895) and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover.
The observation deck is open daily from 10 AM to 4 PM. Tickets are $8 for the public (free for Stanford affiliates) and must be purchased on-site using a credit card or contactless payment (no cash accepted).
Beneath the tower is the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, one of the world’s largest repositories of primary-source materials on war, revolution, political movements, and international relations from the late 19th century to the present. The archives hold millions of items, including manuscripts, correspondence, government records, posters, photographs, oral histories, and rare publications collected from more than 170 countries.
The library and archives are a research facility rather than a public museum. Access is primarily for scholars, journalists, and qualified researchers by application, with many materials available only on site, while a growing portion has been digitized and made available online through Stanford, Hoover digital collections and GallerySystems.
To access the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, visitors must register in advance through the Hoover Institution’s online request system (Aeon), which is open to the public and free to use. After creating an account, researchers search the collections, request specific materials, and reserve a seat in the reading room for a planned visit; reservations are required and typically must be made at least one week ahead. On a first visit, users present a government-issued photo ID to receive a reader card, and all archival materials are consulted on site in the reading room during posted weekday hours, with no university affiliation required.
Location: 550 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305
This is Stanford’s premier modern concert venue—an intimate 842-seat hall designed in a vineyard-style layout that wraps the audience around the stage, with every seat located within roughly 75 feet of the conductor. Opened in January 2013, the hall was purpose-built for acoustic performance and is widely recognized for its clarity, balance, and warmth of sound.
It serves as the primary home for Stanford Live programming and Stanford Music Department performances, hosting a year-round calendar of classical, jazz, world music, contemporary works, and visiting international artists.
More: live.stanford.edu. Location: 327 Lasuen Street, Stanford, CA 94305.
Frost Amphitheater is Stanford’s historic outdoor performance venue, designed as a landscaped bowl with seating for approximately 7,500–8,000 people and set within a tree-lined, open-air environment on the west side of campus. Opened in 1937, it has long served as one of the university’s primary large-scale gathering spaces and remains among the more significant music venues in the Bay Area.
Performers over the decades have included Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and Jefferson Airplane, alongside major orchestras, jazz artists, and world-music performers. Programming today is managed primarily through Stanford Live and includes a mix of touring artists, university events, and special performances.
Beyond concerts, Frost Amphitheater has played a central role in Stanford’s civic and institutional life. It has historically hosted Stanford commencement ceremonies, major lectures, and large community gatherings, including student-led demonstrations and assemblies during the Vietnam War era and other moments of campus-wide political expression. One of the venue’s most notable international events was a public address by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1992.
The amphitheater is named for John Laurence Frost, a Stanford alumnus (Class of 1935) who died of polio shortly after graduating. The venue was built as a memorial gift from his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Frost, and completed in 1937.
It was designed as a landscape amphitheater by Leslie Kiler, who shaped the natural bowl and overall site design across roughly 20 acres. Birge Clark, Stanford’s longtime campus architect, contributed to the planning of the early Frost structures.
Frost Amphitheater is used seasonally, primarily in spring through early fall, and seating consists largely of a grass lawn with limited fixed seating; accessible seating and services are available in designated areas.
More: live.stanford.edu. Location: 351 Lasuen Street, Stanford, CA 94305.
The Rumsey Map Center is a specialized Stanford library space devoted to maps and cartographic history. Perfect for anyone who loves atlases, exploration, or the art of geography. It’s often open to the public in the afternoons (commonly 1–5pm weekdays), but closures happen for classes—check the current listing before you walk over. Location: 557 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA 94305. Details: library.stanford.edu/.
Tucked near the western edge of Stanford, the Red Barn is one of those small, meaningful landmarks that reveals what the campus was before it was a university. Built between 1878 and 1880, it served as a training stable for Leland Stanford’s Palo Alto Stock Farm—the horse-breeding operation that gave Stanford its enduring nickname: “The Farm.”
The barn is also tied to art: Eadweard Muybridge’s famous late-1870s motion studies of a running horse were conducted at the stock farm site.
Tip: If you visit the Cantor Arts Center, ask about their Muybridge photographs / motion-study plates—the museum holds Muybridge works in its collection, and staff can tell you what’s on view (or how to view them for study).
Today, it’s very much alive as the Stanford Red Barn Equestrian Center, supporting riding programs, lessons, and Stanford’s equestrian community—so it’s less a museum and more a working place with real daily rhythms.
Location: 621 Fremont Road, Stanford, CA 94305. More info at redbarn.stanford.edu.
Windhover Contemplative Center
The Windhover Contemplative Center is a modern architectural masterpiece dedicated solely to quiet reflection. Designed by Aidlin Darling Design, the structure features massive rammed-earth walls and extensive glass elements that harmonize with the surrounding oak grove. The center houses the monumental "Windhover" series by Nathan Oliveira, a collection of meditative paintings inspired by kestrels in flight and the poem "The Windhover" by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
To maintain its purpose as a spiritual counterbalance to the high-pressure university environment, the building is a strictly "no tech, no talking" zone. While the center is primarily a sanctuary for students, faculty, and staff, public access is typically limited to docent-led tours (often on Saturdays), though the exterior labyrinth is open to all.
Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden
The Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden is one of the unique artistic sites in the Bay Area. Created on-site by master carvers from the Sepik River region, the garden features 40 massive carved wood and stone poles that blend traditional New Guinea mythology with Western themes—including a reinterpretation of Rodin's The Thinker.
Key Resources:
Stanford Parking
Logistics
Getting Around: The campus is huge. The Marguerite Shuttle is Stanford’s free bus system that loops the campus and connects to the Palo Alto Caltrain station. It is clean, reliable, and open to the public.
If you are coming from the Palo Alto Caltrain station, take the free Marguerite Shuttle (Lines P & Y will drop you directly to the Cantor Arts Center. The closest stops are near Museum Way and Roth Way).
Be aware: Major Stanford events (such as football games, commencements, and conferences) can significantly affect parking availability, traffic flow, transit service, and campus access.
Area Tourism | Lovely Gardens
Filoli Gardens (Woodside)
If you’re craving beauty, calm, and a little old-California magic, Filoli delivers every time. Tucked into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Filoli is a 16-acre formal garden wrapped around a grand early-20th-century estate—equal parts elegance and nature therapy.
The gardens unfold like outdoor rooms: rose beds, walled gardens, sweeping lawns, and seasonal explosions of color that change month to month. Spring brings tulips and cherry blossoms, summer is lush and green, fall glows with warm tones, and winter has a quiet, sculptural beauty that’s surprisingly moving. Even if you’ve been before, it never feels the same twice.
Start your day here when the gates open; while the crowds flock immediately to the Sunken Garden, your extended schedule allows you to explore the working side of the estate that tells the real story of the Bourn and Roth families.
The Deep Dive:
The Nature Lands: This is the secret of the "extended visit." The 1-mile Estate Trail crosses the San Andreas Fault and takes you through oak woodlands. It’s quiet, wild, and offers a stark contrast to the manicured lawns.
The Library: Pause here to look out the window; the view frames ancient Coast Live Oaks that predate the house by centuries, a favorite view of the Roth family.
A few minutes away by car: Stop at the Pulgas Water Temple, a Beaux-Arts monument built in 1934 that celebrates the engineering feat of bringing water to the peninsula. Location: 56 Cañada Road, Redwood City, CA 94062. See directions on Google maps.
Allied Arts Guild (Menlo Park)
Just a short drive north, this Spanish Colonial Revival complex offers a completely different scale of luxury. Founded in 1929 by Delight and Garfield Merner, it was conceived not as a residence, but as a dedicated haven for artists and craftspeople, modeled after the guilds of Europe.
The Deep Dive:
The Frescoes: Wander into the Cervantes Court to find vibrant frescoes painted by Maxine Albro. Her work here captures the romance of early California life.
The Garden of Delight: Discover handcrafted tile work and the splashing fountains that create a private, enclosed atmosphere.
The Workshops: Originally part of the historic Rancho de las Pulgas, the guild still houses working artists today. Peek into the studios to see potters and painters carrying on the site's original mission.
Lunch: Café Wisteria. Located within the Guild, this is the definition of a "slow lunch." Sit on the terrace under the heritage wisteria vines and enjoy a menu that reflects the seasonal garden setting.
Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden (Palo Alto)
Conclude your day in Old Palo Alto at this 1902 estate. Unlike the isolated grandeur of Filoli, the Gamble house sits nestled in a residential neighborhood, representing the suburban "garden villa" style that defined early Palo Alto.
The Deep Dive:
The Carriage House: Walk past the main house to find the original Carriage House. Note the high hayloft window —a reminder of the era when horses, not cars, ruled these streets. It now serves as a rustic backdrop for the garden's events.
The Garden Rooms: Elizabeth Gamble spent her life perfecting these 2.5 acres. The garden is designed as a series of rooms, including a formal rose garden and a cool, shaded woodland. Look for the heritage camellias, some of which are original plantings from the early 20th century.
The Teahouse: Tucked away in the center of the garden, this structure was added in 1948 to serve as a social hub. It’s the perfect spot to sit quietly and watch the late afternoon light filter through the trees.
Here are the directions from University Avenue, Palo Alto to your three destinations, complete with map links and travel estimates.
To Filoli Gardens:
Destination: 86 Cañada Rd, Woodside, CA 94062
Distance: ~13.4 miles
Time: ~27 minutes (Driving from downtown on University Avenue)
Route: Directions on Google Maps
To Allied Arts Guild:
Destination: 75 Arbor Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Distance: ~2.4 miles
Time: ~10 minutes (Driving)
Route: Directions on Google Maps
To Gamble Gardens:
Sand Hill Road’s best-known venture-capital strip is the four-lane stretch between I-280 and Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park—often described as the core “VC Alley”—with nearby residential neighborhoods like Sharon Heights and Stanford Hills.
A founder might pitch at Kleiner Perkins, grab lunch at Stanford Shopping Center, then network at Rosewood Sand Hill —passing SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Note: The road goes through Woodside, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto. Find out more at inmenlo.com.
Locally known simply as "The Dish," the Stanford Dish Loop Trail is one of the most popular recreational spots in Palo Alto.
This paved 3.7-mile path winds through the open foothills of Stanford University, offering a moderate-to-challenging workout with approximately 500 feet of elevation gain.
As you climb the rolling hills, you'll be treated to stunning 360-degree views of the university campus, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the San Francisco Bay.
The trail is named for the iconic 150-foot diameter radio telescope that dominates the landscape —a historic instrument built in the 1960s that has communicated with Voyager spacecraft and is still in use today.
A visitor planning a recreational day at the Stanford Dish trail should be aware that there is no restroom on the trail (As a pilot program, an emergency use portable restroom is currently available to Stanford’s field staff and visitors at The Dish), and that bikes and dogs are prohibited to ensure safety and preserve the area. See the Dish area access rules in detail. See as well a Dish trail map.
Parking:
Note: Parking can be tricky—check Stanford visitor parking / parking enforcement rules.
⚠️ WARNINGS:
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Architectural Significance: Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1937, this was his first work in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a prime example of his "Usonian" design philosophy (architecture for the common citizen) but with a unique twist.
Why "Honeycomb"? The entire house is designed on a hexagonal grid. There are virtually no right angles (90-degree corners) in the floor plan; instead, the walls meet at 120-degree angles, creating a flow that Wright believed was more natural and human-centric. See the official Stanford Hanna House website for details.
Note: The Hanna House is temporarily closed for repairs and conservation projects, with no reopening date set for public tours.
Location: 737 Frenchman’s Road, Stanford.
For a lighter, rolling-hills alternative to the steeper Foothills Park, head to the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve. It is a city-listed open space, meaning it is well-maintained but keeps a rugged, natural feel.
What to expect: A mix of grassland and oak woodland with 10+ miles of trails suitable for hiking, jogging, and mountain biking. The loops here are generally more exposed than Foothills Park, so bring a hat.
Logistics: Open daily from 8:00 AM to sunset.
Resources: Check the official Arastradero page for the trail map and current closure status (trails often close after heavy rain).
