Off Campus Activities
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See these places of interest and things to do off campus in the surrounding areas of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Mountain View.
| Activity/Event | Hours | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer History Museum | Friday and Saturday 10:00 am-5:00 pm | The Computer History Museum is a museum of computer history, located in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the information age, and explores the computing revolution and its impact on society. | 1401 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043 |
| University Ave Shops | Friday and Saturday Hours Vary based on business | Defined roughly by Alma and Webster streets and Lytton and Forest avenues, downtown Palo Alto is a charming combination of small-town accessibility and urban ambience. Outdoor cafes, tiny coffee shops, bookstores, mom-and-pop specialty shops, national chains, art galleries, two movie theaters and numerous restaurants attract shoppers, eaters and entertainment-seekers of all ages. Parking along University Avenue can be difficult during the peak restaurant hours, especially on weekends, but there are several large garages available to the public. | Downtown Palo Alto |
| Stanford Shopping Center | Friday and Saturday 10:00 am-7:00 pm | Stanford Shopping Center, Northern California’s premier open-air shopping and dining destination with Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Hermès and more than 140 world-class specialty stores, ranging from luxury brands to local favorites. Enjoy an extraordinary mix of restaurants and cafes from Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, True Food Kitchen, and The Melt, to Tender Greens and so many more. Shop the European Street Market for the freshest California produce and gourmet specialty foods. Breathtaking gardens, sculptures and fountains accent the garden environment that people come from all over the world to see. | 660 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304 |
| Town and Country Village | Friday and Saturday 10:00 am-7:00 pm with extended restaurant hours | Upscale mall with chains & specialty stores, services & eateries amid pedestrian walkways & gardens. | 855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301 |
| Foothills Park | Friday and Saturday 8:00 am- Sunset | Bounded by Portola Valley, Los Altos Hills, Pearson - Arastradero Preserve and Los Trancos Open Space Preserve, the 1,400-acre Foothills Nature Preserve is a nature lover's paradise. Miles of trails provide access through rugged chaparral, woodlands, fields, streams, a lake, and provides spectacular views of the Bay Area. Wildlife abounds, and it is common to see deer and coyotes; if you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of a bobcat. | 1799 Page Mill Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 |
| Baylands Nature Preserve | Friday and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to Sunset Due to inclement weather and hazards, our open space preserves may close or partially restrict access without notification. | Bounded by Mountain View and East Palo Alto, the 1,940-acre Baylands Preserve is one of the largest tracts of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay. Fifteen miles of multi-use trails provide access to a unique mixture of tidal and fresh water habitats. | 2500 Embarcadero Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303 |
| Palo Alto Art Center | Friday, 9:30 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. Saturday,10:00 am-5:00 pm | The Palo Alto Art Center is your place to see and make art, activate your creativity, and expand your community. Created by the community, for the community in 1971, the Palo Alto Art Center provides an accessible and welcoming place to engage with art. We engage approximately 150,000 people every year through a diverse range of programs. | 1313 Newell Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 |
| Filoli Gardens | Friday and Saturday 10:00 am-5:00 pm | Filoli, also known as the Bourn-Roth Estate, is a country house set in 16 acres of formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre estate, located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, at the southern end of Crystal Springs Reservoir, on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. | 86 Cañada Rd, Woodside, CA 94062 |
| Victorian Pressed Flowers at the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden | Saturday, February 24 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Explore the popular mid-19th Century pastime of creating an Herbarium, a collection of dried flora assembled for decorative purposes or as a garden record. Learn best practices and techniques for working with delicate pressed flowers. In this special two-hour workshop, you will create your own imaginative floral compositions mounted on paper. Your final results will be suitable for framing or stationery. Instruction will include the fabrication of a simple wood flower press to preserve specimens from your own home garden. Ideal for Ages: 13 years old and up; beginners welcomed (no prior experience necessary). All class materials included. Each student will leave the workshop with a materials kit to recreate the fun at home: a selection of dried and pressed flowers, paper, adhesive, assembly tools, pre-cut wood, paper, cardboard and hardware to assemble a small-scale flower press. $88 Members (enter code IRIS at checkout)/ $110 Non-members Sign up early to secure your spot and help us avoid this classes being cancelled due to low enrollment. | 1431 Waverley St, Palo Alto, CA 94301 |
| Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden | Friday and Saturday 9:00 am-2:00 pm | The Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden, a non-profit organization, is a remarkable resource for everyone. Located in Old Palo Alto, our historic property has a rich legacy, a commitment to education, and year-round beauty. Come see Gamble for yourself—it’s free and the garden is open to the public every day during daylight hours. Our historic two-and-a-half acre property includes a rose garden, cutting garden, formal herb garden, demonstration bed, wisteria garden, and an allée. Here are five good reasons to get outdoors at Gamble: Enjoy a new view, Notice what’s in bloom, Ditch the tech (for a bit), Relax and re-center, Take a breath of fresh air. Come enjoy Gamble Garden, operated by a small staff and a legion of volunteers for the enjoyment of all. | 1431 Waverley St, Palo Alto, CA 94301 |
| Downtown Palo Alto Farmers’ Market | Saturday ONLY 8:00 am-12:00 pm | Lively Saturday market with a variety of vendors selling produce, flowers, global plates & more. | 601-699 Gilman St, Palo Alto, CA 94301 |
| Junior Museum and Zoo | Friday and Saturday 10:00 am-5:00 pm BUT Entry Times: 10:00 a.m. | 12:30 p.m. | 2:30 p.m. | Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo is located in Palo Alto, California and part of the City of Palo Alto's Community Services Department. It was founded in 1934 by Josephine O’Hara in the basement of a local elementary school. | 1451 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94301 |
| The Museum of American Heritage (MOAH) | Friday and Saturday 11:00 am-4:00 pm | The Museum of American Heritage is a museum in Palo Alto, California. It is dedicated to the preservation and display of electrical and mechanical technology and inventions from the 1750s through the 1950s. The museum has a large collection of artifacts that are generally not accessible to the public. | 351 Homer Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301 |
| Après Village & Skate Rink at the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley located at East Palo Alto | Friday, February 23 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. | Simulating a cozy mountainside retreat with mini-chalets and a new outdoor skate rink, APRÈS VILLAGE & SKATE RINK, the seasonal pop-up at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley located at East Palo Alto, features a festive village like no other in the Bay Area for the whole family to experience. The Après alpine-inspired menu is not complete without house-made signature s’mores and hot beverages. Saturday, October 1, 2022 to Saturday, February 24, 2023. What's more, begin a fun holiday tradition by gliding with family and friends at the only outdoor synthetic skate rink at a hotel in the Bay Area. Bringing the magic of skating to people young and old, the Après Skate Rink welcomes children ages 3 to 12 with accompanying adult to skate under the California sky adorned with twinkling lights. Enjoy skating from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Friday to Sunday, on the side of Quattro Terrace. All reservations are via hotel website or through Open Table. | 2050 University Ave. East Palo Alto, CA |
| Cirque du Soleil: KOOZA | Friday, 4:00 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. | A return to our origins, KOOZA combines acrobatic performance and the art of clowning, while exploring fear, identity, recognition and power. The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with comic characters from an electrifying world full of surprises, thrills, audacity and total involvement. Like most Cirque du Soleil shows, KOOZA is meant to entertain the whole family. That being said, it does contain loud noises and some dark scenes. The price for tickets to Cirque du Soleil: KOOZA starts at $84. | Under the Big Top, Oracle ParkOracle Park - Parking Lot A, San Francisco, CA , USA, 94107. |
| Gallery House New Show.. First Light at the Gallery House | Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. | Please come by Gallery House, the home of contemporary art in the Bay Area, to view our new show by 30 local contemporary artists, First Light. Come this time as moving 03/30/24 | Gallery House, 320 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA |
| The Live Oaks + Alex Lucero at the Guild Theatre | Friday Doors open: 7:00 p.m. Show: 8:00 p.m. | The Guild Theatre's Local Sound Series presents The Live Oaks + Alex Lucero. | 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA |
| Corpus Evita at West Bay Opera at the The Lucie Stern Community Theatre | Saturday, 2:00 p.m. Sunday, 2:00 p.m. | Corpus Evita, the GRAMMY-nominated magic realism opera in 2 acts by Argentinean-American composer Carlos Franzetti, with a libretto by José Luis Moscovich on a concept by Lorenz Russo. A look at the populist myth of Eva Perón and its impact on Argentina seen through the lens of the stranger-than-fiction story of Isabel Perón, General Juan Perón's third wife, who became president of Argentina when he died in office in 1974. Politics, intrigue and black magic at the presidential palace set to Franzetti's impressively symphonic music, at once evocative and propulsive. Presented fully staged with orchestra and chorus. Sung in English with projected English titles. | 1305 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA |
Please note: These listings are included as a courtesy, and do not indicate an endorsement. Please verify open hours and access information with locations directly. Some may require tickets or paid entry. Information subject to change without prior notice.