This museum is so underrated!…read more There are plenty of exhibits to explore, along with interactive areas that make learning fun for kids. It's a great place to spend a day with the family, whether you're looking to learn something new, relax, or simply enjoy a beautiful day in Oakland. I especially appreciate that this museum participates in the Museums for All program, which helps make cultural and educational experiences more accessible to families. We had a wonderful visit and I'll definitely be coming back more often. If you're looking for a family-friendly activity that's both fun and educational, this museum is worth checking out.

I have been coming here for years. Specifically for their special exhibitions. They are always so…read moreinteresting and well planned out on display. The museum has three floors and their outdoor garden overlooking lake merrit. They have a little bit of everything, if you're curious about real history and wanting to learn more this is the place. Their annual membership is so worth. As they have several special events. Next to the museum they have plenty of parking. I take Bart as the stop is one block away. Chinatown is walkable for great restaurants. The Oakland library is close by too! There's a restaurant inside the museum while the food sounds great it's okay. I would recommend walking /driving to Chinatown or downtown Oakland for amazing food.

MADE is absolutely fantastic. Staff are exactly my people--quirky nerds who love video games. The…read moreselection is great. You'll see a wide variety of consoles, including the Sega Dreamcast and Commodore 64, but also old computers like the Apple II running Oregon Trail. Alongside the consoles and computers running video games, you'll see art pieces that show the insides of various consoles, and info papers that share the history of each one. The magic is in the details. Seeing some consoles have what seems to be a featured game, with info on that game's history and reception, is really cool. The Panasonic consoles had info on their wonky Zelda games, and the Xbox 360 had info on Sonic '06. I also love seeing info sheets about women in gaming. These bits of history really show how much MADE cares about teaching their attendees about video games. It's $20 to get in the door, and you can stay for as long as you'd like. You can even leave and come back throughout the day. It's a great deal and honestly a perfect way to spend a day.

I visited the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment when it was on 3400 Broadway. I went back to…read moretheir newest location, and it was as good as the last time I visited.

I hadn't been to Chabot in a very long time. I took Empress and we had a pretty good time. Seems…read morelike there were more interactive exhibits back in the day but we still had fun. The exhibits are very educational and enlightening. I'd like to go back in the evening and experience the telescope views. There's plenty for the kids to experience! #GoSee

I had the honor of escorting one very excited astrophotographer and his girlfriend (my Goddaughter)…read moreto experience a talk by Dr. Filipenko on the 150th anniversary of the James Lick Act of Congress. The talk started at 7:45 pm in the evening, and went well into 9 pm after the speaker allowed for a short Q&A session. I learned more about James Lick and how generational wealth was built than I'd ever imagined possible on a Sunday. Unfortunately for us, humidity was at an all time high, so we only had the opportunity to look at these massive telescopes, instead of gazing at the far away stars they were built to study. I did get to walk through The Chabot science center and see how fun it would be to come back with you get kids. Can you believe, you can even decorate a postcard that they will send to space. I would now like to design a piece of mail destined for space. Also, you can come out on Friday and Saturday nights and get the opportunity to look into the heavens with these giant creatures. I guess, this just means I have a rain check to visit Oakland in the near future.

Great little garden within the Lake Merritt Garden. Unfortunately part was under construction so…read morewe'll be back. The "curator" (not sure what to call him) was super nice. They have classes on the fourth Sunday of every month. Definitely will check that out.

Beautiful gardens hidden away in a busy city…read more Sad to see a group of teen throwing trash into the lake. They don't even respect their own area.

The Pardee Home Museum has been on my radar for a while as one of the few places in the East Bay to…read moreget afternoon tea. I ended up finally booking the garden for a large party this month and was impressed by the experience from start to finish. It's hard to believe that it's entirely volunteer-led! Everyone I met was clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the house, its history, and its preservation. Making a reservation was easy and the coordinators were kind and courteous during the whole process. The day-of place settings were beautiful and the food was some of the best I've had for tea in addition to being generous and variable in servings. There were even some kid-friendly items (including some non-caffeinated beverages) as I had a few young guests in attendance. The tour we had following our tea service was detailed and informative without being boring. The house itself is incredibly preserved and in immaculate condition. It was great learning about the history of the Pardee family and their influence in the Bay Area, California, and beyond. There were some interactive parts too including getting to touch some antique items and listen to some hand-cranked music players. I will undoubtedly be back sometime and highly encourage anyone who likes good food and vibes or learning about local history to book a visit themselves. If you have people from out-of-town visiting, the Pardee Home is an excellent first choice for doing something low-key and private but still touristy.

This tea party was a perfect experience. The food was delicious, the ladies serving were…read moredelightful, and the tour of the museum afterwards was so interesting!

Still hands down our favorite science museum in the country. There is just so much to see. We used…read moreour ASTC reciprocal and needed to come back over two days and still only saw about a third of the museum. (ASTC allows 2 people to enter regardless of the home membership) Our favorite discovery this visit was the space exhibit (lots of interesting hands exhibits) and the AI portion - very cool live generated AI images based on found objects and generated music and artwork based on your own drawings.

While visiting the Bay Area this summer, we were told that this is some place we HAD to visit. Like…read morethe Bay Area Discovery Museum (which was ADORED), we could have gotten in with a reciprocal membership we have from LA, but I wasn't aware. I was just dropping money left and right for kids museums that were free for us. Sigh. Lesson of the trip: check your memberships! A lot of the exhibits were broken or not working, which was a bummer, but there was plenty of stuff for us to look at, and we didn't even see it all. Some highlights for the kids were the interactive laser table, the room where everything has no color unless you use a white light flashlight (they were in there FOREVER), and the cow eye dissection (which also left us all a little queasy...). We took too long getting brunch at the Ferry Building, so we didn't have enough time to explore it all, but I'm sure we'll return when we come up again.

I visited this museum on a whim and didn't have much time, but it is definitely on my list to…read morerevisit before summer ends! General admission is $25, but they participate in Museums for All, which is a great perk. I brought my 20-month-old and was thrilled to find so many age-appropriate activities for him to explore. The absolute highlight was the moving dinosaurs outside, set against a beautiful backdrop of the bay, a view that adults will definitely appreciate even if the toddlers don't notice! Definitely a great place to snap some photos. The bottom floor features animals and exhibits, and I noticed a cafe that I'd love to try for lunch next time. My only critique is the customer service. Some staff members, including those at the front desk, weren't very welcoming or acknowledging. Since this is such a family-oriented space, a simple smile would go a long way! It didn't ruin my experience, but better service would prevent it from taking away from anyone else's visit. Highly recommend overall!

Well when I came in to pay. This young lady was very I tentative! She explained everything to us…read more So on our merry way. We are the first floor so many activities to do. My cousin and daughter loved the . And outside where they were was an amazing view of Berkeley. We were sitting on top of the world. A little girl came over and talked to us. Her father said it was ok to film her. She was five years old! A very bright, intelligent, fun loving girl! Her favorite pass time was golf. She knew the stands to when u putt! She was amazing. She came and brought us flowers. My daughter n I put them in our hair. Ok down to the exhibits down stairs. Well we walked in no one spoke. Parents kept asking the young lady so what do we do! Horrible horrible horrible! Customer service! Young ladies you should say hellli when someone walks in the door! You should come and explain what to do. Not just stand in the lockers. So, went to the souvenir shop! We all couldn't wait to spend some money. The gentleman never said hello! He kept flipping his hair looking off into space! Wow! Very easily for people to steal items! Tighten up! Greet people pay attention! Speak to the customers! Terrible customer service March 21,2026 3pm-5pm! Do better! I didn't get a chance to give anything I. The suggestion box! Next time I will! Thanks we guess!

I came for the Halloween After Dark where my friend presented. All of the talks were funny and…read moreinformative and well delivered. Very imaginative and fun! The drinks are crazy expensive but thats to be expected. The festivities around Halloween were fun - costume contest, pumpkin carving (though not enough for everyone), etc.

Many of the exhibits are closed. The place is super crowded and there's pounding techno music…read moreeverywhere. The only good feature was the food trucks.

All on my phone, easy peasy Stunning building, entry is even…read morebetter. So amazing and beautiful art, evocative and ethereal and solid. Helpful staff. Matisse exhibit was wonderful and wonder filled. Enjoy!

Over the years, SF MOMA has been one of our favorite museums although each visit has depended on…read morethe specific exhibits that have been on. Our favorites here have been the Cindy Sherman and an exhibit on sound (with amazing sign language videos to illustrate windows/doors). Now that we have MARP reciprocal membership, coming to visit when we are in town is a no brainer. The highlight this recent weekend was a single room table showing various creative glassware (including a variety of whimsical, ironic, and impractical pieces). The store is also pretty neat with its pretty jewelry and interesting kids art themed gifts.

If you're expecting an immersive, interactive experience where you'll feel like you won't have…read moreenough time to do everything, then you'll be sorely, sorely, sorely disappointed. The first problem is that it's called a museum--I know, where else do you keep T-rex fossil casts other than a museum? you've got me there, but I want to let your hopes down so that you'll have a properly amazing experience here. The first thing to know is that it's housed in the Valley Life Sciences Building, or VLSB for those of us in the know who use University of California campus building-name acronyms on the regular. It's a living, breathing, working building on campus, which means there are offices and a library, in addition to "museums," which again is a disappointing misnomer. When it was built in 1930, not only was it the largest building in the City of Berkeley, but it was also the largest concrete building in the US west of the Mississippi. It's still the largest building on campus, I believe. When I worked on campus, my classes were often (and my office hours were always) in Wheeler Hall, whose bathrooms leave a lot to desired, to understate it quite ridiculously. So I was always on the lookout for better, less traveled bathroom options. Not just near Wheeler, but everywhere on campus and especially between Wheeler and the western edge of campus, because I often worked part time at my current job while also working as a reader at UC, so I was always walking back and forth between campus and our office in Downtown Berkeley. Anyway, I thought i had found a perfect candidate in a particular men's room on a particular side of a particular floor of VLSB. Who would enter this random, imposing building looking for a restroom, and even if they did, who would go anywhere but the bathrooms on the first floor? Happy with myself, after my second visit to the secret bathroom, I was about halfway back to my office when I realized I didn't have my wallet. I remembered taking it out of my pocket in the stall, so I rushed back up there. And what did I find? My wallet was sitting there on the toilet-paper dispenser, my ID, debit card, and credit cards still there. Whew! But I was also aghast, because the $36 I had in cash was missing. I'm still conflicted to this day--replacing my license and credit cards would have been a huge pain, and if someone had returned my wallet to me, I probably would have rewarded him with at least $20. So should I be angry for this person for stealing from me but not making it as bad as it could have been? I don't really know, and I haven't been back to that benighted bathroom since. So here's the best way to experience the Museum of Paleontology: By total surprise. The first time I came in here, I had no idea I'd find these Pteranodons floating around or this Tyrannosaurus rex hanging out near the staircase. Yes, take the elevator to the fourth floor and then take the stairs down. You'll be so wowed. It's amazing. And that's how you have a four-star experience. Just don't give kind thieves the opportunity to steal some of your valuables.

Fantastic exhibit- open to the public for free during museum hours. Great for toddlers- you can…read moretell because all of the glass for cases below 3-4 feet is stained with hand prints. Amazing nearly complete T-Rex skeleton on display with a pterodactyl in flight above it. They are arranged beautifully in the atrium, ringed by a spiral staircase. I also loved the entomological displays- especially the beetles. Park in the lower Sproul garage and walk less than 5 min. Pack a lunch to eat in the courtyard or under the canopy in the eucalyptus grove by the creek outside.