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.

I feel very lucky to have a place like the Children's Museum of Sonoma County right here in Santa…read moreRosa! There are so many fun, hands-on activities and special events for kids, which makes a membership absolutely worth it. We especially love the extra-large Light-Brite, water play area, and art room, but there is SO much more to explore. Totopia is also fantastic if you have little ones under 3--it's such a great space for them to play and explore. My only complaint is that the museum can get pretty crowded, so I definitely recommend getting there early if you want a little more space to enjoy everything. I'm also really excited and grateful that they are planning to expand the museum, which will create more exhibit space and hopefully help with the crowds.

This is a non-profit children's museum in Sonoma county in Santa Rosa. It's fun for all ages…read moreespecially if you're a kid at heart. It's centrally located in town and very close to the Charles Schultz (Peanuts/Snoopy) museum which is pretty well known. Pluses: - fun for all ages, but especially the littles both indoors and outdoors. - pretend play areas indoors including a dentist office and a medical clinic and a fast diner. All 3 were a hit w/my kids. - lots of other hands on activities inside to include a treehouse where kids can load apples and send them up and down baskets, my kids love that when they were little. - very popular air launchers to shoot wind spinners. - a huge manual pinball machine that is super fun, my kids never tired of making the pinball launch over and over. - a miniature train set that goes around, it's on the 2nd floor. - plenty of outdoors activities and play areas. - a little stream for water play, little kids love that. - a real life former medical helicopter (a bit random, but still cool). - a climbing structure, and a few other play areas also. - so many ways to tire your kids out, guaranteed a good nap on the way home and they'll prob sleep a lot that night. Minuses: - The building indoors is really quite packed. The different features are each thoughtfully designed and very nice and colorful, but it can get crowded here. - Pretty expensive admission. We got a discount, but I think their prices have increased. All in all, a great little place and good for creative play for kids maybe up to like 5th-6th grade at most, but best for 9 or younger probably.

After all these years, I am so happy The Western Railway Museum is still here and looking great as…read moreever! My son has been an avid fan or trains since birth! I cannot even count how many train museums we have visited. This past visit was for the Spring Wine Trains with my husband. Suggested to us by none other than our son. He now volunteers here!! YAY! We loved being in the parlor car- you get a charcuterie board and 3 tastings. The group was lively, the hosts were great. It was such a nice time and the weather was perfect that day. They explain the various wines (we had Caymus served to us) and you get a nice little tour of the land/area. We got to chat with our son who was the Operations Brakeman that day and what a treat...on the return ride back, we were offered the rear seats. It was the perfect way to end the ride. We took advantage that your ticket includes entrance to the museum, spring fair and the grounds. We walked around, checked out the trains, the fair and the gift shop. Parking is free and plenty of it is available.

I came here for the Holiday Lights train ride and light display…read more The train ride was not worth the money or time. The train had a string of lights strung around inside with a small speaker playing holiday music at the front of the train. There was nothing to look at during the 15-20 minute ride except some cows and a few wind turbines. The train basically went down the tracks 10 mins and then went back to station in the opposite direction. There were also many loud parents and uncontrolled kids on the train which did not make the experience enjoyable. The light display was okay. You got to see some cool old trains with holiday lights on them. But you could not enter any of the trains in the light display area. The lit up trains were simply a route to go see Santa. The Santa area was really dark which was not great for pictures. The staff promote a cafe with hot chocolate and cider after the train ride and light display. I got a spice cider for $6. It was not good. It was full of pulp and the spices were floating on top. It seemed like the staff did not stir up the cider before serving it. The museum and gift shop are really small and catered more towards kids. The gift shop had some adult clothes and souvenirs (magnets, small figures, etc.) but nothing extraordinary. Overall, I would not recommend this place for the Holiday Lights event. There are better holiday train rides and events in Old Town Sacramento.

So today I was here for my 1st graders field trip…read more Funny story, I found this amazing science center, while googling the words, "inexpensive science field trips." Lo and behold the science center was super cheap to attend for two classes, and the exhibits are very engaging and fun! Anna, Bradley, and David, made our experience fun and exciting! I've done a lot of field trips, in 27 years of teaching, but this one is one of my absolute favorites! I feel like their spot is totally slept on and underrated, we need to usher in more educators to take their kids here for their field trips! They're a non-profit and need our help to stay open! So spread the word and let's keep this learning gem, open longer! Science Exhibits: 20/10 Customer Service: 20/10 Quality of the Programs: Amazing! Overall: 20 out of 10!

We are members and absolutely love this place. My kids have taken camps here over summer and…read morethroughout the school year and we also had my five year olds birthday party here...they always want to return for more. They recently re did the science center and it is such a well done space. The kids enjoy all the interactive stuff as well as the animals. The membership is really great bc you get access to free events - like private times, meet Santa / holiday party, and discounted birthday parties and camps.

New exhibit is open! sole Italian: una nova Storia Italian…read moreAmerican communities in Solano County. July 25thNovember 14th

Came here to pick up tickets for the annual children's party. Was my first time here and it looked…read morelike it was a very cute museum from what I was able to see. The day of the children's party it was extremely packed. Not much space for walking or enjoying any activities unfortunately. I think more than 300 tickets were sold for the event which is awesome but I wish they would limit the number of people entering for certain time windows. That way people could enjoy the activities more. I will attempt to go next year possibly towards the end to see if it's less busy. I haven't been here for any other events yet.

Haven't been here in a few years. Visited yesterday with a friend. So muchengineering and flight…read morehistory here. Look up, look down, look all around so you don't miss anything. There is an outdoor area where the big planes and jets are. The signage is good in describing their uses, names and missions. There is even a section on space travel. The docents are top notch. You can tell they are passionate about what they speak! Take a stroll upstairs to see the flight simulator room, very high tech. There is a gift shop, cafe, plenty of clean bathrooms. Enjoy your flight!

Want a joy ride on a jet? Or explore the cosmos? Or checkout rocket boosters? Well look no further…read moreand join me for an adventure. Let's begin! The Aerospace Museum of California is a private non-profit aviation museum located on the grounds of the former McClellan Air Force Base. This museum features a 40,000 square foot exhibit hall, over 40 historic aircraft and rockets and flight simulators. Today, I arrived on a warm weekend morning to explore this museum. I am fond of museums especially aviation. This museum is good place to expose and teach kids about STEM programs. Moreover, this museum has great collection of aeronautical artifacts and ww2 history. Staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Admission prices were reasonable. Gift shop was modest. Parking lot has ample of space. Overall, it's a good museum. I recommend you visit.

Compared to the Exploratorium, this museum is more focused on life sciences…read more There are 3 things that make this place worth it and stands out to me: 1. Indoor rainforest is really really cool. 2. Planetarium, specifically The Size of the Universe showing. 3. Thursday night life with live music/dj and karaoke in the basement!

This is hands down one of the best activities to do as a local or as a tourist (and as a child or…read moreadult). If you're an adult I'd recommend checking out the Thursday night admissions which are from 6-10pm ish. No kids allowed and 21+. So fun. We just went to the disco night which had free disco gem make up, karaoke, free DIY disco jelly fish crafts and free photo sessions. Lots of value! If you become a member you get discounts on events, merch, food and with my membership I can bring someone for free each time.

We were pleasantly surprised of this place. We have visited children's museums regularly all over…read morethe Bay Area. From reading the reviews, I didn't expect much. But, we hand a great time. Parking was $6 for the whole day, $19.99/ adult and $17.99 for kids. We especially loved the planetarium. We had just gotten back from another planetarium, but this one was so much nicer! My kids loved it. And the instructor was very knowledgeable. The kids loved downstairs and upstairs. You can tell they did a lot interactive displays for children and adults to learn. My kids loved touching all the buttons, interacting with the screens, jumping/hoping, making songs, etc. My favorite exhibit was the brain one- such fascinating stuff! I definitely recommend going especially if you have young kiddos. We had a Great time! Tip: There's a McDonalds on the other side of the freeway - go there before entering if you have kids.

This isn't advertised as a children's museum, but it should be. The exhibits were very hands on and…read moreprovided a surface level explanation. The exhibits were not well taken care of and showed signs of wear and tear, with some parts missing and some parts broken. Between the required parking fee and the adult ticket price for a museum so heavily catered to kids but not advertised as such, I was disappointed.

The Crocker Art Museum was a place I had always wanted to visit. I've been eyeing it for the last…read morefew years since moving to Sacramento, and finally, the opportunity came when my husband and I purchased tickets to a classical music concert series there. We arrived early so we could explore the museum before the concert, and I'm so glad we did! The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, and check-in was very easy. They give you a sticker indicating whether you're a member, patron, or attending for the concert. The best part? Our concert tickets included admission to the museum, so we got a wonderful two-for-one experience. We started on the third floor and worked our way down, just as the staff recommended. There was SO much to see! I loved the variety of exhibitions and the incredible use of color. There were works ranging from modern and contemporary pieces to Baroque and classical art, along with beautiful geometric pottery and so many different artistic styles. It was truly a nonstop feast for the eyes. The museum itself was peaceful, quiet, clean, and very well organized. I also appreciated that there are very clean bathrooms conveniently located on each floor. We eventually made our way down toward the concert venue, although we didn't have enough time to completely explore the second floor. That just gives us another reason to come back! The concert was held in a relatively small venue, which made the experience feel incredibly intimate and almost like being in someone's beautiful home. The concert featured a violinist and pianist who performed continuously for just under an hour, with very short breaks between pieces. It was absolutely magical and beautiful. The audience was respectful and wonderfully quiet throughout the performance, which made the experience even more special. The musicians were also local to California, which was a lovely touch. The only thing we missed was the café. Since our concert was at 3 p.m. on a Sunday, we were actually getting pretty hungry by the time the concert started, but the café had already closed at 3. So if you're planning to spend the day here, I recommend grabbing a snack or something to eat before the café closes. Overall, we had such a beautiful day at the Crocker. I especially loved seeing the historic Crocker Mansion alongside the continuously changing exhibitions. It's a wonderful combination of history, architecture, art, and music all in one place. Whether you're a Sacramento local or visiting from out of town, I highly recommend adding the Crocker Art Museum to your list. We'll definitely be back -- and next time, we're making sure to see that second floor!

the Crocker Art Museum has 3 floors, each one full of artwork, historical artifacts and you are…read moretaken into a deep dive into History. you start from the 3rd floor, and you can make your way down via elevator or stairs. towards the end, i got myself a pin from the Museum Store the third floor focuses on artwork and large artifacts and depictions. the second floor is full of historical artifacts from africa, mexico, egypt and most civilizations throughout history make sure u pay your parking outside, right outside Museum, and the area itself is beautiful, here downtown Sacramento, so a nice walk after a long intake of History is very nice thx, Crocker