Palo Alto is located in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay area, at the northern end of Silicon Valley, in the United States. The area is home to Stanford University and the city is home to iconic tech companies such as Facebook, Apple, Google, Pinterest, Hewlett-Packard, and Xerox, among others. But something very important about the charm of Palo Alto is the exclusivity of many places you can visit if you seek a high-altitude vacation.
Palo Alto is named after a giant sequoia tree of that name, whose high visibility in the San Francisco Bay Area served as a reference point for boaters to know where to stop and rest after the arduous journey from the Philippines.
It is currently one of the most exclusive places to live and enjoy tourism in the United States. Below are a few places that you cannot miss when you visit this wonderful city.
Self-guided audio tour by car
If you like adventure, there are mobile applications you can download that offer you a good private tour of Silicon Valley to start getting to know the city. These tours last approximately four hours that you can go about at your own pace. With this option, you can travel through Silicon Valley with maximum time flexibility so you can stop and enjoy as you please. You just have to get in your car and use the application on your phone. Of course, we recommend that during the tour you make several stops at the facilities of tech giants Apple, Google, Facebook, Tesla, and many more.
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, more commonly known as Stanford University, is located about 35 miles southeast of San Francisco and accepts less than 5% of its applicants. This university, founded almost 150 years ago, is famous for the quality of its teaching, to the extent that it is considered one of the ten best universities in the world, so it is not uncommon for it to be one of the institutions that raises the most money in all of the U.S. and that it was the first to make more than a billion dollars in just one year. As of 2018, 81 Nobel Prize laureates, 27 Turing Award laureates, and 7 Fields Medal recipients have been affiliated with Stanford in the capacity of students, alumni, or faculty members. Stanford is the alma mater of 30 living billionaires and 17 astronauts, as well as being one of the leading producers of members of the United States Congress.
University Avenue and downtown
Between the Stanford campus and the U.S. 101, University Avenue runs through the center of town. So you can’t help but enjoy the almost perfect weather of Palo Alto with a walk down the street and visit stores like the historic Mills Florist or Books Inc. While in the area, go for an ice cream at Scoop Microcreamery. Every Saturday morning, local vendors flock to the Palo Alto Farmers Market to sell everything from raw milk to freshly made pasta.
Cantor Arts Center
Located at Stanford University, the Cantor Arts Center features works by various artists from around the world. It boasts 130,000 square feet where more than 38,000 works of art are displayed and offers a variety of exhibits, including a collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Richard Diebenkorn, art from the 1950s, and African art.
Computer History Museum
Almost any leading tech company you can think of has offices in the Palo Alto area, including Google, Facebook, Skype, and Hewlett-Packard. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, very close to Palo Alto, exhibits the power of coding the present while taking a deep dive into the past. Curious adults and engineering students will appreciate the exclusive exhibit called “Revolution,” which shows visitors the first 2,000 years of the evolution of computing.
Museum of American Heritage
At the Museum of American Heritage, you’ll learn about local and national history, with a series of permanent and rotating exhibits, featuring many artifacts related to domestic life from the early 1800s to the 1950s. Some of the permanent exhibits include Early 20th Century Kitchen, 1920s General Store, The Marshall Matthews Garage, and The Print Shop.
Rinconada Park
Rinconada Park in Palo Alto is one of the city’s oldest parks and a popular place to spend sunny days. It features 19 acres of redwoods and oaks, as well as a public swimming pool, nine tennis courts, picnic areas with barbecue areas, two playgrounds, and a series of walking trails.
Bird Dog
Bird Dog is a creative and elegant restaurant, a star of the South Bay dining scene. Chef Robbie Wilson offers a mix of eastern and western cuisine in a dining room of white concrete walls dotted with colorful ducks. We recommend the warm spiced roti and the wood-roasted avocado stuffed with homemade ponzu and fresh wasabi.
Baylands Nature Preserve
Baylands Nature Preserve is one of the largest remaining salt marsh areas in the San Francisco Bay Area and offers a unique natural experience, providing the opportunity to wander through 1,940 acres of pristine salt marshes. Fifteen miles of flat trails make the area perfect for runners and bikers, accompanied by an incredible array of local ornithological wildlife (pheasants, pelicans, hummingbirds, etc.), which also makes it a great choice for bird watchers. There is also an interpretive center, restrooms, picnic areas, a sports center, and a duck pond.
Junior Museum and Zoo
This zoo is a science and nature center aimed at educating children about wildlife and nature, with more than 200 animals of 50 different species. There are many hands-on exhibits that provide learning opportunities. Bats, lynxes, hedgehogs, turtles, raccoons, ferrets, and birds are some of the animals that are housed there.
Hotels
Dinah’s Garden Hotel is situated on seven acres of greenery, offering an oasis in the heart of Silicon Valley. Each of the rooms and suites is uniquely designed, such as the Lanai, with vaulted ceilings and lagoon views, or the Railroad Baron, with a four-poster bed and a model train that runs around the perimeter of the room. The Tokyo-inspired Nobu Hotel Epiphany Palo Alto, the Westin Palo Alto, and the Sheraton Palo Alto, with its easy access to Stanford, are also great options.
Other attraction in Palo Alto, California
The Dish is a 150-foot-wide radio telescope nestled in Stanford Hills and built in 1965 by university scientists. To tour this UFO-like structure, you’ll have to hike 3.5 miles.
The Stanford Theater is a great option to see a classic movie. It was founded in 1925 and only shows non-digital movies. It features the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, which is played during the intermission.
For chic outdoor shopping, we suggest going to Stanford Shopping Center where you’ll find products from various luxury designers such as Burberry, Coach, and Kate Spade, as well as well-known retailers. This mall is surrounded by gardens, fountains, and sculptures for a great shopping experience.
Remember that these are just some of the most outstanding options to enjoy in Palo Alto, California, a place where there is always something fabulous to do. If you want more options for a luxury vacation, don’t miss our list of seven unmissable luxury resorts and activities in Los Cabos, or if you want something more traditional, discover the magical corners of Oaxaca on an unforgettable vacation. Or if you’re already set to travel, why not take a longer trip to see the 10 most beautiful medieval castles in the world?
