Page 46 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to California

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, left.
park district includes 65 parks covering
113,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa
counties. In the Santa Cruz mountains, just
west of Silicon Valley and San Jose, are vast
open space preserves, including Cali-
fornia’s oldest state park, Big Basin
Redwoods, established in 1902.
Heritage & Culture
Early Mexican and Spanish explorers and
settlers in the Bay Area left their mark,
mostly in place names but also in historic
buildings from that era. San Francisco’s
Mission Dolores, established in 1776, is the
oldest building in San Francisco and the
oldest intact original Mission in California.
The patchwork design of its beamed ceil-
ings resembles local Native American
basket weaving. Other old missions are
found elsewhere in the Bay Area: in
Sonoma, San Rafael, Santa Clara, San Jose
and Santa Cruz.
Vestiges of San Francisco’s colorful past,
when the 1849 Gold Rush catapulted it
from a hamlet to a large city almost
overnight, can still be seen in thousands
of 19th-century Victorians and quaint old
quarters such as Alamo Square and
Jackson Square.
The Bay Area is home to world-class
museums, including the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art, the Asian Art Mu-
SPECIAL EVENTS 2024
CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE Feb. 24, San Francisco chineseparade.com
CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL April 13-14, 20-21, San Francisco sfcherryblossom.org
BAY TO BREAKERS RUN May 19, San Francisco baytobreakers.com
CARNAVAL May 25-26, San Francisco carnavalsanfrancisco.org
STERN GROVE MUSIC FESTIVAL Sundays, mid June-mid August, San Francisco sterngrove.org
SAN FRANCISCO LGBTQ + PRIDE WEEKEND June 29-30, San Francisco sfpride.org
MENDOCINO MUSIC FESTIVAL July 13-27, Mendocino mendocinomusic.org
ART AND WINE FESTIVAL Sept. 2-3, Millbrae millbrae.com/art-wine-festival
HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS Oct. 4-6, San Francisco hardlystrictlybluegrass.com
ART & PUMPKIN FESTIVAL Oct. 19-20, Half Moon Bay pumpkinfest.miramarevents.com
UNION SQUARE CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING Nov. 9 - Jan., San Francisco macys.com
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Nov. 24-Jan. 1, Yountville yountville.com
44 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
seum, the de Young Museum and California
Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. In
Oakland, there’s the Museum of California
that celebrates the state. The Cantor Arts
Center at Stanford has a large collection of
Rodin sculptures. A lively art scene is found
throughout the Bay Area, home of the San
Francisco Symphony, Ballet, Opera and
dozens of theater and dance companies.
Diverse cultural influences thrive in
pockets spread throughout the region,
including many from Asia: Japantown
and Chinatown in San Francisco, another
Chinatown in Oakland and Vietnamese and
Southeast Asian communities in San Jose
and neighboring cities. Mexican and other
Latin American influences can be found
throughout, particularly in San Francisco’s
Mission district, while Italian immigrants
left their indelible mark in San Francisco’s
North Beach and Sonoma and Napa wine-
growing areas.
Family Fun
Spend a day at the Santa Cruz Beach Board-
walk, a century-old amusement park famous
for The Giant Dipper, a 1920s-era roller
coaster. Families also enjoy the San Mateo
County coast, particularly Half Moon Bay’s
mid-October festival that features pumpkin
carving and pie-eating contests. Santa Clara’s
Great America theme park thrills visitors
with the radically-transformed and expanded
15-acre South Bay Shores Waterpark.
San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf and
Pier 39 are lined with shops, restaurants,
street performers and even a colony of sea
lions that wows crowds. The pier also offers
an antique carousel and the Aquarium of
the Bay, with more than 20,000 marine ani-
mals. Over in Golden Gate Park, the
California Academy of Sciences draws
families with its penguin exhibit, a walk-
through rainforest and aquarium with a
live indoor coral reef tank.
CITYPASS. OPPOSITE: MARIN CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU