<p>We are heading to Stanford in a few days.
I have gotten so many wonderful suggestions when we were visiting Caltech over the summer , I really felt like I have gotten to know the area much better because of all the great advice from CC. So here I am again :)
We will be in the Palo Alto area for about 48 hours total and we will have the car.
What should we visit, what can we skip?</p>
<p>Filoli Park in Redwood City, Right off 280</p>
<p>[Filoli</a> in Redwood City, CA 94062 | Parents Connect Local](<a href=“Nickelodeon Parents | Printables, coloring pages, recipes, crafts, and more from your child’s favorite Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows.”>Nickelodeon Parents | Printables, coloring pages, recipes, crafts, and more from your child’s favorite Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows.)</p>
<p>Wonderful garden and natual scenes, but call ahead first, they are closed often.</p>
<p>What is your fancy and life style? Museums? Parks? Sports? Sight Seeing? City? Food? Shopping?</p>
<p>You can skip Palo Alto ;)…</p>
<p>I’d recommend to hang out on campus most of the time. If you have time to go to SF, I’d definitely recommend that, especially if your son had not been there.</p>
<p>Agree with nngmm.
Not sure where you are coming from----but if you spend one day at Stanford, you should absolutely go up to San Francisco for day #2. It is about 50 minutes north of Stanford and you could easily just park in the Union Square garage and bum around the City all day.</p>
<p>He has been to SF while at Berkeley for a tournament last winter.</p>
<p>Coming from 101, take the university ave exit to drive toward Stanford. You will pass the heart of downtown Palo alto. I would not suggest you do this more than once. The traffic will be pretty bad.</p>
<p>You will come directly to the palm drive to the Oval. Spend some time at the quad and then get up to the top of Hoover tower to see the campus. I will drive around the whole campus just to get the feel of one of the largest campus. Go to White plaza and have lunch there. Be aware that visitor parking spots are limited. </p>
<p>I would get from Sand hills to route 84 to route 1. The drive to the top of the hill on 84 is nice and the beaches along highway 1 is as pretty as natural could offer. </p>
<p>Go see the golden gate etc if you like the tourists stuff.</p>
<p>Standard stuff on campus is actually worthwhile.</p>
<p>Go to the top of Hoover Tower. Great view on a nice day. In the building, there’s an interesting exhibit about Hoover…one of the more positve historical views you’ll find of Hoover! Just be sure to check the tour times.</p>
<p>The Cantor Art Museum is very nice and very manageable…has a little bit of everything (ancient, old masters, impressionists and modern art) …and an interesting room dedicated to the Stanford family history (a lot about where the money came from…and where it went!)</p>
<p>Look at the Stanford Events section of their website. I was able to attend a famous business leader’s lecture one afternoon when I was visiting. Tickets had been handed out in advance…but I just waited on the “stand by” line and got in.</p>
<p>Fun diner-like restaurant in town not far from the campus…I can’t remember the name…will post if it comes to me!</p>
<p>Got some great restaurant suggestions in the Parents Cafe about 5- 7 months ago…maybe the link can be found to that thread…</p>
<p>I would leave the San Francisco/Bay Area tourist stuff to another time.</p>
<p>Stick with getting a feel for Stanford. Stay in a hotel as close to campus as possible. There are some near the Palo Alto train station and in Palo Alto. There is usually a great deal going on. So get the list of activities from the Stanford web site, or the student paper, or just leave time open during the evening. Attend an athletic event – Football, Women’s Volleyball, etc. Attend an arts/music/theater event. Go to the museum. Walk through the campus – from the quad to the Red Barn, and then into Palo Alto, and back. Hike in hills just beyond the campus. See if there’s a lecture/seminar in your area of interest – either during the day or in the evening.</p>
<p>If you are pressing for time and want to skip University Ave (lots of traffic and stop signs), take the next exit, Embarcadero Rd, which is south of University Ave exit if you are going N, and north of University Ave exit if you are going south on HWY 101. Embarcadero is less busy and takes you straight onto campus.
University Ave is worth a stop over though.
If you are heading there this weekend, beware, Stanford is playing USC at home and the whole campus area will be swamped.</p>
<p>We were just there for a cross country meet 2 weeks ago. You can easily spend a full day on campus and just exploring the area as others above have said. Hoover Tower, the art museum, have lunch on campus… Nearby Foothill College has a great observatory that I believe is open Friday nights. I know he has already seen SF, but we always find a lot to do in Golden Gate Park;science and art museums and botanical gardens. Also the NASA exploration center near the old Moffett Fields is kind of cool. Have fun!</p>
<p>Walk the Dish trail if the weather is nice and you have time to spare.</p>
<p>On the second day, if you don’t want to drive far from Stanford, you can visit here:</p>
<p>[Moffett</a> Field History](<a href=“http://www.moffettfieldmuseum.org/history.html]Moffett”>History - MOFFETT FIELD MUSEUM)</p>
<p>As matter of fact, you can visit Filoli and Moffett Field on the same day before heading home.</p>
<p>If you like games, there are paint ball or go-cart around.</p>
<p>Thanks guys!
I will have to print myself a map of the campus as I have no idea what you are talking about 
DS handled the tour registration, I personally have not visited the stanford website yet.
Is Dish trail on campus or in the foothills above?
Looks like Palo Alto is one busy city!
We are going to be there during the week.</p>
<p>The Stanford visitor website has a nice list of things to do on campus; [Tourists</a> and First-time Visitors : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/visitorinfo/plan/guides/visit.html]Tourists”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/visitorinfo/plan/guides/visit.html) . I personally enjoy the Papua New Guinea sculpture garden and walking around ‘Lake’ Lagunita. The Memorial Church is also absolutely stunning, definitely take the time to see it. </p>
<p>There are some good places to eat downtown, and you can take the Marguerite shuttle ([Marguerite</a> Shuttle](<a href=“http://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite/]Marguerite”>Marguerite Shuttle | Stanford Transportation)) to and from campus.</p>
<p>Would he have a car if he went to school there? If no, is he comfortable using public transport? If no, for day 2, you might consider taking public transport to SF or wherever you decide to go. </p>
<p>[511.org[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/visitorinfo/plan/public_transit.html]Public”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/visitorinfo/plan/public_transit.html]Public</a> Transit : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.511.org/]511.org[/url”>http://www.511.org/)</p>
<p>Food options are endless, I personally don’t like PA downtown food, have been most of them. Since you have a car, few minutes drive will open up so many options. Just don;t know what do you like.</p>
<p>Anything that is uniquely Stanford?
Like Pie and Burger near Caltech…</p>
<p>I personally love Asian food.</p>
<p>[Map</a> of Stanford Dish](<a href=“AllTrails: Trail Guides & Maps for Hiking, Camping, and Running | AllTrails”>AllTrails: Trail Guides & Maps for Hiking, Camping, and Running | AllTrails)</p>
<p>For Asian Restaurants search on Yelp.
IMHO,
If you drive about 10 minutes south on El Camino to Mountain View to Castro and side streets you’ll have more choices for Asian restaurants of every type.</p>
<p>Drive around and look for Silicon Valley history. My husband always likes to show me where he went to junior high with Steve Jobs.</p>