Things to do in Berkeley and around
(disclaimer: this is a list of recomandations form Berkeley Lab employees and not endorsed by the lab. Some mythical places have closed down during the pandemic – please help us find cool new alternatives and share them with others!)
Here is a partial list of things to do if you have a few days to spare in Berkeley or the Bay area and do not know where to start. In Berkeley :
Berkeley
Jupiter, Comal and Triple rock are my favorite bars in downtown Berkeley. They all serve good food; you can find great pizzas at The Cheese Board Collective, Arthur Mac's, Pizza de Laura, Gioia, Rose Pizzaria, Emilias. For burgers, Barney is a good option, but if you prefer vegan options, check out the Butcher's Son.
In West Berkeley, there's Albatross (the oldest pub in Berkeley), Missouri lounge (hipster's paradise) and Torpedo Taproom to name a few. A bit South, Actual Café is a must.
To watch, Berkeley has many amenities : you can watch the Cal Bears playing Football at the memorial stadium, watch a basketball game (quick! summer is near), or go to Oakland to see the Athletics at O.Co or when the football season restarts the Raiders. SF Basketball team (Golden State Warriors) usually also play in Oakland.
For shows, there's a bunch of nice movie theaters (California theater, Shattuck Landmark, with old school seats etc.) and traditional theater (Berkeley Rep and Aurora next door, half-priced for <30yo like you). A good venue for folk, blues and country music is Freight&Salvage; West Berkeley has the fantastic Ashkenaz (better go there after 4:20pm).
For bigger concerts, look at the Greek theatre.
If you like hikes, try out the Fire trail (just above the lab) or Tilden Park; it's very pretty, especially at sunset.
Neighbourhood to explore are Solano, Telegraph, College/Elmwood, 4th street/Marina, and the hills (better walk there !) like Indian Rock.
I once gave a talk to the Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association about the many hikes around Berkeley.
The slides are available here: go.lbl.gov/blpa/cultural_aw21
And the recording is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/124Rh0-5q0oVF_tX5_3WV1yd8wW5jKBlz/view
There's a bunch of very neat places in Oakland, like Grand Lake theater, Stork Club, Yoshi's or Café Van Kleef, but that's a bit further (let me know if you need hints & directions).
The Fox theatre is the best venue for music concerts in the whole Bay Area.
In San Francisco
There's a bunch of very good bars and restaurant in North Beach (Vesuvio, Comstock; Sodini's, House of Nanking) where I hang out often.
Another place to have fun is Haight-Ashbury, especially Magnolia brewery where they serve the best beers and good burgers.
I also like to go to the Mission near Valencia or Castro; when sunny, Dolores park nearby is very pleasant (you can see parrot flying around sometimes).
For concerts, the best venues are The Fillmore and The Independent-- check out their upcoming concert, generally low priced.
For nightlife, 1015 Folsom and the Midway are my favorite places.
Culture happens too, at the ACT which is a cool theater, or at DeYoung Museum check out their Friday Nights) and Legion of Honour (these two are hard to reach without a car)
If you can, try to attend a ball game with Giants (winner of the last World Series) at the AT&T Park- plan in advance, or it can be darn expensive !
There's a nice hike called "Land's End" on the West side of the city; Twin Peaks is great too !
Note that mid-May there will be Bay to Breakers, which is a giant party happening in the whole city where everybody gets dressed in silly costume and drink 'til dawn.
Bay Area (you will need a car):
You can have great oysters in Tomales Bay (1.5h north), visit wineries and sip some wine in Sonoma (or Napa, 1h North), enjoy a good hike in Mt Diablo (1h south), have a picnic in Half-moon bay (45min southwest). Marin county is a great area that you can explore further, even with bike (San Rafael/Tiburon/Mill Valley)
If you like nature, Pt. Reyes is gorgeous, and you can see huge trees in Muir woods (1h North)
A bit further:
- Sonoma Coast (Jenner/Bodega Bay) is a wonderful place. You can get Tomales Bay Oyster Company, and (Gundlach Bundschu, Benzinger or Korbel for champagne, or Donum estate for the arts (much pricier)
- Avenue of the Giants (3h North of SF) – gigantic trees. Great hotel here: Scotia Lodge
- Big Sur (3h au Sud de SF) - A magical place in the California Coast. Deetjen's is a great hotel, make sure to book a month in advance.
Ragged Point Inn (make sure California 1 is open!)
- Yosemite (3h East of SF), beautiful in every season (stay at Evergreen Lodge)
- Tahoe (3h North-West of SF), very famous for ski, but gorgeous hikes too (e.g. Emerald Bay, DL Bliss state park)