Palo Alto, an affluent Californian city, is situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, on the shores of San Francisco Bay. It is most famous for being the home of Stanford University, one of the world’s most prestigious Universities. In addition, many of the world’s top tech firms, such as Google, Facebook and Tesla began in the city.
How to get to Palo Alto
Palo Alto is 33 miles south east of San Francisco (22 miles south east of San Francisco Airport), straight down the US-101. By public transport, the Caltrain from San Francisco takes just over an hour and costs $8.25. From the airport, you must take the BART (Red Line) to Millbrae and transfer to the Caltrain there.
Palo Alto is popular with parkrun tourists as it hosts one of only two parkruns in California. The event takes place at Byxbee Park on Saturdays at 8 am. Travelling from San Francisco in time for parkrun on a Saturday morning would mean an early start by car and isn’t possible by public transport. So it makes sense to come the day before and check out what else Palo Alto has to offer.
Getting around Palo Alto
Most people in suburban USA get around by car. We have followed the route in this schedule mainly walking, with some cycling, but it does cover a fair few miles.
Palo Alto is considered to be one of the most cycling friendly city in the USA. It is flat and there is a network of bike lanes and bicycle boulevards, where cyclists have priority over other traffic. There are several bike hire shops in addition to bike share schemes.
Hiring a car is relatively cheap and gives you the opportunity to explore the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Where to stay in Palo Alto
We stayed at Menlo Park Inn, which is a fairly typical American motel. It is clean and comfortable. The rooms are spacious and there is a complementary breakfast.
Palo Alto in 2 Days Itinerary
| Day 1 | Stanford University Main Quad Stanford Memorial Church Hoover Tower Stanford Bookstore Lunch at Tresidder Memorial Union Cantor Arts Center The Anderson Collection Rodin Sculpture Garden Stanford Dish Stanford Shopping Center Dinner at Gotts Roadside Accommodation – The Palo Alto Inn |
| Day 2 | Baylands Nature Preserve Lunch at Araki Sushi Downtown Palo Alto Elizabeth F Gamble Garden Hewlett Packard Garage Dinner at Curry Pizza House |
Day 1
Stanford University
Dominating Palo Alto is the enormous Stanford University campus. The university’s inception dates back to 1885. Railroad magnate Leland and wife Jane Stanford, who had lost their only child (Leland Jr) the previous year, decided to honour their son’s memory by turning their cattle ranch into a university. Thus, in 1891, Leland Stanford Junior University, opened for business.
Some interesting facts I gleaned from the university’s website; the campus consists of 8,180 acres of land containing 630 buildings, 140 shops, 49 miles of roads and 43,000 trees. There is easily enough to see here to spend a whole day exploring the campus.
The Main Quad
The oldest part of campus is the Romanesque, palm lined Main Quad, which consists of a courtyard with ornate covered walkways and twelve connected buildings dating back to 1891.
Stanford Memorial Church
The focal point of the Quad is Stanford Memorial Church, commissioned by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband, who died in 1893. Its ornate design was inspired by the couple’s travels round Europe.
The church is noted for its beautiful mosaic-tiled frontage and 19 stained-glass windows.
The windows and further mosaics can be admired from inside the church.
Hoover Tower
The 87 metre high Hoover Tower is a campus landmark. The tower is named after Herbert Hoover, former US president and one of Stanford’s first graduates. It was built in 1941, inspired by a Spanish cathedral, and is home to the Hoover Institute.
Hoover amassed a large collection of documents relating to 20th Century history, which he donated to his alma mater. The first nine floors of the tower house this collection. My favourites are the collection of political propaganda posters.
Above, is an observation deck, which provides spectacular views across Stanford to San Francisco Bay.
The Tower is open daily during term time from 10 am until 4 pm (excluding the days of home football fixtures). Entry for visitors costs $8.
Stanford Bookstore
The title bookstore doesn’t really adequately describe this place. The four storey warehouse contains pretty much any item you can imagine (and plenty more) with a Stanford logo added. The range of goods available – and the prices – always makes us giggle. It’s the place to go if you want a souvenir t shirt or to dress your baby as a football or your dog as a cheerleader…
Lunch at Tresidder Memorial Union
There are plenty of cafés scattered across campus. A favourite is the Food Court at Tresidder Memorial Union. Concessions include Chinese, Mexican, pizza and pretzels.
Cantor Arts Center
There are two art galleries on campus. The best is the Cantor Arts Center.
Leland Stanford Junior was an avid collector, and the building which houses the Cantor Arts Center was originally the Leland Stanford Junior Museum, built to house these and other treasures amassed by the Stanford family. In 1999, it was rebuilt and reopened as the Cantor Arts Center, mainly due to most of Leland’s collection being lost in an earthquake.
The centre’s 24 galleries house a mixture of permanent and temporary exhibitions. It contains over 38,000 pieces of art and artifacts from around the world, including a large collections of Rodin sculptures.
Lobby
In the lobby is this impressive brass cast of a horse made from driftwood.
Melancholy Museum
There is still a room – The Melancholy Museum – dedicated to Leland Stanford Junior and his collection of artifacts.
Meier Family Galleria – The Faces of Ruth Asawa
Here, you can see The Faces of Ruth Asawa. On the wall are 233 ceramic face masks which Asawa cast from her friends and family.
Rodin
The Center has the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside Paris, with 199 works. In addition to the exterior Rodin Sculpture Garden, there is more of the sculptor’s work inside, including The Thinker.
African Art
There is plenty of traditional African art on display, but I was drawn to the work of a Kenyan artist on a rather British topic; Brexit.
Sculpture Terrace
The art continues outside on the Sculpture Terrace.
Early European Art
To be honest, not my thing and some of it is rather creepy.
Rehmus Family Gallery – Indigenous American Art
This gallery contains a collection of totem poles and other indigenous art.
The Cantor Arts Center is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 am (10 am at weekends) until at least 5 pm. Entry is free.
The Anderson Collection
Next door is another gallery, this one focusing on Modern American Art; The Anderson Collection.
The Anderson Collection is also free to enter and is open between Wednesday and Sunday from 11 am until 5 pm.
Rodin Sculpture Garden
There is plenty of public art scattered around campus, particularly by Rodin. Many of these can be seen in the Sculpture Garden next to the Arts Center.
Stanford Dish
The Stanford Dish is actually a radio telescope, set on a hill overlooking campus. A 3.5 mile trail takes you in a circle up to the dish (focus on the word up) and back down. In addition to housing the dish, the surrounding area also acts as a nature reserve.
If you have the time and energy (it’s quite a workout climbing the hill), it’s worth climbing to the top of the Dish for the spectacular views.
Stanford Shopping Center
Next to campus is Stanford Shopping Center. It has over 140 stores, including some large department stores (Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Nieman Marcus) plus smaller shops, a nice farmers market grocery store and a choice of dining options.
Dinner at Gotts Roadside
Have dinner at one of the many restaurants at the mall. Alternatively, pop down the road to Gotts Roadside. You can smell the aroma of burgers frying from afar, luring you into Gotts Roadside…
Accommodation – Menlo Park Inn
Accommodation in Palo Alto can be expensive. We stayed at Menlo Park Inn, which is 3 miles north east of Palo Alto. It is conveniently located on the main road through the valley (El Camino Real) close to shops, restaurants and Menlo Park Station. This motel style property has large, extremely clean and comfortable rooms. The price includes parking, wifi and breakfast.
Day 2
Baylands Nature Preserve
Baylands Nature Preserve is a 1940 acre of wetlands bordering San Francisco Bay. A series of trails provide stunning views and the opportunity to spot plenty of wildlife.
On Saturday mornings, this is the location of Byxbee parkrun. You can read more about my visit to Byxbee parkrun here.
Lunch at Araki Sushi
For lunch, head into town to Araki Sushi. It has an extensive menu including some very nice vegetarian dishes. We chose the gyoza, a selection of sushi and fried tofu.
Downtown Palo Alto
Downtown Palo Alto is lined with shops as well as a large variety of bars and restaurants. It’s an interesting place to take a wander, browse the stores and maybe stop for refreshments. There is also Stanford Theatre; a cinema which dates from the 1920s and shows old movies.
Elizabeth F Gamble Garden
Elizabeth Gamble’s grandfather was a soap maker and co-founder of Proctor & Gamble. Her family moved to Palo Alto in 1901 so her brothers could attend Stanford University. Meanwhile, Elizabeth focused her attention on her beloved garden. The Elizabeth F Gamble Garden is now open to the public and is free to visit.
Hewlett Packard Garage
Palo Alto is renowned for being the birthplace of many tech companies. At 367 Addison Avenue, you can see the garage attached to the former home of Dave Packard. It was here, in 1939, that computer giant Hewlett Packard was born. The building isn’t open to the public but there is a plaque telling the history of the garage, which can be glimpsed through the gates.
Dinner at Curry Pizza House
Round the day off by returning downtown, where there are a host of great restaurants. Curry Pizza House, as the name suggests, embraces fusion cuisine with pizzas with curry toppings. We chose half and half; one side aloo gobi and the other palak paneer.
I hope you found the above information useful. For guides to more destinations in the 50+ countries we have visited, check out my full list of Independent Travel Itineraries here.
- Trip taken: December 2023
- Updated: December 2024
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