Stanford University
The intellectual center of Silicon Valley, with a main quad of sandstone arcades and red roofs, a memorial church with mosaic facades, a Rodin sculpture garden, and the Hoover Tower observation deck. The campus is open to visitors for free.
Stanford University lies in Palo Alto, about 55 km south of San Francisco. Founded in 1891 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford and his wife in memory of their young son who died, it covers roughly 33 square km and is one of the largest campuses in the United States. It is also where Hewlett-Packard, Google, and Yahoo got their start. The campus is free to visit. Highlights include: the Main Quad, with its sandstone arcades and red-tiled roofs; the Memorial Church, whose front is covered in large mosaics, and whose interior features Byzantine-style mosaics and stained glass (usually open on weekdays); the Rodin Sculpture Garden, which displays more than 20 original bronze works, including "The Gates of Hell" and "The Burghers of Calais"; the Cantor Arts Center, which is free (closed Mondays and Tuesdays); the roughly 87-meter Hoover Tower, where a ticket is required to reach the top for views over the campus and the Bay Area; and Palm Drive and the Oval. The visitor center offers free student-led tours of about 70 minutes, which must be booked online. Getting there: Take Caltrain from San Francisco to Palo Alto station, about 1 hour, then transfer to the free Marguerite campus shuttle. Plan about half a day, and you can combine it with a visit to Silicon Valley tech companies on the same day.
Opening hours
Campus open all day; Memorial Church and museum approx. 10:00–17:00; Hoover Tower approx. 10:00–16:00
Nearby sights
- Silicon Valley Tech Campuses
- Apple Park Visitor Center
- Half Moon Bay Coast
- USS Hornet Museum
- Mission District & Mission Dolores
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
- Twin Peaks
- San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge