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Work trip to Palo Alto, CA - Seeking recommendations
In a few weeks, I'll be making a short trip (3 days) to Palo Alto, working in the Stanford Medical Center area.
I'm hoping for some local or experienced insight into "don't miss" destinations for food, culture, history, and sight-seeing. It's likely I'll only have Sunday afternoon and weekday evenings free, so the personal tour may have to be more focused than local guides might otherwise suggest.
My home area has great food, but I'm really starving for Eastern cuisines. I'm willing to go beyond what a corporate travel budget permits if there's truly extraordinary, "can't get anywhere else" dining available.
Your insights are greatly appreciated!
It was mentioned in @boxer_dogs_dance’s post, but the Computer History Museum in Mountain View is absolutely worth a visit if you are at all interested in tech. Covers the history of computer dating back to the 1800s and has an honestly impressive amount of actually vintage items on display. I can’t wait to go back.
Much appreciated, that sounds delightful if it's open during the hours I can get there.
The Cantor Arts Center is a lovely small art museum right on the Stanford campus, absolutely worth a visit if you like art. There's a Rodin collectíon outside, and an Andy Galsworthy structure nearby.
Oh, that's perfect, thank you so much! I love Rodin sculpture, and architectural attractions are a bonus.
We have excellent food in the Bay Area. From Palo Alto, I would be looking for options in San Francisco, San Jose or Fremont. r/sanjose, r/asksf, r/bayarea, r/sanmateo can help.
For sightseeing, it depends what you want. Filoli is beautiful. Winchester Mystery house is unique. Santa Clara mission is historic. Redwood trees are a don't miss California experience but you would have to travel to Cowell state park or Muir Woods (reservation required) or Big Basin. Half Moon Bay is a town on the coast with tourist activities and seafood restaurants. San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, good museums, Golden Gate park and much more. There is a computer museum. Stanford campus has Rodin sculptures.
My apologies, I didn't specify that the group I'm with won't likely rent a car, and corporate policy is Uber trips only within 25 miles of the destination. I'm really confined to Palo Alto and immediate environs, though that might bring some redwoods within reach.
Thank you for taking the time to respond, though!
CalTrain can take you from San Jose to San Francisco and back with many stops in between. Bart connects with CalTrain. Redwood forests are the unforgettable experience, so maybe next time. But the Bay Area is a rich tourist destination with great food. Yelp is a review website for restaurants. You can also check the Michelin Guide. Uber and Lyft are easy and frequent for when you get off the train.
Edit, some of the tourist sites I mentioned should be within 25 miles.
For food Zareen’s (Palo Alto), Rooh (Palo Alto) and Falafel STOP (Sunnyvale) are my favorite in South Bay.
Thank you very much for the specific information on Palo Alto! With enough time, I can usually put together a list from Google Maps and other review sources, but I like to ask people who've got local experience.