Things to Do in Northern California

1. Seymour Marine Discovery Center

Located in the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz is a marine research and education facility which aims to promote the understanding and conservation of the world’s oceans, and to demonstrate the role that scientific research plays in that objective.

Featuring a 20,000-square-foot visitor center, you are welcome to attend the aquarium, where you can touch sharks, sea stars, urchins, crabs and anemones, see Ms. Blue –an 87-foot-long and 18-foot-high whale skeleton- and get closer to the magnificent sea life of Monterey Bay, which is a year-round home year for seals, otters, dolphins, sea lions, whales, a multitude of invertebrates and algae, as well as seabirds and fish.

100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, Phone: 831-459-3800, Map

2. McEvoy Ranch

Located on a beautiful 550-acre working farm in Petaluma, McEvoy Ranch is a 3rd generation family-owned farm and business. The ranch was primarily known for producing exceptionally fine extra virgin olive oil, and has gradually extended their range of products to include fine small-batch wines, olive-oil skincare products and fabulous culinary delights like honey, mustards and relishes.

Visitors are welcome to stop by the ranch to enjoy the wonderful views and to stock up on all their favorite products. You can also book a tour of the beautiful estate, with or without an olive oil or wine tasting. Lunch is available by prior booking.

McEvoy Ranch, 5935 Red Hill Rd, Petaluma, CA 94952, 707 778 2307, website, Map

3. Monterey Bay Aquarium

Founded in 1984, this non-profit public aquarium located in Monterey, features more than 600 species of plants and animals and is acknowledged as one of the best aquariums in the United States. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was built on the site of a former sardine cannery and receives more than 2 million visitors each year.

Known for circulating fresh ocean water through pipes from Monterrey Bay, some of its most prominent attractions include the Ocean Edge Wing, a three-story tank home to the first Giant Kelp forest exhibit in the world, the Open Sea exhibit (formerly the Outer Bay), which has the largest marine observation window in the world, a million-gallon shark tank, and the jewel jellyfish tank. Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the top california points of interest.

886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940, Phone: 831-648-4800, Map

The drive from San Francisco takes 2.5 hours if you are planning a weekend trip.

4. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), is a modern art museum and monument of the city of San Francisco, California. It was the first West Coast museum to display only 20th-century art and its collection holds 33,000 objects, including sections on photography, sculpture, architecture, painting, and media arts.

It is one of the largest museums in the United States, offering 45,000 square feet of art-filled public spaces. In May 2016 it was expanded to include an outstanding piece of architectural work by Snøhetta which is perfectly integrated with the existing Mario Botta design. Another distinguished area is the rooftop garden, which includes two open-air spaces and a glass pavilion where a rotating selection of indoor and outdoor sculpture is on display.

151 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94103, Phone: 415-357-4000, Map, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Video

5. California State Railroad Museum

Named as one of the best railway expositions of the country, the California State Railroad Museum presents 21 restored Iron Horse trains that date as far back as the 1860s. The museum is a reminder of the important role that these trains played in American society in relation to the development of the Golden State and in providing the connection between California and the rest of the country.

One of the main attractions is the Sacramento Southern Railroad journey, which operates between April and October and takes passengers back through time during a 40-minute roundtrip on an old restored locomotive. Other highlights include a reconstructed 1870 station, photography materials, and a wealth of old equipment.

125 I St, Sacramento, CA 95814, Phone: 916-445-7387, Map

6. The Triton Museum of Art

The Triton Museum of Art is one of Santa Clara's loveliest cultural gems, originally founded in 1965 by prominent area rancher and lawyer W. Robert Morgan and his wife June. As Santa Clara County's first non-university art museum, the museum has operated in its current location since 1967, renovated to its current 22,000-square-foot space in 1987.

Today, more than 40,000 annual museum guests view its well-curated rotating art exhibitions, which showcase the works of California artists working in a wide variety of media. Solo and thematic exhibitions are presented throughout the year, along with a variety of art group exhibitions and open competition exhibitions. Outreach programming reaches more than 90,000 viewers each year, including a satellite gallery location.

1505 Warburton Ave, Santa Clara, CA 95050, Phone: 408- 247-2438, Map

7. SOMArts Cultural Center

SOMArts Cultural Center was established in 1979 as an official San Francisco cultural center with the mission to promote art in the community and encourage respect for different cultures. SOMArts provides crucial services to the art community as well as space for large-scale exhibitions and events in the heart of San Francisco. It provides a darkroom, a printmaking studio, a ceramics studio, three gallery spaces, a dance studio, a 180-seat theater, and offices used by organizations such as the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center and ArtSpan. SOMArts organizes a range of exhibitions every month as well as annual events, such as the Día de los Muertos exhibition and Night Light: Multimedia Garden Party. More than 40,000 people take advantage of their free or affordable workshops, exhibitions, and performances, and about 1,200 artists from the Bay Area show their work at SOMArts annually.

934 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, Phone: 415-863-1414, Map

8. Jack London State Historic Park

Also known as the Jack London Home and Ranch, the Jack London State Historic Park is located in the Sonoma Mountains close to Glen Ellen, California. It was the home of the famous writer Jack London from 1905 until his death in 1916. His wife, Charmian, inherited the property and upon her death in 1955 it became a museum, finally opening to the public in 1959.

Some of the park’s features include the Winery Cottage where London wrote many of his stories, the House of Happy Walls that was constructed by his wife in memory of him, the Wolf House, which is a 15,000-square-foot house that burnt down just before the Londons moved in, and the couple’s grave.

2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442, Phone: 707-938-5216, Map

9. Palace of Fine Arts

One of the ten palaces in the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition, the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina district of San Francisco, California, is one of the few such buildings still standing today. Its architect, Bernard R. Maybeck, designed it to reflect a Roman ruin, and while most of the other buildings were torn down, this one was considered too beautiful, and so it was restored in 1965.

Now a museum and theatre, it hosts numerous art exhibits, is a popular sightseeing spot for tourists and locals, and has been used for wedding parties and photograph sessions.

3601 Lyon St, San Francisco, CA 94123, Phone: 415-563-6504, website , Map