San Francisco Bay Area family weekend planner
Best museums in San Francisco Bay Area
Family-friendly museums in San Francisco San Francisco Bay Area: hands-on science, art, history, and children's museums, plus their upcoming free days and family programs. Browse 30 family-friendly spots and 40 upcoming events on FamHop.
Plan a day with FamHop Weekend guide
Upcoming museums
- Electric Contrasts: the Art of the Detail · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
McMurtry Building - Bowes Art & Architecture Library, 2nd floor. Visitors: Please call 650-723-3408, Palo Alto
- A Vision of Paris: The Roxane Debuisson Collection at Stanford · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Green Library, Bing Wing, Stanford
- Book spells · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
- Korean Indigenous Futures: The Art of Kim Bong-Jun 김봉준 판화전: 토착적 미래- K아트, 디아스포라, 세계 · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Lathrop Library - East Asia Library, 2nd Floor, Stanford
- Text Machines: Scarlet Thread of the Digital Order (1883-2026) · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
- Tangling the Digital: Weaving, Printmaking, Computing · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
McMurtry Building - Coulter Art Gallery, Palo Alto
- Touch Me Not: 12th Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Art Gallery, Stanford
- Emergent Properties: Decennial Reflections on Collections · Wednesday, October 7, 2026
David Rumsey Map Center (Green Library), Stanford
- Electric Contrasts: the Art of the Detail · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- A Vision of Paris: The Roxane Debuisson Collection at Stanford · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Aquarium of the Bay — animal encounters · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco · $$$
- Bay Area Discovery Museum · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito · $$
- Book spells · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Carolyn Lazard: Long Take · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Cantor Arts Center - Lynn Krywick Gibbons Gallery, Stanford
- Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose · $$
- CuriOdyssey · Thursday, October 8, 2026
CuriOdyssey, San Mateo · $$
- Habitot Children's Museum · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Habitot Children's Museum, Berkeley · $$
- Korean Indigenous Futures: The Art of Kim Bong-Jun 김봉준 판화전: 토착적 미래- K아트, 디아스포라, 세계 · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Penguin Feeding Talk · Thursday, October 8, 2026
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco · $$$
- Text Machines: Scarlet Thread of the Digital Order (1883-2026) · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- In Focus: Asian American Art from the Collection · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Cantor Arts Center - Ruth Levison Halperin Gallery, Stanford
- Emergent Properties: Decennial Reflections on Collections · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Tangling the Digital: Weaving, Printmaking, Computing · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Touch Me Not: 12th Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition · Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Coral Reef Dive Show · Thursday, October 8, 2026
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco · $$$
- Family exhibits + tinkering · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Exploratorium, San Francisco · $$$
- Tour Denning House, home to Knight-Hennessy Scholars · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Denning House, Stanford · Free
- Film Screening: Alaav (2024) · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Oshman Hall, Stanford
- Film Screening: Everyone Is Lying to You for Money · Thursday, October 8, 2026
GSB Knight - Arbuckle / Cemex, Stanford
- Electric Contrasts: the Art of the Detail · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Emergent Properties: Decennial Reflections on Collections · Friday, October 9, 2026
- A Vision of Paris: The Roxane Debuisson Collection at Stanford · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Aquarium of the Bay — animal encounters · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Bay Area Discovery Museum · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Book spells · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Branner Library Book & Map Exhibit - Water in the West · Friday, October 9, 2026
Mitchell Earth Sciences - Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections, Stanford
- Carolyn Lazard: Long Take · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose · Friday, October 9, 2026
- CuriOdyssey · Friday, October 9, 2026
- Habitot Children's Museum · Friday, October 9, 2026
Top-rated museums
- The Phoenix Collection Tea Museum · Lagunitas
- Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center · San Francisco
- Aftel Archive of Curious Scents · Berkeley
- Bolinas Museum · Bolinas
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- WWII Pacific War Memorial Hall · San Francisco
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- Misalignment Museum · San Francisco
- San Francisco Fire Department Pioneer Museum · San Francisco
- Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of the Eye · San Francisco
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- Legion of Honor · San Francisco
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- USS Hornet (CV 12) · Alameda
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- Anderson Collection at Stanford University · Stanford
- Japanese American Museum of San Jose · San Jose
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- Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center · Santa Rosa
- Cable Car Powerhouse and Barn · San Francisco
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- Randall Museum · San Francisco
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- Exploratorium · San Francisco
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- Musée Mécanique · San Francisco
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- San Francisco Maritime Visitor Center · San Francisco
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- Bay Model Visitor Center · Sausalito
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- Oakland Museum of California · Oakland
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- Golden State Model Railroad Museum · Richmond
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- Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center · Richmond
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- Mills College Art Museum · Oakland
- Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum · Vallejo
- Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum · Fremont
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- Computer History Museum · Mountain View
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- Antioch Historical Museum · Antioch
- Portuguese Historical Museum · San Jose
- Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch · San Jose
- Asian Art Museum of San Francisco · San Francisco
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