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
- Summer Escape at Bowes Library · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
McMurtry Building - Bowes Library, 2nd fl. For visitors, please call the circulation desk for buildi, Palo Alto
- Ginsberg at 100: Selections from the Allen Ginsberg Papers at Stanford · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Green Library, Bing Wing - Peterson Gallery and Munger Rotunda, Stanford
- Moments in the History of East Asian Printing · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
- Text Machines: Scarlet Thread of the Digital Order (1883-2026) · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
- Total Solar Eclipse Live Stream Watch Party · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland · $
- You Are Here: Transit Cartography & Spatial Identity · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
David Rumsey Map Center (Green Library), Stanford
- Spray Paint & Sip: Perseids Meteor Graffiti · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland
- ONLINE Astrophotography Prize Live Judging Event · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland
- Perseids Meteor Shower Watch Party · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland · Free
- Summer Escape at Bowes Library · Thursday, August 13, 2026
- Animal, Vegetable, nor Mineral: Works by Miljohn Ruperto · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Cantor Arts Center - Freidenrich Family Gallery, Stanford
- Aquarium of the Bay — animal encounters · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco · $$$
- Bay Area Discovery Museum · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito · $$
- Carolyn Lazard: Long Take · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Cantor Arts Center - Lynn Krywick Gibbons Gallery, Stanford
- Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose · $$
- CuriOdyssey · Thursday, August 13, 2026
CuriOdyssey, San Mateo · $$
- Ginsberg at 100: Selections from the Allen Ginsberg Papers at Stanford · Thursday, August 13, 2026
- Habitot Children's Museum · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Habitot Children's Museum, Berkeley · $$
- JANE! An intimate exploration of Gilded Age excess and the enigmatic life and death of Jane Stanford · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Cantor Arts Center - Stanford Family Rooms, Stanford
- Moments in the History of East Asian Printing · Thursday, August 13, 2026
- Penguin Feeding Talk · Thursday, August 13, 2026
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco · $$$
- Text Machines: Scarlet Thread of the Digital Order (1883-2026) · Thursday, August 13, 2026
- 1,000 Ways to Hold: A New Work By Erika Chong Shuch · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Anderson Collection - Wisch Family Gallery, Stanford · Free
- Spotlight Tours Thursdays | Anderson Collection · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Anderson Collection, Stanford · Free
- Spotlight Tours Thursdays | Anderson Collection · Thursday, August 13, 2026
- You Are Here: Transit Cartography & Spatial Identity · Thursday, August 13, 2026
- Coral Reef Dive Show · Thursday, August 13, 2026
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco · $$$
- Family exhibits + tinkering · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Exploratorium, San Francisco · $$$
- FULL—Tour Denning House, home to Knight-Hennessy Scholars · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Denning House, Stanford · Free
- Summer Escape at Bowes Library · Friday, August 14, 2026
- You Are Here: Transit Cartography & Spatial Identity · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Animal, Vegetable, nor Mineral: Works by Miljohn Ruperto · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Aquarium of the Bay — animal encounters · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Bay Area Discovery Museum · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Branner Library Monthly Book & Map Exhibit - Mapping the Oceans · Friday, August 14, 2026
Mitchell Earth Sciences - Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections, Stanford
- Carolyn Lazard: Long Take · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose · Friday, August 14, 2026
- CuriOdyssey · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Ginsberg at 100: Selections from the Allen Ginsberg Papers at Stanford · Friday, August 14, 2026
- Habitot Children's Museum · Friday, August 14, 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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