3 Best Places To See in Oakland, CA

I came to see Dugan Aguilar’s exhibit but ended up experiencing so much more. I limited myself from taking too many photos because I actually wanted to be present to take in so much beautiful art, photography, and history that is connected to Oakland and surrounding areas. I appreciated the honest and transparent dialogues of Oakland’s history surrounding race and inequality, from the onset of the first colonizations of the Indigenous Peoples to the gentrification of neighborhoods that once housed thriving communities demolished by urbanization. I believe I spent 4- 5 hours in exploration of your space and left inspired.

One great way to have a cultural Sunday! A lot to see on history of California from when Spanish discovered this land till Silicon valley garages that gave birth to tech hub that is SF Bay Area! 1st Sunday of each month is free and there are paid special exhibitions as well! The brutalist architecture of the museum has an intriguing contrast with the landscape design of the place! Lovely outdoor & courtyards & live music nights along with a cafe makes it a perfect to-go place for the community.

Very beautiful museum! Went at 11am (opening) on a Saturday and stayed until 3pm! The place is huge, so it's not crowded at all. So much walking room and space to view. Three levels of stuff to see!! The cafe has super good food! Very expensive but it was great. I would suggest packing a small lunch or ordering to go and eating in the garden area.

Incredible experience. I was with my 5, 8 year old boys. Both of them loved it. We were there for 4 hours from 10AM to 14PM on a Sunday. There were people there but it didn't feel crowded at all because the place is so huge. There are so many rooms to explore, so many small details to inspect. The mazes of the rooms are amazing. Kids can also get into the cockpit of a real fighter and a nice docent that actually flew the plane answers all of your questions. The docents are so nice and tell so many interesting stories, you should speak with them to get the fool experience. There is also a very interesting Japanese American soldier museum that is almost invisible, you need to climb a few stairs at the back of the hanger to get to it. The docent there had very interesting stories about the Japanes American soldiers in WW2. We were not able to take the tours because my 5 year old wasn't tall enough (needs to be 48 inches) but I'm sure they would have been awesome, we will take them for sure once he grows up a bit.

This is one of the best museums I have ever been to. There are a number of tours you can go on; I did the tower and the engine room. The volunteers who conduct the tours and are scattered around the ship are exceptionally knowledgeable and super friendly. To get the most out of this museum, you should engage with them as they greatly enhance the experience. Tours cost $10 per area and last at least an hour. If you don’t want to pay for a tour, there are still lots of volunteers around the ship who you can talk to, and they will explain a lot of interesting information.

Awesome experience, helpful staff (some of the veterans), the interior is in rather well shape. You can touch experience and touch some iconic planes (F14 is probably the most impressive one). The only area for improvement is lack of ability to pay with tap in the shop. No magnet for me today.