Recreation

Stanford is at the hub of the San Francisco Bay Area. The neighboring cities of Palo Alto and Menlo Park boast theatre companies, movie houses, boutiques, shops and a diverse range of restaurants.

Located in the heart of the legendary Silicon Valley, birthplace of a computer and high-technology industry largely spawned by Stanford's faculty and graduates, Stanford is less than an hour away from San Jose to the south and San Francisco to the north.

San Francisco offers an extraordinary array of opportunities, as well as superb views of its skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay from the city's numerous hills. And while San Francisco may be the cultural center of the Bay Area, diverse ethnic communities in Berkeley, Oakland and elsewhere support a multitude of cultural activities.

No matter which direction you travel from the Bay Area, you're bound to find something rewarding. Forty-five minutes west of campus are redwood forests and the beaches of the Pacific Ocean. Two hours south of Stanford are Monterey, the quaint village of Carmel and the rugged Big Sur coastline. Four hours to the east, students can explore the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lake Tahoe for skiing and other winter sports and Yosemite National Park for hiking and camping. And Napa and Sonoma counties, home to the scenic wine country, are roughly two hours north of campus.