Geek Appeal: ★★★★ | 30 minutes
2200 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara, CA 95054
This corporate museum hosts the history the of the Intel Corporation. There is also a gift shop where you can by Intel schwag.
The Good: Free. This museum is unique because of its focus on semiconductors.
The Bad: Relatively small. Focuses exclusively on Intel technology.
Geek Appeal: ★★ | 20 minutes
3350 Thomas Rd, Santa Clara, CA 95054
The Hacker Dojo is a place where computer enthusiasts can hang out, in the spirit of the Homebrew Computer Club. It was the first location in California to host a Bitcoin ATM. Check out their calendar of events.
The Good: Great community focused on technology and hacking.
Whole Foods - Pay with Palm
Whole Foods - Pay with Palm
2732 Augustine Dr Ste 1600, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Geek Appeal: ★
If you're interested in biometric authentication, this Whole Foods lets you pay with your palm using Amazon One! Otherwise, it's just a regular grocery store.
Geek Appeal: ★★★ | 1 hour
201 South Market St., San Jose, CA 95113
Price: $15 for adults, $10 for kids
The Good: Unique displays that teach basic science concepts.
The Bad: This museum is targeted to kids, so you may feel out of place if you're an adult.
Read more: Yelp
2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95050
Step into the Gamebox and enter a fully-private, interactive digital room featuring projection mapping, touch screens, motion tracking, and surround sound to enjoy a hyper-immersive 60-minute adventure.
San Francisco is typically not considered to be part of Silicon Valley, but many hot startups have migrated to the city. Many young tech workers live in San Francisco and commute to the suburbs for work. People in the Bay Area refer to San Francisco as "the city" or "SF".
Fun fact: there are self-cleaning toilets throughout the city. The newer ones are metallic pods, like this.
Geek Appeal: ★★★★★ | 30 minutes
Waymo has self-driving service in San Francisco. Download the Waymo One app.
Geek Appeal: ★★★★ | 1 hour
Salesforce Tower is the headquarters for Salesforce. It's adjacent to Salesforce Park on the Salesforce Transit Center.
Pros: It's a nice park.
Cons: It's just a park.
Learn more: Wikipedia
Geek Appeal: ★★★ | 2 minutes
1 Letterman Dr, San Francisco, CA 94129
A life-size Yoda fountain is positioned at the Lucasfilms HQ.
Learn more: Yelp
2169 Mission St, 3rd floor, San Francisco, CA 94110
Noisebridge is a 5,200 square-foot space with an electronics lab, machine shop, sewing/crafting supplies, photography darkroom, and more.
Geek Appeal: ★★★★★ | 1 hour
Hillsdale Shopping Center, 60 E 31st Ave #304, San Mateo, CA 94403
Play virtual reality games in an immersive experience.
Learn more: Yelp
870 Great Mall Dr, Milpitas, CA 95035
Indoor LEGO playground located at the Great Mall in Milpitas, CA.
Recycling Vending Machine (at Safeway)
Recycling Vending Machine (at Safeway)
555 E. Calaveras Blvd, Milpitas, CA 95035
Yes, it's just a Safeway grocery store. But, they have a cool machine where you can bring your recycles and get reimbursed. Powered by Olyns.
UC Berkeley is a public university. Many Silicon Valley startups were founded by UC Berkeley alum. The campus is open for visitors.
3400 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611
The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (The MADE) is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of video game history and to educating the public as to how video games are created.
Price: $10 to play games all day
Pros: Comprehensive collection of video games and consoles.
Cons: Relatively small.
6050 Lowell St. Ste 214, Oakland, CA 94608
Ace Monster Toys is a hackerspace. It has a large collection of tools and machines. They also host regular events for hacking.