Exploratorium
Ages: 4 and up
Cost: adult $15 | youth (13-17) $12 | child (4-12) $10 | under 3 free
Parking: Yes - lot, street
Features: Shop, Restaurant, Restrooms, Lockers, Handicap Accessible, Family Friendly, Changing Table
The Exploratorium is designed to provide children and adults with a way to physically apply sciences about which they may have only read. The museum, located near San Francisco's Marina District, is large enough to spend most of the day wandering amongst the many exhibits.
Featured in the museum:
- The World of Motion (Heat, Motion, Mathematics)
- Traits of Life (Life Sciences)
- Listen: Making Sense of Sound (Sound and Hearing)
- Mind (Thinking and Feeling)
- Seeing (Light and Optics)
One of the major draws of the museum is the Tactile Dome, a space plunged into total darkness, in which visitors use only their sense of touch to guide them. Admission to the Tactile Dome is $20 per person, but admission to the museum is included in that ticket price. Advance reservations are encouraged, especially since the Tactile Dome is not always open during the museum's regular hours. Learn more about the Tactile Dome, including how to make reservations, here.
Tickets for the Exploratorium may be purchased online. Free Admission Day is the first Wednesday of each month.
Hours of operation: Tuesday - Sunday, 10am - 5pm. Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.