Chalcidbear
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If you've never been to Memorial Stadium or Berkeley before, you may find the following of interest. This is a FAQ sheet, compiled by suggestions from several Cal fans. Unfortunately, it is slightly out of date (hey, what's a decade?), but you may still be able to glean something useful from it. Good news: the heat wave the Bay area experienced last week (temps over 100 degrees in some areas) has passed, so the weather should be nice.
Frequently Asked (and Answered) Questions for visitors to
Cal Football at Memorial Stadium
(Updated 12 September, 2007)
by Cal football fans
This page is for newbies attending football games at Memorial Stadium (on Gayley Road, just east of the campus), in Berkeley. Answers come from the collective knowledge/insight/experiences of the Cal fans who contribute to CyberBears, and do not reflect the official authority of the University of California (so don’t bother trying to sue anybody!). Berkeley is in Alameda County, part of the “east Bay” in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I. Airports
Oakland International is the airport closest to Berkeley, and without traffic jams is about a 20-25 minute drive from campus. But give yourself 45 minutes to be on the safe side, or even longer if it is commute time. There is also a shuttle from the airport to the Coliseum/Airport BART Station (see below for a link to the BART website).
San Francisco International is actually 5 miles south of San Francisco, and has a greater number of airlines serving it, but driving time to Berkeley is an hour, MINIMUM, (unless you are coming in on a red-eye at 3am, in which case you can probably make it in 40 minutes), but at commute time figure 2 hours. BART service now extends to the airport. If you are staying overnight in San Francisco, this is the most convenient airport, and there are lots of options available for traveling from the airport to downtown SF. San Francisco is separated from Berkeley by the San Francisco Bay, which can be crossed by auto (Bay Bridge toll is $3.00 going west into SF, free going east towards Berkeley), BART (see below), or ferry (set up to handle commuters, thus weekend service is much reduced).
Your third alternative is San Jose International. San Jose is served by a wide variety of airlines, but is 50 miles south of Berkeley – a good hour usually, or 1.5-2 hours during commute times. If you fly into San Jose, you have no realistic alternative to get to Berkeley other than renting a car.
A fourth alternative is to fly into Sacramento Airport (about 60-70 miles northeast of Berkeley). Again, you’ll need to rent a car to get to Berkeley, and driving time will be 1.5-2 hours.
II. Ground transportation
Parking and traffic in Berkeley is usually pretty bad, but a BITCH on gamedays, so we recommend taking BART (http://www.bart.gov). There are two good stations to use to get to the stadium: on the Richmond line, exit at the Main Berkeley Station (on Shattuck between Center & Allston), and walk east (towards the hills). You can walk through the campus to the stadium – a good landmark is the Campanile, Cal’s belltower, situated almost in the middle of the campus. But if you want to ride, you can pick up a free shuttle to the stadium 1.5 blocks east of the BART station, on West Crescent (just east of Oxford Street), which goes through the campus. Other shuttles travel around the perimeter of the campus. The other BART stop is Rockridge Station on College Avenue, on the Concord/Pittsburg line. The Stadium is about a 25 minute (level) walk from here, but you can take a bus as well: AC transit (http://www.actransit.org/) adds extra buses (not free, but normal fare) on game day between the Rockridge Station and the corner of Bancroft Avenue. If you are in Contra Costa County, check out the County Connection (http://www.cccta.org/wb/pages/posts/county-connection92s-cal-express-kicks-off-september-9th33.php) for shuttles that run from the Lafayette and Concord BART stations.
If you absolutely must drive, UC Berkeley has a website with driving instructions (http://www.berkeley.edu/visitors/traveling.html), and there are several parking lots in downtown Berkeley, near the BART station (http://www.downtownberkeley.org/images/dbatransit.jpg). If you are really frugal (that’s the nicer word), you may be able to park for free in residential areas which are a good 25-30 minute walk from the stadium (south of Ashby Avenue, west of Martin Luther Junior King, Jr. Way, or north of Cedar Street). By all means try to avoid driving on College Avenue and Ashby Avenue, before and after games. Some residents (typically frats/sororities) offer game day parking on their premises for $20 (and up), but having to battle the pedestrians and traffic makes this a dubious alternative.
III. Game day details
There is a map of campus available through the UC Berkeley site at: (http://www.berkeley.edu/map/).
Berkeley is blessed with a rather clement climate – it almost never rains from August through November. But during the summer and fall, it is not unusual to have a morning fog cover that doesn’t burn off until 10am-noon, only to come back about 4 pm (or doesn’t burn off at all). So be prepared for weather that ranges from quite warm to chilly (ie.wear layers). You may wish to check out the website (http://scienceview.berkeley.edu/view/index.html), which shows the current weather at the Lawrence Hall of Science (the view you see is looking down the hill towards the stadium). BUT, what you see at 9 am ain’t necessarily what you’ll get at noon. Note: the visitor’s section at Memorial Stadium faces west, so consider bringing a hat or sunglasses for afternoon games.
When walking to the stadium you might encounter a few pre-game tailgate parties, but there is no single area so designated for visitors – you’ll need to find your own. The one exception is for the Big Game, when the campus becomes literally overrun with tailgaters. Just don’t expect to be able to drive in and park at the last moment (in this case, “last moment” may be defined as 4 hours pre-kickoff).
The Fun Zone opens to the public 2.5 hours before game time on Maxwell Family Field, just north of Memorial Stadium. It is free and caters to kids and adults alike. There is a March to Victory 2 hours and 20 minutes before kickoff time, when the fans have a chance to greet the home team as they enter through the north entrance of the Stadium.
There is a rally featuring the Marching Band at Sproul Plaza, 1.5 hours prior to kickoff. You may wish to follow the band afterward as it marches up to the stadium.
Here’s a link (http://calbears.ocsn.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/081103aaa.html) to the Game Day Information and Memorial Stadium Guide, listing all the dos and donts. Some of the key points:
- Bags are allowed, but no larger than 14”x14”x6” (and they have to be transparent!) and will be searched. You can check
items at the Bag Check area, by the north entrance at Gate 1.
- The Will Call booth is also at the north entrance to the stadium.
- Reentry to the stadium is not allowed.
Please note that although Memorial Stadium is located in one of the more scenic venues of the Pac-12 (Strawberry Canyon in the Berkeley foothills), the Stadium itself is not so scenic. Built in 1923, it is overdue for renovation, with poor restroom facilities (can you spell “port-a-potty”?), crumbling masonry, seat spacing based on the body size of someone from 1920, limited entrance/exit avenues, and splintered benches (at least in the visitors’ section). If you are attending a “big game” (Stanford/USC/UCLA/ranked OOC school, etc.), it may take you AT LEAST 20 minutes to get to your seat once you hand in your ticket. Plan your arrival time accordingly.
Local radio game coverage is provided by two stations: U.C. Berkeley’s own KALX, 90.7 FM, and KGO 810 AM. The Stanford game can also be heard (with a Cardinal bias) on KNBR 1050AM.
The area just to the south of Memorial Stadium (bounded by the stadium, College Avenue, Dwight Way and Warring Street), is the heart of Berkeley’s Greek community. On game day, this area tends to get rather, er “boisterous”, especially around those who wear red. If you visibly support the visiting team and wish to enjoy a serene walk before and after the game, we gently suggest you instead approach the stadium from the west, via the campus or Bancroft Avenue.
IV. Food and drink
(* indicates within 20-25 minute walk of the stadium)
Berkeley (and the Bay area in general) has a wide variety of restaurants, too many to list here … except for Top Dog (several locations, including 2534 Durant Avenue*, 2503 Hearst Avenue* and 2160 Center Street*), Oscar’s Hamburgers (northwest corner of Hearst Avenue and Shattuck Avenue*), Flint’s Bar-B-Q (6609 Shattuck Avenue), Fat Apple’s (1346 Martin Luther King Jr. Way), and Fenton’s Creamery (4226 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland [not Berkeley]), which are all local classic spots (as opposed to classy spots). You can get pizza by the slice at several places on Telegraph Avenue*, but many folks swear by Zachary’s Pizza, with locations at 1853 Solano Avenue and 5801 College Avenue, Oakland. At the other end of the spectrum, Chez Panisse (1517 Shattuck Avenue) is one of the outstanding eateries in the area – dining in the restaurant requires reservations made weeks in advance (and they have a fixed menu which changes every day), but you may be able to get in the café on shorter notice. For additional restaurants, check out these webpages: (http://dine.com/p/dine/search_restaurants.cgi), or (http://calparents.berkeley.edu//letterhome/1999/summer/guide_eat.html).
Some local bars and pubs include:
On campus:
- Bear’s Lair (downstairs of Martin L. King, Jr. Student Union Bldg., 2475
Bancroft – between upper and lower Sproul Plaza)*
- Men’s Faculty Club (east of Faculty Glade)*
South of campus:
- Blakes on Telegraph (2367 Telegraph Avenue)*
- Henry’s Publick House & Grille (in Durant Hotel, 2600 Durant Avenue)*
- Raleighs (2438 Telegraph Avenue)*
West of campus:
- Becketts of Berkeley (2271 Shattuck Avenue)*
- Jupiter (2181 Shattuck Avenue)*
- Triple Rock (1920 Shattuck Avenue)*
North of campus:
- LaVal’s Pizza (1834 Euclid Avenue)*
- Pyramid Brewery & Alehouse (901 Gilman Street)
V. Hotels
Three of the nicer hotels near campus are the Durant Hotel, the Shattuck Hotel and the Berkeley City Club (the latter designed by Julia Morgan). On campus, the Men’s Faculty club is a picturesque place to stay, but you’ll probably need to make reservations WELL in advance. There are several moderately-priced motels and hotels along University Avenue (which runs from Highway 80 east towards campus), and some pricier places on the Berkeley Marina (go west along University Avenue instead of east). Some folks recommend staying in San Francisco, a virtual tourist’s mecca (travel from downtown SF to downtown Berkeley only takes about 25 minutes on BART). Emeryville may be a nice compromise location to stay – this city has little to offer by itself (except a couple of large shopping malls), but there are several hotels right off Highway 80 at Powell Street – these have relatively easy access from airports, and are only a 10-20 minute drive to Berkeley (not BART accessible, but AC Transit should be able to get you to campus). Relatively cheaper motels are found in north Berkeley (on San Pablo Avenue), and further north (El Cerrito) or to the south (Oakland).
VI. Other attractions
Nearby campus sites include:
- Click on (http://www.berkeley.edu/tour/) for a virtual tour of the campus, or (http://www.berkeley.edu/visitors/) for more information about physical tours.
- Cal has many rustic corners on campus, including Faculty Glade (a nice place to have a pre-game picnic), the Eucalyptus Grove and several sites along Strawberry Creek.
- If you are on campus Monday-Friday, you can ride to the top of the Campanile from 10am to 4pm ($2 general admission) and get a great view of the area (http://www.berkeley.edu/visitors/campanile.html).
- Architecturally, some of the more interesting sites include the lobby of the Hearst Mining Building (in the NE quadrant of the campus), the passageway through Stephens Hall (west of Faculty Glade), the Greek Theater (east of Gayley Road), Hearst Gym, and the Doe and Biosciences Libraries.
- The Free Speech movement got its start in (Upper) Sproul Plaza, and now you can get a latte in the FSM café, located in the Moffit Library.
- Campus museums open to the public include the Berkeley Art Museum (http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu), and several Natural History Museums (http://bnhm.berkeley.museum/).
- There are upwards of 40 separate libraries on campus (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/AboutLibrary/libraries_collections.html), but the biggest are the Doe, Moffit and Biosciences Libraries.
Within walking distance of the Stadium:
- Telegraph Avenue, between Dwight Way and Bancroft Way: a never-ending street fair. However, it would behoove you to have a modicum of care when on the street. Panhandlers abound, and non-violent crime seems to be on the rise. And if you are the adventurous sort …
- …the “semi-historic” People’s Park, is located in the quadrangle formed by Telegraph Avenue, Dwight Way, Bowditch Street & Haste Street. This has become a homeless hangout and (heavens-to-Betsy) drug usage may occur there. Aggressive confrontations are much more likely to occur in this area, so its definitely NOT family friendly. It is not picturesque either, but if you want to say that you’ve seen it, it doesn’t take long to walk by it. And if you’ve gone that far, check out the interesting architecture of the First Church of Christ Scientist (across the street from People’s Park at the corner of Dwight at Bowditch) designed by Bernard Maybeck.
If you have a car, a drive up the Berkeley hills will offer you a great view of the Bay. From the east side of Memorial Stadium, drive east up the canyon on Centennial Drive (closed to traffic on or near game time). About 0.5 mile up on the right is the University’s Botanical Gardens (http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/).
A little further on is the Lawrence Hall of Science (http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org) a great place to take kids, or just enjoy the vista. Drive a little further still, and you hit Grizzly Peak Blvd. If you cross Grizzly Peak, you’ll enter Tilden Park, the crown jewel of the East Bay Regional Park District (http://www.ebparks.org), and if you turn right and go south along Grizzly Park Blvd, you’ll get some more great vistas, and come across several more EBRPD parks: Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Huckleberry Botanic Regional Reserve, Redwood Regional Park and Anthony Chabot Regional Park.
Many Bear fans recommend staying a couple of extra days in order to take advantage of the many other popular spots that are all within a day’s ride of Berkeley. San Francisco can easily provide several days of amusement by itself, but other recommendations include the Wine Country (Napa & Sonoma Counties, about 1-2 hours north of Berkeley), Lake Tahoe & Yosemite (each about 3-4 hours drive to the east in the Sierra Nevadas), and Monterey/Big Sur (2-3 hour drive to the south).
If you want to catch professional sporting events, the Oakland A’s, Raiders and Warriors play at the Oakland Coliseum (easily accessible by BART’s Coliseum/Oakland Airport station), off Highway 880, between 66th Avenue and Hegenberger Road. The San Francisco Giants play at AT&T Park in downtown San Francisco (accessible via any of BART’s downtown San Francisco stations with a transfer to San Francisco Muni’s N train), and the San Francisco 49ers play at Candlestick Park (since renamed “Monster Park at Candlestick Point”) in south San Francisco (you’ll need a car to get there – dress warm!).
Some of the more popular local shopping districts are:
South Berkeley
- Elmwood District (College Avenue near Ashby Avenue)
- Rockridge area (actually in Oakland: College Avenue between Alcatraz Avenue and Broadway)
Central Berkeley
- Downtown Berkeley, around Shattuck Avenue and University Avenue
West Berkeley
- 4th Street (between University Avenue and Cedar Street)
North Berkeley
- Shattuck Avenue (from Hearst Avenue north to Rose Street) aka “Gourmet Ghetto”, includes Walnut Square (Walnut Street at Rose Street)
- Solano Avenue (running from Berkeley west through Albany)
We hope you enjoy your stay (except for the part about your team losing to the Bears!)
Frequently Asked (and Answered) Questions for visitors to
Cal Football at Memorial Stadium
(Updated 12 September, 2007)
by Cal football fans
This page is for newbies attending football games at Memorial Stadium (on Gayley Road, just east of the campus), in Berkeley. Answers come from the collective knowledge/insight/experiences of the Cal fans who contribute to CyberBears, and do not reflect the official authority of the University of California (so don’t bother trying to sue anybody!). Berkeley is in Alameda County, part of the “east Bay” in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I. Airports
Oakland International is the airport closest to Berkeley, and without traffic jams is about a 20-25 minute drive from campus. But give yourself 45 minutes to be on the safe side, or even longer if it is commute time. There is also a shuttle from the airport to the Coliseum/Airport BART Station (see below for a link to the BART website).
San Francisco International is actually 5 miles south of San Francisco, and has a greater number of airlines serving it, but driving time to Berkeley is an hour, MINIMUM, (unless you are coming in on a red-eye at 3am, in which case you can probably make it in 40 minutes), but at commute time figure 2 hours. BART service now extends to the airport. If you are staying overnight in San Francisco, this is the most convenient airport, and there are lots of options available for traveling from the airport to downtown SF. San Francisco is separated from Berkeley by the San Francisco Bay, which can be crossed by auto (Bay Bridge toll is $3.00 going west into SF, free going east towards Berkeley), BART (see below), or ferry (set up to handle commuters, thus weekend service is much reduced).
Your third alternative is San Jose International. San Jose is served by a wide variety of airlines, but is 50 miles south of Berkeley – a good hour usually, or 1.5-2 hours during commute times. If you fly into San Jose, you have no realistic alternative to get to Berkeley other than renting a car.
A fourth alternative is to fly into Sacramento Airport (about 60-70 miles northeast of Berkeley). Again, you’ll need to rent a car to get to Berkeley, and driving time will be 1.5-2 hours.
II. Ground transportation
Parking and traffic in Berkeley is usually pretty bad, but a BITCH on gamedays, so we recommend taking BART (http://www.bart.gov). There are two good stations to use to get to the stadium: on the Richmond line, exit at the Main Berkeley Station (on Shattuck between Center & Allston), and walk east (towards the hills). You can walk through the campus to the stadium – a good landmark is the Campanile, Cal’s belltower, situated almost in the middle of the campus. But if you want to ride, you can pick up a free shuttle to the stadium 1.5 blocks east of the BART station, on West Crescent (just east of Oxford Street), which goes through the campus. Other shuttles travel around the perimeter of the campus. The other BART stop is Rockridge Station on College Avenue, on the Concord/Pittsburg line. The Stadium is about a 25 minute (level) walk from here, but you can take a bus as well: AC transit (http://www.actransit.org/) adds extra buses (not free, but normal fare) on game day between the Rockridge Station and the corner of Bancroft Avenue. If you are in Contra Costa County, check out the County Connection (http://www.cccta.org/wb/pages/posts/county-connection92s-cal-express-kicks-off-september-9th33.php) for shuttles that run from the Lafayette and Concord BART stations.
If you absolutely must drive, UC Berkeley has a website with driving instructions (http://www.berkeley.edu/visitors/traveling.html), and there are several parking lots in downtown Berkeley, near the BART station (http://www.downtownberkeley.org/images/dbatransit.jpg). If you are really frugal (that’s the nicer word), you may be able to park for free in residential areas which are a good 25-30 minute walk from the stadium (south of Ashby Avenue, west of Martin Luther Junior King, Jr. Way, or north of Cedar Street). By all means try to avoid driving on College Avenue and Ashby Avenue, before and after games. Some residents (typically frats/sororities) offer game day parking on their premises for $20 (and up), but having to battle the pedestrians and traffic makes this a dubious alternative.
III. Game day details
There is a map of campus available through the UC Berkeley site at: (http://www.berkeley.edu/map/).
Berkeley is blessed with a rather clement climate – it almost never rains from August through November. But during the summer and fall, it is not unusual to have a morning fog cover that doesn’t burn off until 10am-noon, only to come back about 4 pm (or doesn’t burn off at all). So be prepared for weather that ranges from quite warm to chilly (ie.wear layers). You may wish to check out the website (http://scienceview.berkeley.edu/view/index.html), which shows the current weather at the Lawrence Hall of Science (the view you see is looking down the hill towards the stadium). BUT, what you see at 9 am ain’t necessarily what you’ll get at noon. Note: the visitor’s section at Memorial Stadium faces west, so consider bringing a hat or sunglasses for afternoon games.
When walking to the stadium you might encounter a few pre-game tailgate parties, but there is no single area so designated for visitors – you’ll need to find your own. The one exception is for the Big Game, when the campus becomes literally overrun with tailgaters. Just don’t expect to be able to drive in and park at the last moment (in this case, “last moment” may be defined as 4 hours pre-kickoff).
The Fun Zone opens to the public 2.5 hours before game time on Maxwell Family Field, just north of Memorial Stadium. It is free and caters to kids and adults alike. There is a March to Victory 2 hours and 20 minutes before kickoff time, when the fans have a chance to greet the home team as they enter through the north entrance of the Stadium.
There is a rally featuring the Marching Band at Sproul Plaza, 1.5 hours prior to kickoff. You may wish to follow the band afterward as it marches up to the stadium.
Here’s a link (http://calbears.ocsn.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/081103aaa.html) to the Game Day Information and Memorial Stadium Guide, listing all the dos and donts. Some of the key points:
- Bags are allowed, but no larger than 14”x14”x6” (and they have to be transparent!) and will be searched. You can check
items at the Bag Check area, by the north entrance at Gate 1.
- The Will Call booth is also at the north entrance to the stadium.
- Reentry to the stadium is not allowed.
Please note that although Memorial Stadium is located in one of the more scenic venues of the Pac-12 (Strawberry Canyon in the Berkeley foothills), the Stadium itself is not so scenic. Built in 1923, it is overdue for renovation, with poor restroom facilities (can you spell “port-a-potty”?), crumbling masonry, seat spacing based on the body size of someone from 1920, limited entrance/exit avenues, and splintered benches (at least in the visitors’ section). If you are attending a “big game” (Stanford/USC/UCLA/ranked OOC school, etc.), it may take you AT LEAST 20 minutes to get to your seat once you hand in your ticket. Plan your arrival time accordingly.
Local radio game coverage is provided by two stations: U.C. Berkeley’s own KALX, 90.7 FM, and KGO 810 AM. The Stanford game can also be heard (with a Cardinal bias) on KNBR 1050AM.
The area just to the south of Memorial Stadium (bounded by the stadium, College Avenue, Dwight Way and Warring Street), is the heart of Berkeley’s Greek community. On game day, this area tends to get rather, er “boisterous”, especially around those who wear red. If you visibly support the visiting team and wish to enjoy a serene walk before and after the game, we gently suggest you instead approach the stadium from the west, via the campus or Bancroft Avenue.
IV. Food and drink
(* indicates within 20-25 minute walk of the stadium)
Berkeley (and the Bay area in general) has a wide variety of restaurants, too many to list here … except for Top Dog (several locations, including 2534 Durant Avenue*, 2503 Hearst Avenue* and 2160 Center Street*), Oscar’s Hamburgers (northwest corner of Hearst Avenue and Shattuck Avenue*), Flint’s Bar-B-Q (6609 Shattuck Avenue), Fat Apple’s (1346 Martin Luther King Jr. Way), and Fenton’s Creamery (4226 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland [not Berkeley]), which are all local classic spots (as opposed to classy spots). You can get pizza by the slice at several places on Telegraph Avenue*, but many folks swear by Zachary’s Pizza, with locations at 1853 Solano Avenue and 5801 College Avenue, Oakland. At the other end of the spectrum, Chez Panisse (1517 Shattuck Avenue) is one of the outstanding eateries in the area – dining in the restaurant requires reservations made weeks in advance (and they have a fixed menu which changes every day), but you may be able to get in the café on shorter notice. For additional restaurants, check out these webpages: (http://dine.com/p/dine/search_restaurants.cgi), or (http://calparents.berkeley.edu//letterhome/1999/summer/guide_eat.html).
Some local bars and pubs include:
On campus:
- Bear’s Lair (downstairs of Martin L. King, Jr. Student Union Bldg., 2475
Bancroft – between upper and lower Sproul Plaza)*
- Men’s Faculty Club (east of Faculty Glade)*
South of campus:
- Blakes on Telegraph (2367 Telegraph Avenue)*
- Henry’s Publick House & Grille (in Durant Hotel, 2600 Durant Avenue)*
- Raleighs (2438 Telegraph Avenue)*
West of campus:
- Becketts of Berkeley (2271 Shattuck Avenue)*
- Jupiter (2181 Shattuck Avenue)*
- Triple Rock (1920 Shattuck Avenue)*
North of campus:
- LaVal’s Pizza (1834 Euclid Avenue)*
- Pyramid Brewery & Alehouse (901 Gilman Street)
V. Hotels
Three of the nicer hotels near campus are the Durant Hotel, the Shattuck Hotel and the Berkeley City Club (the latter designed by Julia Morgan). On campus, the Men’s Faculty club is a picturesque place to stay, but you’ll probably need to make reservations WELL in advance. There are several moderately-priced motels and hotels along University Avenue (which runs from Highway 80 east towards campus), and some pricier places on the Berkeley Marina (go west along University Avenue instead of east). Some folks recommend staying in San Francisco, a virtual tourist’s mecca (travel from downtown SF to downtown Berkeley only takes about 25 minutes on BART). Emeryville may be a nice compromise location to stay – this city has little to offer by itself (except a couple of large shopping malls), but there are several hotels right off Highway 80 at Powell Street – these have relatively easy access from airports, and are only a 10-20 minute drive to Berkeley (not BART accessible, but AC Transit should be able to get you to campus). Relatively cheaper motels are found in north Berkeley (on San Pablo Avenue), and further north (El Cerrito) or to the south (Oakland).
VI. Other attractions
Nearby campus sites include:
- Click on (http://www.berkeley.edu/tour/) for a virtual tour of the campus, or (http://www.berkeley.edu/visitors/) for more information about physical tours.
- Cal has many rustic corners on campus, including Faculty Glade (a nice place to have a pre-game picnic), the Eucalyptus Grove and several sites along Strawberry Creek.
- If you are on campus Monday-Friday, you can ride to the top of the Campanile from 10am to 4pm ($2 general admission) and get a great view of the area (http://www.berkeley.edu/visitors/campanile.html).
- Architecturally, some of the more interesting sites include the lobby of the Hearst Mining Building (in the NE quadrant of the campus), the passageway through Stephens Hall (west of Faculty Glade), the Greek Theater (east of Gayley Road), Hearst Gym, and the Doe and Biosciences Libraries.
- The Free Speech movement got its start in (Upper) Sproul Plaza, and now you can get a latte in the FSM café, located in the Moffit Library.
- Campus museums open to the public include the Berkeley Art Museum (http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu), and several Natural History Museums (http://bnhm.berkeley.museum/).
- There are upwards of 40 separate libraries on campus (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/AboutLibrary/libraries_collections.html), but the biggest are the Doe, Moffit and Biosciences Libraries.
Within walking distance of the Stadium:
- Telegraph Avenue, between Dwight Way and Bancroft Way: a never-ending street fair. However, it would behoove you to have a modicum of care when on the street. Panhandlers abound, and non-violent crime seems to be on the rise. And if you are the adventurous sort …
- …the “semi-historic” People’s Park, is located in the quadrangle formed by Telegraph Avenue, Dwight Way, Bowditch Street & Haste Street. This has become a homeless hangout and (heavens-to-Betsy) drug usage may occur there. Aggressive confrontations are much more likely to occur in this area, so its definitely NOT family friendly. It is not picturesque either, but if you want to say that you’ve seen it, it doesn’t take long to walk by it. And if you’ve gone that far, check out the interesting architecture of the First Church of Christ Scientist (across the street from People’s Park at the corner of Dwight at Bowditch) designed by Bernard Maybeck.
If you have a car, a drive up the Berkeley hills will offer you a great view of the Bay. From the east side of Memorial Stadium, drive east up the canyon on Centennial Drive (closed to traffic on or near game time). About 0.5 mile up on the right is the University’s Botanical Gardens (http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/).
A little further on is the Lawrence Hall of Science (http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org) a great place to take kids, or just enjoy the vista. Drive a little further still, and you hit Grizzly Peak Blvd. If you cross Grizzly Peak, you’ll enter Tilden Park, the crown jewel of the East Bay Regional Park District (http://www.ebparks.org), and if you turn right and go south along Grizzly Park Blvd, you’ll get some more great vistas, and come across several more EBRPD parks: Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Huckleberry Botanic Regional Reserve, Redwood Regional Park and Anthony Chabot Regional Park.
Many Bear fans recommend staying a couple of extra days in order to take advantage of the many other popular spots that are all within a day’s ride of Berkeley. San Francisco can easily provide several days of amusement by itself, but other recommendations include the Wine Country (Napa & Sonoma Counties, about 1-2 hours north of Berkeley), Lake Tahoe & Yosemite (each about 3-4 hours drive to the east in the Sierra Nevadas), and Monterey/Big Sur (2-3 hour drive to the south).
If you want to catch professional sporting events, the Oakland A’s, Raiders and Warriors play at the Oakland Coliseum (easily accessible by BART’s Coliseum/Oakland Airport station), off Highway 880, between 66th Avenue and Hegenberger Road. The San Francisco Giants play at AT&T Park in downtown San Francisco (accessible via any of BART’s downtown San Francisco stations with a transfer to San Francisco Muni’s N train), and the San Francisco 49ers play at Candlestick Park (since renamed “Monster Park at Candlestick Point”) in south San Francisco (you’ll need a car to get there – dress warm!).
Some of the more popular local shopping districts are:
South Berkeley
- Elmwood District (College Avenue near Ashby Avenue)
- Rockridge area (actually in Oakland: College Avenue between Alcatraz Avenue and Broadway)
Central Berkeley
- Downtown Berkeley, around Shattuck Avenue and University Avenue
West Berkeley
- 4th Street (between University Avenue and Cedar Street)
North Berkeley
- Shattuck Avenue (from Hearst Avenue north to Rose Street) aka “Gourmet Ghetto”, includes Walnut Square (Walnut Street at Rose Street)
- Solano Avenue (running from Berkeley west through Albany)
We hope you enjoy your stay (except for the part about your team losing to the Bears!)
