Must Do Things in Oakland (San Francisco, Vista: apartments, hotels, homes)

[y2kat2003]

Hello All,

I am planning on going to Oakland, and would like to know what I would be able to accomplish in a few weekends with no car.
What is there to do that is fun? I understand that San Francisco is not too far away.

[Hemlock140]

I worked in Oakland for 17 years, and lived there 5. Take the BART train to San Francisco. I'm at a loss trying to come up with anything fun to do in Oakland.

[jade408]

What are you interested in?
Oakland is more of a nice place to live than a tourist destination so there are lots of "main streets" with interesting mixes of shopping and restaurants. These places are generally really easy to get to with BART, BART and 10 min walk, or BART and a 10ish minute bus ride.

If I had to name a few places
1. Oakland Museum of California -- this is a great museum!
2. Oakland Art Murmur (first Friday art gallery openings)
3. Walk/run around Lake Merritt
4. Visit the Oakland Rose Garden
5. See a movie at the Grand Lake Theater
6. See a concert/show at the Fox or Paramount
7. Have a fried chicken sandwich from Bakesale Betty
8. Get coffee from Blue Bottle
9. Visit the Grand Lake Farmers Market
10. Eat on the patio at Bocanova and enjoy the view
11. Take the ferry from Jack London to ATT Park for a Baseball game
12. Take in a few different neighborhoods for the Oakland "vibe." Visit: Rockridge, Piedmont Ave, Grand Ave, Lakeshore, Dimond, Fruitvale, Uptown, Old Oakland
13. Go to the Trappist for Belgian Beer
14. Urban Wine Tasting (JC Cellars Winery & Oakland Tasting Room - JC Cellars) There are a few more wineries in the area as well
15. Go to Fenton's for an all-american ice cream experience
16. Stroll Preservation Park in Old Oakland and look at the old victorians
17. Visit downtown/uptown/lakeside apartments district/adams for an architecture tour

If you can get access to a car:
Chabot Space Center
Oakland Zoo
Redwood Regional Park Redwood Regional Park | East Bay Regional Park District -- it is the forest in the middle of town
Joaquin Miller Park

Some SF sites
1. Ferry Building and Farmers Market
2. Golden Gate Park....and find the water buffalo!
3. Have tea at the Japanese Tea Garden
4. Go to the Westfield mall for the best mall food court ever
5. Walk embarcadero from end to end
6. Walk to the Golden Gate Bridge (and the bridge if you like)
7. Take pictures at the Chinatown Gate
8. Get a donut from Dynamo
9. Get ice cream from mitchells
10. get ice crea from bi-rite

Here is a great list from living in the O: Essential Oakland Experiences « Living in the O. I have covered some of these, but read the comments for more suggestions.

[Nineties Flava]

Everything Jade408 said and:


-visit Temescal Creek
-visit Chinatown
-catch a football/basketball/baseball game in the Coliseum area
-visit the historic Oak Center neighborhood in West Oakland to see some classic Oakland architecture; if you come on a Saturday you get to see the soccer teams from Rockridge practice in Lowell Park.
-See the beautiful Mormon Temple
-Visit the Laurel strip on MacArthur Blvd from 35th ave to High Street; there's a ton of great ethnic food including the only Nigerian restaurant in the bay area, Miliki
-Go up to Merritt College and take the scenic York Trail or see the amazing views of the entire bay from their parking lot
-Another great architectural neighborhood is Bella Vista in East Oakland
-Visit the beautiful Mills College campus
-(if you're interested) visit the African American Library of Oakland on MLK; its both a museum and a library of nothing but african american literature.


I'll add others a little later

[y2kat2003]

Those are some good ideas! I will definitely partake in some of those. I probably will do the BART thing. Will that get me to the Golden Gate Bridge?

[CityOnDown5250]

1. Get shot.

just kidding

There are some fun activities in Oakland, if you go to the right places of course. What most people said was pretty good but I agree most with one person said; walk through the neighborhoods. If you have the legs for it, it will pay off. Take BART to the Rockridge station, then walk up the hills. If you go to the right streets, you will see some nice homes and some breathtaking views of the bay. Sure, the view might not be http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/1866172.jpg , but if you get to the right spot you can see all of downtown Oakland, and all of the SF peninsula. If you don't have the "ease" to walk around at your disposal, you can go to Jack London Square and watch the Amtrak trains run literally right through the streets. If you are staying in Oakland, you should stay in downtown Oakland. There you will find safety and reputable hotels. One more place to check out, only because it's so close to the BART station, is the Coliseum/Oracle Arena. I know it's pretty boring if no one is playing, so you might want to get tickets to a Warriors game or Raiders/Athletics game if in season. Good luck.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by y2kat2003

Those are some good ideas! I will definitely partake in some of those. I probably will do the BART thing. Will that get me to the Golden Gate Bridge?

Golden Gate Bridge is about a 4ish mile scenic walk from the nearest BART station. Get off on Embarcadero. Walk North to fishermans wharf and the waterfront, past fort mason and you'll begin to get awesome views of the bridge. The last stretch is up a few hills/stairs. If you get lucky and hit a clear day, the views are amazing. You can take your own pic at the foot of the bridge.

You'll also see some awesome homes with killer views along the way...

[jade408]

Originally Posted by CityOnDown5250

1. Get shot.
Take BART to the Rockridge station, then walk up the hills. If you go to the right streets, you will see some nice homes and some breathtaking views of the bay. Sure, the view might not be http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/1866172.jpg , but if you get to the right spot you can see all of downtown Oakland, and all of the SF peninsula.

If you walk up a few blocks from the Rose Garden into Piedmont, you'll see some stellar views of Oakland and SF. Much less strenuous.

Try walking to Highland Ave, I think it is. ((walking up Oakland or Grand will get you there) Then you'll see the bay and city views.

[y2kat2003]

I know Oakland can be hood, but I will try my best not to get "shot". LOL.

[mayorhaggar]

I just dropped in at the Rose Garden today. It's very scruffy and all the rose bushes except maybe one out of several hundred had blooms, most of them were clipped. I'm not sure when the roses will bloom, I've seen several bushes in peoples' yards blooming in the last few days. Plus it's kind of out of the way from BART.