Took our GS Troop here for the Taylor Swift night--so fun!…read more I've also been for the Daft Punk night with my husband. Always a fun experience, and I love that they have cool themed shows. Would love an emo night! Easy to find, lots of parking.

I came here for the Taylor Swift laser show and it was a fun way to spend an hour. It was just fun…read moremusic, lots of screaming kids singing the lyrics, and some cool lasers to look at. I did have to close my eyes a few times to give them a break from all the colorful lights. You can choose where to sit when you come into the planetarium room. The presenter did a good job. The visuals were a bit older, but it was still fun and the ticket prices were pretty reasonable/affordable. There were lots of parking available in I think Lot E.

It's very interactive. I had a lot of fun going here over the years. It's near the art museums and…read morein a good location. I usually go when it's the first weekend of the month but they changed it so first weekend of the month they choose for Bank of America and Merrill customers. The San Jose libraries have free access but you have to book in advance to get free or low cost tickets. For someone who goes for free, it's worth going.

Uniqueness: Sadly, a lot of the original exhibits and contraptions have been replaced. But at least…read morethe Human Body Exhibit is still here! Wait Time: [x][x][x][x][x] Service: [x][x][x][x][ ] Setting: [x][x][ ][ ][ ] Cost: [x][x][x][ ][ ] Recommendation? Sadly, for a musuem recommendation for the kids, it feels quite limited in what they have to offer and other museums in the Bay Area have more to do for the kids and even the adults. I was quite disappointed at how much has changed at the Tech Initiative (not Tech Museum) recently. It felt like a lot of the key exhibits and attractions of the museum have been replaced or lost vs what it used to be a couple years ago. The museum felt unusually more spacious i.e. a lot of empty space than before due to exhibits being removed and interestingly, it felt slightly outdated. The Human Body exhibit was still there so that was nice to walk through and the Rube Goldberg exhibit outside was exactly as it was years back. The gift store was pricey and didn't have as much interesting gifts but the IMAX show felt just like before & was included in the admission, which was nice. With all the changes that this museum has gone through, I unfortunately won't be coming back here in a while until there's something new that's rolling through.

What would your dream trip to Paris include? I had a dream trip, told Celine Glon of Et Voila Paris…read moreabout it, and she made it happen. I had very specific ideas. I'm a writer and have just finished the first draft of a mystery novel that involves the life of Georges Bizet, composer of the opera, Carmen. I wanted to go to Paris and various places there to see where Bizet lived and worked so I could add such settings to my book. Celine made an itinerary for me, got me wonderful guides to drive me to these places and to tell me about their histories and even explore with me. NOT ONLY THAT, Celine got me introduced to people knowledgeable about Bizet, and she got me into places where people normally can't go. For example, there is a house in the town of Bougival near Paris where Bizet lived when he wrote Carmen. Celine got me a private tour of this privately owned house (not open to the public) AND an introduction to a board member of a society that promotes art and artists as part of the memory of Georges Bizet. She also got me introduced to a gentleman who speaks excellent English and who is extremely knowledgeable about classical music and opera so he could go with me to meet with the board member and see the home. There are many other things I could mention about the Bizet part of the trip, like my private tour of the Opera Comique (where Carmen opened in 1875) and lunch with the Comique's dramaturge. Again, the Opera Comique is not open to the public for such tours, but Celine arranged it all. Celine also booked me private guides to take me other places just for fun, such as Chantilly, which has the biggest collection of French paintings after the Louvre, and Malmaison, the home of Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte. I could go on and on, but that would make this review too long. I'll close by saying that I would recommend Celine to anyone, including my closest family and friends. I trust her totally to come up with customized trips that will fit any needs. I highly recommend her. She has a million connections and I can see she is an expert in the art of making people's dreams come true in Paris and all over France.

We had a great tour of Versailles , its park , and the " Petit Trianon , of Marie Antoinette" with…read moreEt voilà Paris in June 2017. We highly recommend Celine and her guides for anyone wishing an amazing journey in France and through time!!

We were in San Jose for Labor Day weekend 2026 and looking for something to do. I googled what to…read moredo in San Jose and the only thing that came up was the Winchester Mystery House beside shopping. They have some good shopping the Westfield Mall and Santana Row. We're good on clothing and other goods so we weren't really looking to go shopping. I've heard of the Winchester Mystery House, but have never been. This seemed like my best chance. My husband has been twice. When he has 12 and then again when he was 42 so it wasn't new to him. I looked them up on their website and was shocked to see how expensive it was to make a single 1 hour tour, but it's really the only thing to do in San Jose besides eating and shopping so we took the plunge and decided to go. I looked and there was plenty of tickets on Friday so we figured we could just show up and go. For some reason I was inspired to look Sunday night to recheck the ticket prices and ensure they were going to be open Labor Day. To my shock the 10am slot was sold out and so were most of the morning slots. There were tickets at the 10:05am tour time. I didn't want to commit so soon at the same time I didn't want to miss our opportunity to see the house. In the end I took the gamble that we'd be up and ready to go by 9am to ensure we would make it to the 10:05 tour time. It cost $92.22 for 2 people including taxes and fees. Wow!!! Steep. I'm glad there were tickets left and I was able to snag 2 for the early time as we needed to make the journey home afterwards. We arrived at around 9am and thankfully found parking. On their website they said they were under construction and parking was limited and you may have to park at Santana Row. I didn't want to have to walk that far so we my husband humored me and we arrived extra early and were first in the parking lot. Good for us. We hung out in the car till 9:40am and then headed to the gate to get in line. There was a crowd forming, but no actual line. They opened the gates at around 9:45am to get everyone through security. They inquired if we had any weapons including pepper spray and inspected our purses. Good thing I left the pepper spray in the car lol. After entering in the court yard we were directed to the gift shop. We were informed that the most important room of the house, the bathroom was though the glass doors and through the inner courtyard. Also look for the green and red sign as that is where you go for your tour. At 10am sharp they called the first group in. They scanned your ticket and then took your picture agains the side of the house and give you a card to look at your picture after your tour. In addition after your tour they email you a link to your picture in addition to being able to look up your picture via the QR code on the card they gave you. I didn't look at the pictures till I got home as I took a really good one of us in the garden. When I got home I used the QR code to look at our pictures and I was shocked that they looked so good. They superimposed a picture of the house behind us. It was a super fun pose and my husband actually smiled in the pictures. They are only $35 for the set of digital prints. I'm not sure how it works if you get the printed copy at the gift shop, if they also give you access to the digital prints as well. I sure hope they would as these days everyone wants it digitally so they can post it on social media and send it to friends and family via email or text. I'm still tempted to buy the picture set. We'll see how long they leave it up. We just look so good in the pictures. I'm a total picture person and a real sucker for photo ops, especially photo booths. To add to it they did have a Photo Booth in the gift shop that looked fun, but as I said we did take some really cool selfies so we really don't need more pictures. The first cool thing you see is the door with the stairway that goes nowhere. So cool. Excitement from the very start. I got a cool picture of the staircase. The house is huge, but the room inside are tiny and I mean tiny. It's like you're walking into a closet. You are walking in and out of a room before you realize it. We visited I belive 110 rooms in 1 hour. After the tour we took a tour of the gardens. I am so glad that we did as you can walk around to the front of the house and grab a. Great pic in-front of the house. A totally instagram worthy shot. The grounds are beautiful. With lawns, hedges, and flowers. In addition in back was one of the workers quarters, a really nice house out back. When you walked by it talks to you and tells you a bit about life working for Sarah. There is also a fruit cellar where they dried fruit and that talked to you too about the process.

Had been wanting to go visit ever since I was in 3rd grade. Was so excited to go, even though it's…read more$50, but was deeply put off by a gift shop full of junk that has nothing to do with the beautiful house and the shooting game attraction. Signed on for the optional self guided attic and basement tour and I'm so happy I did. Got to speak with a guy named JT who works there and he was so full of knowledge regarding Sarah and the house. He really gave such a new perspective to the designs I had never thought of before. I understand the tour guides have a script and they like to lean into the paranormal but Sarah is such a character, just like her house. It almost felt disrespectful walking through and hearing they had 'ghost' noises playing in part of the basement. This woman was highly intelligent and did so many great things just to be painted as a crazy woman. Winchester needs to do better. Major shout out to JT, if he ran that place I just know it would be spectacular.

If 4-6 people are going, might as well get a family membership for a year, it's the same price or…read moreless. Great collection. Takes a few hours to see everything. Recommend downloading the app ahead of time, the audio tour was pretty neat. Gardens are nice too, and open to the public. There's a small parking lot if no street parking's available.

Great museum with friendly staff and interactive exhibits! They do a great job of making each…read moresection super interactive. For example, they have a place where you can play ancient Egyptian games with friends, exhibits that require guests to push buttons / ask questions, and even a passport book where people can collect stamps and write notes! It doesn't just have to be for kids - I was entertained as an adult doing these activities They have a lot of artifacts, model replicas, and even a mock tomb area. It was great for being able to 'visualize' what everything would have looked like back then. It did seem like quite a few artifacts were casts of the real thing though. There was plenty to see and we spent a few hours there. The staff are also very friendly and passionate about the subject. Even when we were just looking at exhibits, they told us about different facts / activities that the museum was hosting. Outside, there was plenty of parking and even a garden you could visit. I really enjoyed coming here and highly recommend visiting if you get the chance!

ICA is a large cool funky art space that also hosts events…read more Among the many cool restaurants and bars along south First Street are the cool artsy venues. The Institute of Contemporary Arts (i.e. ICA) is fantastic. It showcases local Bay Area artists' works among others. Super friendly staff are on hand and have the latest scoop on upcoming happenings. Go online to see upcoming events at the ICA. You may discover some cool-funky talks and art shows. Happy adventures!

Feeling arty-farty, I decided to go check out the Institute of Contemporary Art. It's located in a…read morereally cool area of First St. Admission is free which is always nice. I wanted to donate and the friendly guy asked if I wanted to sign up to get information, but I declined. I was the only one in there. The exhibit was called "Allegedly the Worst is Behind Us" which featured 12 artists and their work expressing intergenerational trauma. The work was very personal and moving and inspiring too. The work was much more interesting than the San Jose Art Museum. I felt the work would definitely resonate with others who may have experienced the same thing. Since I saved $20 on the last museum, I put it in the donation box in the front. Great place to come to!

We had an amazing time with my two kids and husband. This place had super interactive activities…read morefor my 4yr old and 18m old. They enjoyed dressing up in fireman gear, playing with water, doing crafts, playing in the pretend food area, building with blocks, making bubbles, and playing outside. This place has a lot to do and we wished we could have stayed longer. Only part that is annoying is the stroller rule. If your child CAN walk, you can't take your stroller in. Weird rule for a place that caters to kids, including younger ones in that in between stage. Even cmy 4 year old gets tired more than average. And sure, my youngest can technically walk but he can't last the whole time walking. Anyway, we had fun but I felt like I couldn't fully relax.

Pretty freaking amazing children's museum, kids loved it (and the adults had fun hanging out too)…read more Kinda a no-brainer if you have kids -- we have a 4yo but there were bigger kids and even teens here bustlin' around.

5 stars because it's free and I enjoyed my time…read more Pretty chill art museum I liked all the variations of soccer balls and one painting really caught my attention. I appreciate that it is free. They close early so go before 5pm. I was late and only had 30 minutes to end it that was enough time. I ended up sitting outside and just journaled about my day. Such a relaxing evening.

Small museum but friendly staff. Studios in the back of the park. Catering available. Sculptures in…read morethe park and free to walk around.

This turned out to be one of my favorite stops, especially when I'm in between appointments in Palo…read moreAlto. I knew in advance that on Thursdays (2nd & 4th weeks only), the public street parking in front of the building was off limits for street sweeping/no parking between 7am-11am, so I got very lucky pulling up in front at 11am sharp. Nice. Easy walk. The Foster Museum was very simple, decent, positive, and relaxing environment filled with gorgeous nature views/sketches/watercolor artworks by the U.K. artist, Tony Foster. Good feeling here. Free admissions and good customer service staffs. You can just walk in or register online. There's a tiny gift area not far from the public restrooms. I signed the guestbook at the end of my walk. Good place to hang around/includes unlimited paper, paper/pencils/samples/etc. If you like to sketch and get some creative inspirations, all the nature artworks in the gallery is definitely a good place to start. Not huge, but perfectly quite and calm for art lovers. You can request for an orientation and/or tour as desired. Great first impression during first visit. It's the positive feeling I get from observing the energy and various colorful artworks. Simple and stress-free. Good value/free admissions is totally worth the 1-2 hours here. They also host art classes too, but I will need to take time to browse around online. Good vibes. Staffs are friendly inside. Hidden place. Love it.

This place is a hidden gem in Palo Alto, in an industrial area surrounded by factories. It is a…read moremuseum of the work of Tony Foster, an artist from UK who paints beautiful watercolor landscapes. It's free, and a nice place to visit for an hour or so ... highly recommended.

The San Jose Museum of Art is a wonderful place to spend a few hours exploring and appreciating…read moreart. I enjoyed the variety of exhibits and the creative, thought-provoking pieces throughout the museum. It has a welcoming atmosphere and is a nice size, so you can take your time without feeling overwhelmed. The downtown San Jose location also makes it easy to combine a visit with lunch, dinner, or exploring the surrounding area. A great local museum and definitely worth visiting if you enjoy art and culture!

What a fun Art Museum. We are really glad we made the time to explore this museum. We explored for…read morearound an hour or maybe more. They have 3 rotating exhibits upstairs where we started as the permeant collection will be here next time we visit. The elevator didn't appear to be working, but they mentioned they have an employee elevator that you can enter in though the cafe. We didn't try it, so we're not sure if this was true or not. Upstairs had an exhibit about women who are behind the scenes in the technology field. I enjoyed the video of women making mechanical sounds as a choir. They had several interactive features, such as movies you can sit on the provided bench and watch. They have a really dark exhibit behind closed doors so you wonder if you should go in or not. It's about the ocean. They have a unique video playing with a person in a mask with the backdrop of a dam. I enjoyed the resin pieces of art work. Downstairs was their permanent collection. They had earphones set up on a bunch of benches. I didn't listen, but there was a great opportunity to. They had a cool maybe icy cart with an umbrella. I enjoyed the Mobil that moved slightly over time. So slight that you could barely see its movement. The museum gift shop is wonderful. Thy have so many good things. Wool Flowers, fun socks, bags, jewelry, books, notebooks, cards, and so much more. I really wanted one of their journals, but resisted as I have too many at home. The last two places we traveled to I got new ones and I have yet to break one open. Adults can see the museum for $20 or you can join NARM, North America Reciprocal Musuem Program and the price of admission is included. If you like visits museums this is the way to do it. Instead of paying out of pocket for each individual Musuem you pay one upfront fee and you can see as many as you like. So.. What you want is their family membership. FAMILY - $180 (fully tax-deductible) All Dual benefits, plus: Free admission for four on each visit Reciprocal admission at over 900 museums in the Western Reciprocal Network (WRN) and North American Reciprocal Museums (NARM) 10% discount and priority enrollment for Kids Summer Art Camp Get it you won't regret it. We love our NARM membership and use it all over the USA. We've paid for it many times over. We've used it all over California, Michigan, New Orleans, and soon to use it in Arizona.