I agree whole-heartedly with the first reviewer of this hidden gem (Ciana W.) and I just want to…read moreadd that there are tons of hidden paths like this in Berkeley. www.berkeleypaths.org would tell you all about them, with detailed maps and walking guides provided. This is one of the many things that make Berkeley so charming and loveable. There are so many stone stairways and narrow footpaths paved with fallen leaves hidden in all these quiet, unassuming neighborhoods! I live in the Elmwood area and, wow, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Oak Knoll, Pine Path, Garber St, Oak Path... just north of my neigborhood. I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Mosswood and Orchard path north of the International House. And now, I discovered this hidden treasure of Vine Lane and Rose Walk! Absolutely five stars. And thank you SO MUCH, berkeleypaths.org, for preserving them!

Are you ready to fall down the rabbit hole into a true-blue wonderland?…read more The delirium and dementia of Telegraph Avenue are equally and oppositely reflected in the glamour and mystery of Vine Lane, one of Berkeley's many secret hidden pathways. This is my gift to you: take a walk up through Vine Lane to the Berkeley Rose Garden. Start by putting on your comfy shoes and wandering up the hill that is Euclid Street, taking careful note of the gorgeous, dilapidated old houses, the swooping trees, and the almost eerie peacefulness of North Side. Hang a right at Cedar Street, and look westward out to the Bay. By the time you make a right on Hawthorne Terrace, you'll be in a completely different world, and to prove it, there is Vine Lane. Tucked away so delicately that you could almost miss it, there between the Gothic Revival and Arts & Crafts homes, is a small pathway cutting up the hill. It is as simple as that -- a pathway, or miniature pedestrian route built sometime around the turn of the century. Walking silently, respectfully, and ever upwards, you can just feel the stillness of the hillside, and you can appreciate the idealistic thoughtfulness of the city planners who built these paths. Vine Lane is aptly named because the walls of the residences, most of which are set off the path by several yards, are covered in luscious vegetation. It's worth going to see the changing colors in both fall and spring. At the top of the mount hangs a small lantern and sign in wrought iron, proclaiming "VINE LANE" in an elegant script. This place is unexpected, charming, and a complete relic of Berkeley's mystical and lurid past. Continue on to Cordonices Park and the Berkeley Rose Garden if you want to keep falling further into that rabbit hole...

Berkeley Rose Garden is such a beautiful and peaceful place to visit! There are so many different…read moretypes of roses, and the whole garden feels very nice and relaxing. I came here last saturday on a nice weather day and really enjoyed walking around, taking pictures, and just enjoying the area. The garden also near Grizzly Peak if you want a panoramic view of Berkeley - SF area, hiking here also great. Overall, the rose garden is a perfect spot for a casual walk, hanging out, or a quiet afternoon. Parking can be a little challenging, but definitely worth the visit if you are in Berkeley!

Visited today with BB -- our first time here. We definitely picked the wrong season, as most of the…read moreroses have already been pruned. Even so, the garden itself is peaceful and well maintained. What really stood out was the view -- you can see the Golden Gate Bridge from the garden, which is beautiful and unexpected. There's also a constant sound of rushing water nearby (not sure if that's always there), but it added to the calm and made the few roses still in bloom more enjoyable. The garden is wheelchair accessible, though I will note the hill leading up to the entrance is very steep. They do have public restrooms and tennis courts on site, which is nice. Street parking only -- and be careful, cars come around the bend quickly. Overall, even though we missed peak bloom season, it was still worth the visit for the views and the atmosphere. I'd love to come back in the spring when everything is in full bloom.

I have been using Payn's as a supplier of ink for my pens for drawing and writing letters, etc…read more beautiful paper to write upon, cards, calendars, notebooks, for classes. (I'm taking in Spanish now) & what have you. Everything is just what i wanted. I've gone to other stationary stores and I never find anything that works as well as this store so thank you to the Payn's people.

Nice little family owned Stationary store on Solano Ave. the people running the store are always…read morefriendly and helpful. There aren't many small independently owned stationary stores left in the Bay Area so this is much needed. Street parking only. Prices are fair.

I visited this museum on a whim and didn't have much time, but it is definitely on my list to…read morerevisit before summer ends! General admission is $25, but they participate in Museums for All, which is a great perk. I brought my 20-month-old and was thrilled to find so many age-appropriate activities for him to explore. The absolute highlight was the moving dinosaurs outside, set against a beautiful backdrop of the bay, a view that adults will definitely appreciate even if the toddlers don't notice! Definitely a great place to snap some photos. The bottom floor features animals and exhibits, and I noticed a cafe that I'd love to try for lunch next time. My only critique is the customer service. Some staff members, including those at the front desk, weren't very welcoming or acknowledging. Since this is such a family-oriented space, a simple smile would go a long way! It didn't ruin my experience, but better service would prevent it from taking away from anyone else's visit. Highly recommend overall!

Well when I came in to pay. This young lady was very I tentative! She explained everything to us…read more So on our merry way. We are the first floor so many activities to do. My cousin and daughter loved the . And outside where they were was an amazing view of Berkeley. We were sitting on top of the world. A little girl came over and talked to us. Her father said it was ok to film her. She was five years old! A very bright, intelligent, fun loving girl! Her favorite pass time was golf. She knew the stands to when u putt! She was amazing. She came and brought us flowers. My daughter n I put them in our hair. Ok down to the exhibits down stairs. Well we walked in no one spoke. Parents kept asking the young lady so what do we do! Horrible horrible horrible! Customer service! Young ladies you should say hellli when someone walks in the door! You should come and explain what to do. Not just stand in the lockers. So, went to the souvenir shop! We all couldn't wait to spend some money. The gentleman never said hello! He kept flipping his hair looking off into space! Wow! Very easily for people to steal items! Tighten up! Greet people pay attention! Speak to the customers! Terrible customer service March 21,2026 3pm-5pm! Do better! I didn't get a chance to give anything I. The suggestion box! Next time I will! Thanks we guess!

There is no bad seat at The Freight but this time I got front row , it's always general admission…read moreseating. This show was for Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmore... two legends playing without their band for this show. Last time I saw them with their full band much closer to home at Felton Music Hall... also a great venue. Opening artist was guitarist Lenny Kaye from The Smiths and he was great too. Awesome audience as usual for The Freight. Get out and see live music, it's always a great time.

We saw Keola Beamer and Henry Kapono recently. It was our first visit to the Freight since they…read moremoved ever so long ago. This is truly a nice venue to see music. The staff is friendly; parking is convenient next door in the garage; plenty of restaurants nearby. There were also a few snack items and drinks available for sale. I was bummed that perhaps customer service and management aren't completely in synch with their own policies. I had written and asked if photography would be allowed since this was a Hawaiian show. I wanted to bring in one camera with an attached lens, no flash to take photos for personal use only. I was told that the policy was no photography was allowed. On the night of the show, the last announcement before the show started, was that non-flash photography was welcome. Oh well.

Came here as a stop to enjoy our pastries and coffee while watching our grandson play. Love that…read morethere is a lot of shaded areas. Looks like there is a hiking/walk path nearby. Love the area and we relaxed and enjoyed the calmness.

Had an amazing day in the park yesterday watching taming of the shrew. The park is always so…read moregorgeous with such beautiful trees and well maintained. The event was well organized and everything went very smoothly. The actors were incredible and our family had such a great time being outdoors in the amphitheater watching a show.

What a hidden gem. At least, for us. Perhaps most people already know about this botanical garden…read more For our Plant enthusiasts in our family, it was very cool to explore. It was part of my husband's Fathers Day outing and he enjoyed it, even though he initially wanted to skip because he was tired (having to pay for tickets was motivational enough to get us to go through with our planned visit). We were fortunate to go on a beautiful yet cool day which added to our experience. Worthwhile, highly recommend!

Wow- I wish I lived here to come more often! Loved especially the cool and refreshing Asian Garden…read moreand roses even though they weren't all in full bloom. I was amazed at how many staff were present, pruning, trimming and clipping. They were very friendly and helpful and cheerful to share information about the plants and what they were doing- ie, responsibly cutting back the very healthy/bordering-on-invasive Alstroemeria before any seed pods opened. Also loved the carnivorous plants house- pitcher plants, Venus flytraps and more. So fascinatingly beautiful!

If you're expecting an immersive, interactive experience where you'll feel like you won't have…read moreenough time to do everything, then you'll be sorely, sorely, sorely disappointed. The first problem is that it's called a museum--I know, where else do you keep T-rex fossil casts other than a museum? you've got me there, but I want to let your hopes down so that you'll have a properly amazing experience here. The first thing to know is that it's housed in the Valley Life Sciences Building, or VLSB for those of us in the know who use University of California campus building-name acronyms on the regular. It's a living, breathing, working building on campus, which means there are offices and a library, in addition to "museums," which again is a disappointing misnomer. When it was built in 1930, not only was it the largest building in the City of Berkeley, but it was also the largest concrete building in the US west of the Mississippi. It's still the largest building on campus, I believe. When I worked on campus, my classes were often (and my office hours were always) in Wheeler Hall, whose bathrooms leave a lot to desired, to understate it quite ridiculously. So I was always on the lookout for better, less traveled bathroom options. Not just near Wheeler, but everywhere on campus and especially between Wheeler and the western edge of campus, because I often worked part time at my current job while also working as a reader at UC, so I was always walking back and forth between campus and our office in Downtown Berkeley. Anyway, I thought i had found a perfect candidate in a particular men's room on a particular side of a particular floor of VLSB. Who would enter this random, imposing building looking for a restroom, and even if they did, who would go anywhere but the bathrooms on the first floor? Happy with myself, after my second visit to the secret bathroom, I was about halfway back to my office when I realized I didn't have my wallet. I remembered taking it out of my pocket in the stall, so I rushed back up there. And what did I find? My wallet was sitting there on the toilet-paper dispenser, my ID, debit card, and credit cards still there. Whew! But I was also aghast, because the $36 I had in cash was missing. I'm still conflicted to this day--replacing my license and credit cards would have been a huge pain, and if someone had returned my wallet to me, I probably would have rewarded him with at least $20. So should I be angry for this person for stealing from me but not making it as bad as it could have been? I don't really know, and I haven't been back to that benighted bathroom since. So here's the best way to experience the Museum of Paleontology: By total surprise. The first time I came in here, I had no idea I'd find these Pteranodons floating around or this Tyrannosaurus rex hanging out near the staircase. Yes, take the elevator to the fourth floor and then take the stairs down. You'll be so wowed. It's amazing. And that's how you have a four-star experience. Just don't give kind thieves the opportunity to steal some of your valuables.

Fantastic exhibit- open to the public for free during museum hours. Great for toddlers- you can…read moretell because all of the glass for cases below 3-4 feet is stained with hand prints. Amazing nearly complete T-Rex skeleton on display with a pterodactyl in flight above it. They are arranged beautifully in the atrium, ringed by a spiral staircase. I also loved the entomological displays- especially the beetles. Park in the lower Sproul garage and walk less than 5 min. Pack a lunch to eat in the courtyard or under the canopy in the eucalyptus grove by the creek outside.