These museums were voted the Bay Area’s 2023 Best of the Best by Bay Area Parent readers. Read the full list of winners here.
Silicon Valley
Gold: The Tech Interactive. It features hands-on exhibits focusing on technology, climate change, the human body, biology, space exploration, bio tinkering and more. San Jose. thetech.org.
Silver: Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. San Jose. cdm.org.
Bronze: Intel Museum. Santa Clara. intel.com.
Bronze: Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. Palo Alto. paloaltozoo.org.
Peninsula
Gold: CuriOdyssey. This science museum and zoo allows families to see wild animals up close and enjoy hands-on exhibits. San Mateo. curiodyssey.org.
Silver: Hiller Aviation Museum. San Carlos. hiller.org.
Bronze: San Mateo County History Museum. Redwood City. historysmc.org.
San Francisco/Marin
Gold: California Academy of Sciences. This research institute and natural history museum has more than 46 million specimens and features an aquarium, planetarium and rainforest. San Francisco. calacademy.org.
Silver: Bay Area Discovery Museum. Sausalito. bayareadiscoverymuseum.org.
Silver: Exploratorium. San Francisco. exploratorium.edu.
Bronze: Children’s Creativity Museum. San Francisco. creativity.org.
East Bay
Gold: Chabot Space & Science Center. Learn about NASA and space, explore the galaxy with powerful telescopes, enjoy a show in the newly renovated planetarium and much more at this nonprofit institution on 13 acres in Redwood Regional Park. Oakland. chabotspace.org.
Silver: Oakland Museum of California. Oakland. museumca.org.
Bronze: Lawrence Hall of Science. Berkeley. Lawrencehallofscience.org.