Berkeley
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Overview
Berkeley is synonymous with protest, activism and left wing politics. Beyond those tropes is a busy, attractive city, a blend of yuppie and hippie and student, all existing side by side with great Asia-Pacific regional restaurants, twee toy stores, Latin American groceries, high-end organic food halls and the misty green campus of the University of California, Berkeley (aka 'Cal'). It’s easy to stereotype ‘Beserkeley’ for some of its recycle-or-else PC crankiness and occasional overbearing self-righteousness. But some of that attitude is justified: at the end of the day Berkeley has, more often than not, been on the right side of environmental and political issues that have defined the rest of the nation.
01 / Attractions
Must-see attractions
Berkeley
This 2079-acre park, up in the hills east of town, is Berkeley’s best. It has nearly 40 miles of hiking and multiuse trails of varying difficulty, from…
Berkeley
The Bancroft houses, among other gems, the papers of Mark Twain, a copy of Shakespeare’s folios and a diary from the Donner Party. Its small public…
Berkeley
Officially called Sather Tower, the Campanile was modeled on St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The 307ft spire offers fine views of the Bay Area, and at the…
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley
'Cal' is one of the country's top universities, California's oldest university (1866), and home to 40,000 diverse, politically conscious students. Next to…
UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley
Berkeley
With 34 acres and more than 10,000 types of plants, this garden in the hills above campus has one of the most varied collections in the USA. Flora from…
Berkeley
Near Grizzly Peak Blvd, this science hall is named after Ernest Lawrence, who won the Nobel Prize for his invention of the cyclotron particle accelerator…
Berkeley
This park, just east of Telegraph Ave, is a marker in local history as a political battleground between residents and the city and state government in the…
Berkeley
Despite the title, this isn't a museum, but rather a research facility that's closed to the public. With that said, the location within the Valley Life…
02 / Articles
Latest stories from Berkeley
Food
Indigenous cuisine revitalization: best places to sample traditional foodsSep 26, 2019 • 4 min read
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