Free Museum Days

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FREE Museum Days
Do you know that there are over a dozen museums in the bay area that are always FREE? Do you know that many great museums around the bay area offer FREE admission days? Read on and save yourself some money.




Always FREE

•Cantor Arts Center
(Sanford Campus, near the main quad. 650-723-4177)


•Cable Car Museum
(San Francisco, 415-474-1887)


•Chinese Culture Center Gallery
(750 Kearny St, 3rd Floor San Francisco, 415-986-1822)


•Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History
(1005 Railroad Ave, Santa Clara; Tues & Sat only)


•Intel Museum
(Intel headquarter, Santa Clara; Great for school age kids)


•Monarch Grove Sanctuary
(Ridge Rd, near the lighthouse, Pacific Grove; Oct through Feb only)


•Maritime Museum of Monterey
(Across from Fisherman's Wharf in downtown Monterey; 831-372-2608)


•Museum of American Heritage
(351 Homer Ave, Palo Alto, 650-321-1004, Science, Innovation and Handicraft; Great for 10-yrs up)


•Museum of Children's Art (Gallery Only)
(538 Ninth Street, Suite 210, Oakland, 510-465-8770)



•NASA Exploration Center
(Moffet Field; Great for school age kids)


•Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
(1451 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, 650-329-2111, $3 donation suggested; Great for young children.)


•Randall Museum
(199 Museum Way, San Francisco, 415-554-9600)


•Santa Cruz Surfing Museum
(701 W. Cliff Dr. Santa Cruz; 831-420-6289)


•Saratoga History Museum
(20450 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road. Saratoga; 408.867.4311)


•The Lace Museum
(Sunnyvale, 408-730-4695 )


•Triton Museum of Art
(1505 Warburton Ave., Santa Clara)


FREE First Weekend

•Museums on Us by Bank of America Any Card from Bank of America gives you free general admission to over 70 museums nationwide. List of museums in the bay area:
◦Museum of the African Diaspora
◦De Young Museum
◦San Jose Museum of Art
◦The Tech Museum of Innovation
FREE First Thursday

•Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
(Berkeley. Regular admission: $5-$8; UCB affiliate & Children under 12 free)

FREE First Firday

•San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
( Regular admission: $6.5-$8; Children under 12 free)
FREE First Sunday

•Asian Art Museum
(San Francisco. Regular admission: $7 - $12; Children under 12 free)


•Coyote Point Museum
(San Mateo. Regular admission $3-$7. Parking $5; Great for young children)
FREE Second Sunday

•The Tech Museum of Innovation (Not include IMAX)
(San Jose. Sponsored by the ScholarShare College Savings Plan, California's Offical 529 plan and Fidelity Investments)


•Oakland Museum of California
(Oakland. Regular admission:$5 - $8. Currently under renovation, will re-open in May 2010)
FREE First Tuesday

•Cartoon Art Museum
(San Francisco. Regular admission:$2 - $6)


•De Young Museum
(Golden gate Park. Regular admission: $6 - $10. 12 and under: FREE)


•SF MOMA
(San Francisco. Regular admission: $7 - $12.5; kids 12 and under: FREE)


•Conservatory of Flowers
(Golden gate park. Regular admission: $1.5 - $5)


•Legion of Honor
(San Francisco. Regular admission: $6-$10; kids 12 and under FREE)


•Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
(San Francisco. Regular admission: $3-$7. Limited Kids Program. Muppets Music Moments in Dec for ages 4 and up)
FREE First Wednesday

•Bay Area Discovery Museum
(Sausalito. Regular admission $8 - $10)


•Exploratorium
(San Francisco. Regular admission $9-$14. Great place to learn science.)


•San Francisco Zoo -- free for SF residents

FREE Third Wednesdays

•California Academy of Sciences
(Golden Gate Park. Regular admission $14.95 - $24.95, 6 and under FREE)
Mother's Day - May 9, 2010

•KORET Museum Days: FREE admission for 17 Bay Area Museums, including

◦Asian Art Museum, SF
◦Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito
◦Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland
◦Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
◦Contemporay Jewish Museum, SF
◦De Young Museum, SF
◦Exploratorium, SF
◦Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley
◦Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley
◦Legion of Honor, SF
◦Museum of the African Diaspora, SF
◦Oakland Museum of California
◦San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
◦San Francisco Zoo
◦San Jose Museum of Art
◦IMAX movie at The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose
◦Zeum, SF

Other Discounts

•The Tech Museum of Innovation

Public Library Pass Program: offers significantly reduced prices for museum galleries admission. This does not include IMAX Theater admission. Go to the San Jose Public Library or Santa Clara County Library for more information and to pick up passes. Passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Open Access Policy: If you cannot afford the full admission fee, please see the staff at the Ticketing counter in the center of our lobby at the start of your visit.


•MY Museum (Monterey County Youth Museum)
$2 (instead of $7) on first Tuesday of the month. For kids 8 and under.


•Hall of Health
Free on selected Saturdays (Feb 21, Mar 14, May 9, June 13, 2009)



Some of these places offer free or discounted kids activities and programs, check out our "Free Ongoing Kids Programs" article.

If you find other free museum days that we did not list here, please let us know.




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Annette Stransky 2009-05-19 08:16:18

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There are two additional Museums in the Bay Area:
The Sunnyvale Lace
Museum
552 S. Murphy
Sunnyvale, CA
Open Tues-Sat from 11PM-5PM

Saratoga
History Museum
20450 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road
Saratoga, CA