Family Hotel near San Francisco, CA Museums
Many families stay with us here at Pullman San Francisco Bay, taking advantage (like all our other guests) of our prime Redwood City location just a hop, skip, and a jump from the heart of San Francisco. World-class family attractions abound in our near radius, from the San Francisco Zoo to the Great America amusement park. Particularly close by are a pair of fine Bay Area museums ideal for a day out and about with the whole crew: CuriOdyssey Science Playground & Zoo and the Hiller Aviation Museum.
CuriOdyssey Science Playground & Zoo (1651 Coyote Point Drive, San Mateo, CA)
“We treat kids like the geniuses they are,” says CuriOdyssey, which combines an engaging lineup of hands-on science exhibits with a full-on zoo boasting better than 100 animals. Most of those critters are native Californians—bobcats, river otters, tiger salamanders, northern Pacific rattlesnakes, Swainson’s hawks, banana slugs, rubber boas, and more—plus a few exotics, including bearded dragons and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Besides general viewing, the CuriOdyssey zoo residents also take center stage in various daily presentations, including noontime otter feeding sessions and bobcat meals at 1 PM (both Tuesday through Sunday).
The interactive exhibits, meanwhile, include Forces, which explores gravity and other fundamental physical forces that define our world; The Nature of Patterns, delving into natural forms, from spirals to stripes; and Reflections + Perceptions, focused on optical effects.
CuriOdyssey Science Playground & Zoo is a mere five-mile trip from Pullman San Francisco Bay.
Hiller Aviation Museum (601 Skyway Rd, San Carlos, CA)
Better than 40 historic aircraft are on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum, a fantastic introduction to the history and engineering of human-powered flight less than two miles from our hotel. Among the flying machines you can admire up close here are a replica of the Wright Flyer, a 1911-vintage glider, the Grumman HU-16-RD “Albatross” (designed for search-and-rescue at sea, and a plane that circumnavigated the world), and a replica of SpaceShipOne, the first privately constructed spacecraft.
The museum’s exhibits include a “Beginnings of Flight” overview, the cockpits of a 747-100 and 747-300, a depiction of real-time air traffic in the Bay Area and flights inbound to San Francisco International Airport, and SkyPortal, an interactive Google Earth module.
Museum-Going With the Family During Your Pullman San Francisco Bay Stay
Of course, many more outstanding family-friendly museums and other institutions await your exploration in the Bay Area, including the Aquarium of the Bay, the California Academy of Sciences, the Children’s Creativity Museum, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! In short, you won’t be lacking for educational (and highly fun) destinations as a guest of ours here at Pullman San Francisco Bay!