Welcome to Palo Alto Whether you are visiting for business, for pleasure or to attend a conference or other event at Stanford University, you will quickly discover the unusual blend of intellect, innovation, culture and natural beauty that makes the Palo Alto area so special.
Vivian Wong
Palo Alto’s neighboring communities are home to Nobel Prize winners, Silicon Valley CEOs, venture capital firms, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook and one of the most renowned universities and medical centers in the world. While Palo Alto developed as a sleepy college town, the emergence of Stanford University as the leading high technology academic research center in the nation in the 1970s led to hundreds of start-up businesses with connections to Stanford professors and their inventions. Thus Palo Alto became known as the birthplace of Silicon Valley and attracted engineers and others from all over the world to pursue their dreams. The Stanford campus itself is the biggest visitor attraction, and visitors could easily spend a day or longer exploring the beautiful (and large) campus. But at a minimum any visit should also include a walk or drive through the tree-lined (and one of the costliest in the nation) residential neighborhoods, a walk in the foothills or baylands and some great shopping and eating in the several business districts. For our list of 10 sites not to miss while you are visiting, look in the Attractions section. Enjoy!
Veronica Weber
Inside: Attractions..................................... 6 Arts & Entertainment............... 11 Hotels............................................. 14 Stanford........................................ 16 Recreation.................................... 18 Shopping...................................... 19 Map................................................. 20 Dining............................................ 25 Getting Around/Safety........... 38
Veronica Weber
The Palo Alto Visitors Center is co-located with the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce at 122 Hamilton Ave. in downtown Palo Alto. The Visitors Center is staffed seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and may be reached at 650-327-2344. The center has useful brochures and other materials and can assist with answering questions and addressing special or unusual needs of visitors. Destination Palo Alto (www.destinationpaloalto.com) offers much more information about where to go and what to do while visiting Palo Alto. Visitors Guide is a special project of the Palo Alto Weekly. Copyright ©2010 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
4 Fa l l / Winter Vi si tor s G ui de 2010 • w w w. D e st inat io nPal o Al to. co m