Oakland
The fusion city
Take an avant-garde, changing, and multifaceted personality. You could add fun sports teams, events that everyone should see, and a redwood park. Add a source of tastes and cooking styles that never ends. Then add a famous art scene, great shops, and the world’s biggest urban lake of its kind, and you have a very modern city that welcomes everyone. Hey, welcome to Oakland. Oakland is a great place to start your trip in Northern California because it is only 15 miles from San Francisco and only an hour from the wine areas of Napa and Sonoma. But there are so many things to do here that it might be hard to leave it all behind.
No matter what you look at, Oakland is a mixed city. When it comes to food, this is especially clear. Watch out for “unofficial” meetings of food trucks serving a wide range of cuisines all over the city, take a stroll through one of the farmers’ markets, and don’t miss the chance to treat your taste buds at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Uptown, which is booming. By following the Oakland Urban Wine Trail, you can enjoy special tastes of vintages made in Oakland while touring the city’s warehouses, which are home to some of the best wine cellars in the world. The Oakland Museum of California is a great place to learn about both art and history in California. You can see traditional dance at the Oakland Ballet or turf dancing, which is a type of American street dancing that you can see all over town. Take a look at the cars that come onto the Playa every year for Burning Man. This is a great example of how art and music can come together.
This idea of fusion can also be seen in nature. Lake Merritt in Oakland is a lake with both fresh and salt water. The lake is 5.5 kilometers long, and you can walk or ride a bike around it. You can eat by the water, ride a boat, or look at the beautiful GSBF Bonsai Garden. Redwood Regional Park is in the hills east of Oakland. It’s a great place to get out into the forest. Redwood trees that are 150 feet tall grow in this regional park, which also has stunning views of the whole San Francisco Bay Area.
Children will love Children’s Fairyland, a theme park that will make them feel like they are in a magical world. Oak Park Zoo is not far away. You can get close to the animals at this small zoo that has been open since 1922. You can see it all in one day. Spend some time at Jack London Square before you leave Oakland. It is a waterfront spot on the Oakland/Alameda Estuary where you can eat, shop, and do outdoor things like kayaking, cycling, and outdoor movies.