Exploratorium Reviews

Great hands-on activity center and museum for kids and adults displaying ingenuity and engineering that touches all the senses... lights, sounds, etc. It's humongous since it fills an entire pier. Food is available in the pier, but it's very expensive.

Went for the day, ended up buying a family membership! Can't wait to come back.

Great place for both kids and adults. Engaging experiments and exhibits that are thought-provoking and relevant.

great Science Museum, you can lots of funny experiment on there

Just amazingly cool. I loved it more than my 6 year old, but only by a little bit. Well worth the time, and way better than the academy of science.

fantastic spent 4 hrs there would have spent more but it was closing also my daughter loved it

its a wonderplace. ticket is a bit expensive. adviced to reach early, there are tons of exhibits to see and learn. make sure you spend whole day there. it IS worth it.

A really cool place for adults and kids. Could easily spend hours here but it is crowded.

First time visiting the new location, a step up from the old one. Many of the exhibits I've come to love are still here, along with lots of new ones.

It also appears they are doing a good job keeping the exhibits up and running.

The Seaglass Cafe is also very nice, with a reasonably wide selection, including some very good made to order sushi.

If you like hands on science this place is for you.

The Exploratorium is one of my favorite places in SF. I grew up with this place and now take my kids to its second iteration on Pier 15 which has a killer view. This museum is fun for all ages. It is all hands on and I leran something new every time i go. If you are a local by buy a membership its worth every penny.

A wonderful place for kids and elders and science freaks to explore and learn...

I heart the Exploratorium - while I think they could amp up some of the exhibits and explanations (don't shy away from slightly more advanced explanations on physics/math/science/computing), it's a GREAT place to take anyone for a day -- love the old space, looking forward to the new one!

Playing with all the science exhibits is really fun. Makes an excellent date spot.

Check out the schedule for free days. Great place to take kids!

Amazing place for kids. Adults enjoy it as well. Avoid school hours

This made me want to move to San Fran. If you're visiting you have to go, this place is so much fun.

30$ for more than 6h of exploring and learning about everything there is on earth... Mindblowing! Take your kids with you, it is perfect for both of you

Beautiful facility with amazing views. Ideal way to spend the day with your kids and entire family. Brings the kid out in everyone of all ages. Highly recommend.

I loved my experience here. There are so many different activities and there are displays for everyone. Everything is hands-on and you get to learn while having fun with the experiments. My favorite is the light room, where every 30 seconds a light flashes onto the walls in the room, and your shadow appears on the wall. It is like a room with glow in the dark walls. You can also use the flashlight of your phone to write temporary messages on the walls.

Great place to explore science. not merely for kids, the central courtyard and embarcadero ambience doubles up for a lazy yet curious weekend here

Love the new location. Could have better food selection

Can't say anything negative. The chicken egg exhibit blew my mind. I loved it.

I mean, how can you NOT love this place? It is a (almost) endless amount of hands on exhibits that will delight basically any age. If you can, try visiting on Thursday evenings- no kids, cash bar. It's a great date night venue! But seriously, go here. You won't regret it.

(well, unless you don't have a soul)

Terrific museum. Very interactive and fun as well as educational. Easily spend an entire afternoon or more tinkering with all the hands on exhibits. Perfect for families. Does get very crowded with lots of children, but great fun for the adventurous types. Well worth the price of admission.

Really great and above all you have to go with children, there is plenty to discover.

A must see in SFO... Not sure who had more fun... me or the kids... Make sure to give yourself all day to explore. Best science museum I've ever seen.

Such a fun place to visit even if you live in the city. Check out the adult only once a month Thursday for a special time with friends.

A fun place for both kids and adults! The tactile dome is a must!

Fantastic science museum, one of my top 5. Everything is robustly built and interesting. A surprising amount of free-play exhibits too. I guess it has to do with the museums namesake! Try to avoid 10:30-2pm timeslot during the weekdays as it s packed full of kids from schools/camps

Good place to explore the collaboration of science and nature.

It was one of the funniest experience in a museum that I have ever had :)

Great place for adults to feel like kids again. :-)

The only museum I've been to so far that definitely was worth my time! Very hands-on museum!

I took my friend here since I was given two free tickets. Admission usually would be $15. I parked across the building and came here After Dark hours which was after 6 pm. Luckily, I found a parking spot which offered only 25 cents / hour! It was near the news station building.

If you have any bags or items that you don't want to carry, the Exploratorium has lockers which you could rent out. The lockers are pretty big so don't worry about it.

What's really cool with the Exploratorium is that you could drink while you go around the museum! The bartender makes some really good margaritas!

My favorite activity in this museum was the activity where you have to walk across pebbles and you have to do it as quiet as possible. Another notable activity was when you get to choose up to four colors and you move this table back and forth and it creates some really cool pictures.

This is a great place to take friends who don't live around the area and I highly suggest going!

Undoubtedly the most underrated attraction of San Francisco - not that it was empty, very far from it, but from how incredibly interesting their exhibitions and experiments are inside the exploratorium, I would've expected it to be boiling over with people. Only makes it more enjoyable - and an even better reason to go - that it's only moderately full. Full of fun and interesting exhibitions - for adults, too.

Fun place for kids and adults . Kids over 6yr enjoy and understand concepts... Can spend full day ...

They close too early. Need a membership Sharing offer with other science world's.

So many exciting and fun ways to explore science! Good for all ages!

Best for Kids day out . Good explanation on science

Best museum for technology and engineering! You may need more than one day to digest it all

I was surprised at how much there is to see and do. You could easily spend more than 3 hours in this place. It's shaped mostly like a rectangle so it would be hard to get lost. There are things to do for almost all ages.

Tons of hands on experiments about our world. Took my 3,7 and 9 year old. 1 day wasn't enough.

Great potential bad execution. Cool stuff all around, but nobody to look out for it or help visitors. If there are any schools visiting, it could make it impossible to visit once the kids are wrecking the exhibits with no supervision whatsoever.

Awesome museum with art based on science concepts. Lots of kids may be a little annoying sometimes, but it is worth the visit anyway.

Checked out the Exploratorium for their free day. It was so much fun, so many activities to do and ways to learn. Although it was quite crowded when I went since it was free, it wasn't overcrowded where I was not able to do everything I wanted to do. I've heard they have adult only nights on Thursdays, I will definitely be checking the Exploratorium again on one of those evenings.

The place is engaging. There are lots of informative things, like playing with a gyroscope, artificial tornado creator, among other things.

Food was really bad (for vegetarians).

Amazing place, really captures your imagination. for all ages 5+

I have been to a fair number of science centers and this one was pretty good, but not the best, so I was a bit disappointed especially considering the high price of admission. However there were tons of great hands-on exhibits and actives, so my family did enjoy our visit.

Incredible variety of exhibits. Your kids WILL go nuts. Four stars because it's pricey.

Collection of fun science experiments and random stuffs. The view at night is great.

Excellent ... Teachers of biology, geography, physics should know this place.

Bring the kids and adults, super fun and interesting to learn new things

A VERY hands-on museum; you touch and manipulate everything. Thursday night "after dark" is adults-only. The exhibits are so much fun to play with!

This place is for CHILDREN. I did now know this when I purchased tickets and it was a waste of $60 between my husband and I. We were there for less than 15 mins.

This place is awesome. We could have spent a whole day here. Plenty of things to keep every kid busy, from 2-12. Even though it gets pretty crowded, there are literally so many things to do that lines for an activity are minimal at most. Consider getting there right at opening when it is less busy. There is an indoor waiting area with activities to keep kids entrained. We highly recommend.

Great fun for the whole family. Tickets are expensive, so go early and spend the whole day there. You won't be disappointed.

The largest science museum in which I have ever been. You will be hard pressed to be able see everything. You could spend several hours here if you wanted.

Great for kids. Adult nights with drinks on Thursday nights.

Really cool, very family friendly, perfect whether you have kids or not for a fun afternoon.

An educational adult playground. After Dark varies musically, but sometimes they bring in unexpected talent like Space Cowboys or a funk band and a roller rink. Love it!

Exciting and highly interactive. Dedicating even the whole day will not guarantee seeing everything. Inspirational place with a little bit of something for everyone.

Fun for everyone, loved it and got me to remind things from high school

You can spend a whole day here, fun stuff to do and see. Especially the tree is a nice view. And it's right next to the ocean.

Great place! Hands on science learning location, good for all ages. Plan on spending several hours there.

Gorgeous science museum. Great for kids and at-heart kids! Go early because it is huuuge

Great educational experience for all ages, thought provoking interactive exhibits and excellent staff helping explain phenomenons in physics, biochemistry, life sciences as well as social aspects of human interactions - a must to visit for everyone!

Tremendous experience for adults and children. Ideal for a rainy day because it takes several hours to cover it whole

Good location, but I enjoyed the old location and displays much better! Now it reminds me of a rabbit warren.

I stopped by when traveling to San Francisco.
I went with my children, but I think there is content that I can stay all day.
I thought it might look like a local science museum, but the scale is different.
Although I could see many children on the whole, I think that only adults can enjoy it.

Fantastic museum. There's so much to see and explore. The museum is well worth the price of admission.

Fun science museum with lots of trinkets and exhibits to learn some interesting concepts. Can be crowded and you'll have to wait for your turn to try out something. Wish they had more exhibits on biology (personal preference though). Nice place to "explore" lol.