Exploratorium Reviews

For a family with younger kids (12 and under) this place is amazing! Interesting exhibits and science toys to play with. Very interactive experience

Go to the tactile dome early!!! You need to get a ticket for a specific time. It's my favorite experience in the exploratorium though not suitable for people scared of the dark or claustrophobic.

This is a really fun yet educational place to go and on Thursdays they're open at night and sell alcohol if you want to be a bit buzzed while walking around.

I've been here twice with different groups of people and we've always had a very entertaining and enjoyable experience. If your date is a little bit nerdy and likes science, this would be a great place to take him or her to!

Wonderful museum for kids. Many interesting hands on exhibits. My family has visited many kids and science museums across the US and this one stands out as the best.

One of the best reasons to visit San Fransisco with kids. They will LOVE all of the hands-on experiments to explore. We have an 8 and 13 year old and they both had a blast for over 6 hours. You'll be amazed at how many different activities there are to explore. And even if some of them don't catch your eye, there are thousands of others that will. Don't miss the outdoor section - it was one of our favorite parts!

Took a group of 10 kids between 4-12 yrs old. Absolutely loved it. Great staff. Great value. Tactile dome was the highlight.

Yeah, science!

I would recommend this museum for anyone who both loves and hates science. Obviously for science fans, this is an awesome place to reengage with astronomy, colors, chemistry, oceans, the atmosphere, electricity, food, geology, etc. And for those who don't like science, I think this is a fantastic place to truly learn and explore. It's very hands-on, interactive, but not pretentious or even super hi-tech.

There are so many different and unique activities to see, touch, smell, and hear. Since it's mostly geared for kids, this museum is like a lab and scientific amusement park rolled in one. There are over 600 participatory exhibits, and the exhibits rotate. I got through a decent number of the exhibits, but it definitely took several hours. I was there until the museum closed.

The museum itself, located at Pier 15, has a net-zero energy goal. As a result, the museum has several sustainability efforts such as an array of PV and an HVAC system that takes advantage of the bay water underneath the piers. Science for the win!

It takes awhile to get through all the exhibits, both because there are so many and also because there's a lot of people at any one exhibit. Adult tickets are $29.95 and youth (4-12) tickets are $19.95. There are five annual free days.

This place is unbelievable!!! We were visiting San Fran from Pittsburgh and decided to check this place out, mainly because we had City Pass. You or your kids won't be disappointed with all of the fun, hands-on experiments here! You need at least 4-5 hours to really enjoy everything they have to offer!

The best hands on museum anywhere. Kids will love it but adults will love it even more. Be sure to see the giant mirror!

WOW!! this place is amazing!!! Here's a pic from one of the crazy things they have there!!! Had a blast!!!

I gotta say I much preferred the old space. This new one is gorgeous but is overwhelming and just way too much of a "good thing". It appears there's like 5-6 times more exhibits than at the Palace of Fine Arts location but at least there 70%+ of the exhibits were interesting and fun. At the new place it's maybe 30-40% and the rest about as interesting as chapter 28 of any college physics, biology or chemistry text book. Yawn. Seems they went for major quantity over interesting quality. The exhibits are well-done but after a while are just plain boring. Also the lay-out of the place is just seemingly disjointed and not very explicitly understood or flowing, and I could not figure out any set organization that would make sense for any parent without really studying the map and floor plan, let alone any kid under 10, which was about 90% of the kids there. This all resulted is kids just running around, slapping and smacking buttons or frantically turning knobs and if they did not see something happen that was interesting or cool in 5-10 seconds would just move on...makes for a very disorganized, tiring and crazy atmosphere inside with limited fun past perhaps an hour or so.

One of the best science mueseums I've been to. Kids and adults love will love this place. The only problem I ever have is that I don't have enough time to see all the exhibits.

Almost everything in Exploratorium can be interesting to children only.

So many exhibits! We went with our two year old and he loved interacting with all of the hands on exhibits! We spent four hours there and still didn't see everything!

This museum is fairly dark/dingy, which I think may be it's intention. It's not a 'normal' museum by any stretch. I hadn't been to the new building and was expecting more.

Great museum, certainly the best we've visited in San Francisco (so far). All exhibits are hands-on. I also liked the art exhibits sprinkled throughout the museum. Great logistics for navigation also.

Haven't been here in a while but every experience has been memorable and fun, fun, fun!

Great place for hands on experience for the young and old!

Amazing place for spending a few hours with kids. All the exhibits are developed by the tinkerers at exploratorium and everything is hands on. Kids had a lot of fun fiddling with and learning cool science facts. The light room with zoetropes and the concave lens was my favorite. I wish there had been more staff to explain a few of the exhibits, but in a way that helps the kids explore more on their own. I literally saw just one member of the staff towards the end and that was because the place was closing and he said we have 5 minutes . Would definitely go again if I had a chance. We couldn't do justice to it in the 3 hours we had there.

Lots od clever exhibits that will occupy you for hours - can't recommend enough!

This was fun! Popular place for people with kids but definitely had cool stuff for everyone.

Such fun!! If you could come with your friend, the experience will even better!

This is a review for Exploratorium After Dark - Every first Thursday of the month from 6PM-10PM - Adults only.

I m probably going to get judgmental looks for saying this, but man I have to be honest. I was kind of bored by Exploratorium After Dark. I love tech, geeky things, and gadgets, and yes, the alcohol helped a bit, but I just didn t really find anything here that fascinating. I thought watching the special cow eye dissection would wake me up a bit, but it was still kind of a snooze fest. I felt like I was part of an 8th grade science class. Also, eat before you come. As nice as the restaurant Sea Glass looks, it pretty much tastes like cafeteria food. I would highly recommend going to Academy of Science After Dark over the Exploratorium. There s much more to look at and explore, and the exhibits over there are quite enjoyable with a glass of wine, in particular the aquarium.

Quite possibly the coolest place I have ever been. I would highly recommend the 18+ night

This museum is unlike others. In stead of solely walking and appreciating masterpieces,the activities inside are arranged in a way of workshop. Of course, they require your participation and you eventually get fun. They are focused on sciences and let you have an experiment or play a game. Some natural facts which you may never know them will intrigue you. One more suggestion for people who have kids, if you want them to love sciences, bring them here. Many workshops will build your kids curiosity which is a key of success in the future.

Must visit if you are in San Francisco. Keep half day for the visit. Children have thousand of exhibits to tinker and learn. Absolutely love this place.

Great science experiments! Definitely worth a visit.

Great place for parents with kids to go exploring science. The exhibitions was designed with care and offers a lot of opportunities for kids to have hands on experience.

Super cool to bring kids or even stop by and explore by yourself! Lots of incredible things and leave about 3 hours to hang there!

It's interesting just that I think it's a little bit of urgency that lacks something that caught the children's attention.

Awesome entertainment, learning experience and knowledge gaining for kids (around under 6th grade)

A fantastic place to understand the laws of physics, chemistry, biology ... maybe we had such a place in Italy!

650+ models. Great place for physics lover and even tourists. Venture, discover and build the concepts

Interesting place to visit during to stay in San Francisco

Great place to bring the kids! Lots of hands on activities.

Fabulous place for all ages, could easily spend a day here. Kids loved it

Our girls loved it here, even the baby! Cool stuff to learn and nice staff!! Thanks guys!

great for curious minds, lots of hands-on-activities for everyone, food is good but expensive

Awesome experience! You'll learn new things and get amazed no matter your age

As a homeless person, I have not the funds to purchase admittance and lurk the exhibits, but from the impressions of its primary visitors, it is essentially for the more innocent and youthful crowd, than for grown ups. Unless you like simple least complicated fun, with a date.
Also it is clearly posted that smokers are unwelcome by the quantity of "No Smoking" signage posted around the place. That the hint is obvious.
Bring a jacket, even if its sunny outside, the breeze off the bay is always very chilly.

More for small children. Don't eat there, the food is overpriced. 74.00 for 3 hamburgers, no fries! O.o

Probably my favorite thing to do in San Francisco. It's amazing how they teach science with simple toys and exciting exhibits. If you're not sure whether to go here while in SF... Just do it, you'll thank yourself later!

This place is packed with well implemented demonstrations of physics phenomena. Almost everything is interactive or includes the viewer in some way. Could easily spend 3+ hours here.

Hands on everything! The night life on Thursday are great. Drinks and cool hand on science! Check out the magic trick station!

How do you keep 5 and 7 year old energetic boys occupied for about three hours? Bring them here! To be totally honest I think I enjoyed it more than they did. Amazing place.

Fun for everyone, even adults! So many interesting experiments, all hands on

My wife and kids will have such a great time there's things to do for kids and teenagers 18 plus is fun for the whole family and my daughter says was a learning experience

THE AFTER DARK EXPERIENCE IS SO MUCH FUN!!! If you re an adult, please go to the after dark event!! It s so freaking fun. The place is way less crowded and there is drinks! This museum is sooo clean and so interactive. If you have a curious mind, you ll be in heaven here. Parking is close by on Thursday nights. It was my first time here and I definitely want to come back. The ghost in the booth experience blew my mind! Do it!

The perfect way to spend the day, especially if you have kids. Although, I would have also enjoyed it without them. Too bad we had just one day there, it wasn't enough by a long shot. I particularly enjoyed Ron Hipschman's lecture on heat and temperature

Excellent exhibits. Good rotation makes membership worthwhile. Never bored here, regardless of your age!

I've been here on 3 occasions. Once for opening weekend (oh my god...too many kids), another for a night at museum event with adults and booze, and another for a company christmas party. I prefer any situation where thousands of kids are not there. You get to explore at your own pace and are not bothered with little ones :)

Very cool place with a nice setup for a networking event. I attended a company sponsor event and it was very nice with friendly staff.

More interactive, entertaining, informative things to do than is possible to experience in one full day. Kids and adults will both enjoy it all.

This is the best science museum in the country. They invented the interactive learning science museum model and no one does it as well, but hopefully it will spread because these type of exhibits really make you enjoy science. I like taking my time with a few exhibits to really understand it, rather than trying to push every button.

Fun and very interesting for children, youth and the elderly

An awesome adventure. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to spend a long time there. It's huge and you can literally touch everything. Which is great for young kids.

Besides being a bit pricey. It's really amazing. It's all hands on experiments. Learning from science by doing it. It was extremely fun. The only thing is that if English is not your language your out of the loop cause all the explanations are in English. Nothing was friendly for monolingual that don't know English

Such a wonderful place for kids to touch, feel and live science. You really can't go wrong here.

One of the best science museums in the country, for its great interactive displays. You and your kids won't get bored. Highly recommended, even if you are not science-inclined.

Oh this is such a fun place to visit! Not just for kids to learn a lot about science, but for adults too!
You can lean so much!
Definitely you will have to come with a ton of time, and be patient of people trying out all of the huge array of things on display. It is entirely worth the ticket, unlike some other places (I m looking at you Aquarium of the Bay).

It was closed on Mondays, but I enjoyed the store alone.

We went as a company event. I didn't get to check out the whole venue but I liked what I saw. Great interactive exhibits for kids too.

Amazing place with hours of educational and engaging exhibits. Very upbeat and friendly staff. Kid-friendly, but very entertaining for adults as well. You ll need at minimum 2-3 hours here to be satisfied and you may not even get through half of the exhibits with that much time. Would likely take multiple visits to see everything.

What a fun time. I totally recommend this place for date nights, team nights, and honestly any night you are trying to have fun

I expected something more kid-oriented but was pleasantly surprised, there's lots for grown-ups to get excited about to!