Expand your global perspective at Golden Gate Park's innovative bastion of science. The California Academy of Sciences is the only museum in the world to offer facilities dedicated to the study and understanding of the earth, sea, and sky: the Kimball Natural History Museum, Steinhart Aquarium, and Morrison Planetarium. Together they make up the West's oldest scientific institution and a vast storehouse for Mother Nature's superlatives—like the skeletons of an 87-foot-long blue whale and a 66-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex.
The California Academy of Sciences was formed in 1853 in an effort to document the state's remarkable natural resources. Since 2008, its collections have been housed in a futuristic, Renzo Piano–designed building that makes it one of the world's most eco-friendly museums. Don't miss a trip to the rooftop observation deck, from which you can view the structure's 2.5-acre living roof covered in an estimated 1.7 million California native plants. Each one helps to absorb rainwater, decrease runoff, and create natural insulation.
Underneath that green roof, you can visit with San Francisco's beloved reptile, a 29-year-old alligator with albinism named Claude, plus multicolored Gouldian finches, a colony of adorable African penguins, and dozens of orange Nemo lookalikes (clown anemonefish). Butterflies flit through the Osher Rainforest, a tropical environment that spans across four stories inside a giant glass dome. As you walk up a ramp that curves to the top, you'll see free-flying macaws, strange-looking lizards, colorful frogs, and an array of orchids and living plants that represent three different rainforests—Borneo, Madagascar, and Costa Rica. In this steamy-green world, the temperature is maintained around 85 degrees with a humidity of 75 percent or higher.
Beneath the rainforest, Steinhart Aquarium showcases a 25-foot-deep coral reef tank. The Philippine Coral Reef tank is one of the world's largest indoor displays of living coral, home to more than 4,000 tropical fish darting and gliding around the polychromatic reef. During daily dive shows, a scuba diver with an underwater microphone swims among the school of fish while the audience has the chance to ask him or her questions about this fragile ecosystem.
In the aquarium's smaller galleries, you'll gaze at sea dragons, luminous jellyfish, and an Australian lungfish who is around 93 years-old. You can even walk though a flooded tunnel to see large fish swimming overhead. But be sure to save some time for a mind-expanding journey around the galaxy or a time-travel trip through the solar system's history—catch a stellar show in the Morrison Planetarium's digital projection dome (visitors can reserve tickets for a show at their desired time, for free, while at the museum).
It's also worth planning your trip around special Academy events like the adults-only NightLife every Thursday evening, when DJs spin music, the museum lights are dimmed, and you can wander the museum with a cocktail. Or, families with younger children can bring their sleeping bags and spend the night at the museum during a Penguins+Pajamas Sleepover.
