With Summer Break coming up around the corner, you may wonder where you could go and what you could do. However, many problems often arise, such as the inability to drive or parents that are still busy with work and unavailable to spend time.
One thing that we should know is that we have access to the entire Bay Area, which is interlinked with public transportation, allowing them to get pretty much anywhere by themselves or with friends! Public transportation such as BART, can allow us to go westward to the great city of San Francisco, north to the beautiful cities of Walnut Creek or Berkeley, east to the shopping centers in Dublin, or south to the city of San Jose or Fremont, with lots of food, stores, and things to do!
There are a lot of things to do if we were to go west from San Leandro. Of course, we have the city of San Francisco, with many attractions such as Golden Gate Park, Pier 39 or Japantown, and shopping centers like the San Francisco Center and Stonestown Galleria, which includes a fabulous and comfortable regal movie theater.
Japantown is a famous attraction in San Francisco, with a lot of traditional Japanese stores and restaurants. Some notable restaurants include Marufuku Ramen, Mochill Mochi Donut, and Izumi Sushi. There is also a very nice two story bookstore called Books Kinokuniya, with several kinds of traditional Japanese books, books in Japanese, translated Japanese books, and other books from asian authors! One other notable store is the very nice stationery store, Maido Stationery, with lots of nice pencils, notebooks, pens, and more.
Luckily, transportation isn’t something you’d have to worry about either, as high school students are allowed to take pretty much any form of public transportation in San Francisco for free, such as bus and MUNI or VTA light rails.
One notable attraction, especially with the upcoming summer break, is the chance to visit the Golden Gate Park Windmills and Tulips, which is known to have a flowers and tulips during the summer season! This also gives you a chance to ride along the west coast, and take a look at the beautiful sunset and beach, as you could take the bus along the entire coastline and take in the beautiful scenery and view of the pacific ocean.
Another notable attraction is the Japanese Tea Garden where you can try authentic matcha drinks. If you go earlier, you may even get a chance to see the
But, there are a lot more places to go, as the entire peninsula in the west has a lot of attractions, such as the cities of Palo Alto and San Mateo which are all accessible by Caltrain, a rail line that travels down to San Jose giving you access to every single major city along the peninsula. This also gives you the chance to visit the stunning campus of Stanford University, one of the most prestigious institutes in the world.
Now of course, there’s much more to do apart from going to the peninsula. Just like how you can take BART to San Francisco, southward bound BART can take you all the way to Fremont, Milpitas and Berryessa.
If you wanted to go to San Jose, all you would have to do is BART all the way to Berryessa, and then take the bus a few stops, and you’ll be there! San Jose has a lot of nice shops, amenities and restaurants, and even Little Saigon, with a lot of good Vietnamese foods to choose from.
Additionally, bus stops are everywhere in San Jose, and you could go as far as you want, all the way to Cupertino, where you could even try the Michelin Star renowned Boba shop, Chicha Shan Chen, which has an award from the International Taste Institute equivalent to three Michelin stars, but make sure you place your order ahead of time! If you’re interested in shopping, you could go to the massive Westfield Valley Fair shopping center, which is known to have a really active mall life.
Of course, there are other options instead of going as far as San Jose, such as the Milpitas BART station, which is right next to the Great Mall. The Great Mall is, of course, a great mall, with many shops, restaurants, and a movie theater! There are many nice stores with collectibles as well!
If San Jose and the western peninsula does not interest you, you could take the eastward bound BART train to the Dublin/Pleasanton station, where you could visit and shop around West Dublin or the Stoneridge Shopping Center.
West Dublin has many good restaurants and shops, including boba shops such as both Feng Cha and Gong Cha. There are also many fun things to do, such as go-karting at K1 Speed or bowling at Earl Anthony’s Dublin Bowl.
Stoneridge Shopping Center, on the other hand, is a very well known shopping mall, including a Lego Store, Miniso and Apple Store, perfect for buying gifts for friends. There are also many clothing stores such as Lululemon, Uniqlo, and more.
Lastly, in my opinion, the best place that you could go, with affordable prices and convenient locations, is by taking the northward bound BART train towards Downtown Berkeley, Richmond, and even as far as Walnut Creek, Pittsburg, or Antioch.
Downtown Berkeley includes a variety of different restaurants and shops. Of course, you can also go and visit the large campus of UC Berkeley, and at the same time stop by Southside Berkeley, which includes diverse restaurants, with lots of Korean food, Indian food, Greek food, Italian food and more. There are also many bookstores, the famous game and toy store, Games of Berkeley filled with collectibles, trading cards, and board games, places to drink and a lot of boba shops. There’s Feng Cha, Share Tea, TP Tea, The Alley, and more.
BART can also take you all the way to Walnut Creek. Downtown Walnut Creek being a quick walk from the station, gives you access to once again, a lot of nice stores and dining options. There is also a lot of sightseeing such as Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza, The Gardens at Heather Farms, Civic Park, and The Ruth Garden And Nursery!
There is also a prime rooftop dining attraction which allows you to have your meal on the rooftop of the restaurant, which provides stunning views of Downtown Walnut Creek, called Rooftop Restaurant & Bar.
With all these places you could go in mind, you should not hesitate to plan your next outing with your friends and family during this upcoming summer break! Just make sure that you have a Clipper Card and money for public transportation! If you need a clipper card, applying for a student youth clipper card with the Student Bank will halve transportation costs for the BART train, and completely waive the fees for bus rides in San Leandro. Apply fast!
