Things to do in Oakland
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Walking
The large parks of the Oakland Hills are ideal for day hiking. Information is available from the East Bay Regional Parks District. The district manages 59 regional parks, preserves and recreation areas in the Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which contain some 1000 miles of trails.
Off Hwy 24, the Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve is the northernmost of the Oakland Hills parks. It has great views of the Bay Area from its Round Top Peak (1761ft), an old volcano cone. From Sibley, Skyline Blvd runs south past Redwood Regional Park and the adjacent Joaquin Miller Park to Anthony Chabot Regional Park. A hike or mountain-bike ride through the groves and along the hill…
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International Boulevard
Formerly known as E 14th St and once a neglected part of town, International Blvd is now a great place to stroll on a Sunday afternoon. Latino and Asian immigrants have turned it into a 3-mile carnival of food and festivities. You'll find an impressive fleet of excellent taco trucks parked along Fruitvale Ave or at the corner of High St and International Blvd. The Bay Area's best pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) joints are just blocks away.
Mexican and Central American restaurants rub elbows with Vietnamese. Dive bars selling cheap beer and margaritas open their doors here and there. Families out for the paseo, squads of young men, bevies of young women, strolling musicians …
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Lake Merritt
Oakland’s visual centerpiece, Lake Merritt is a gorgeous place to stroll, jog or lollygag on a sunny day. Once a tidal marsh teeming with waterfowl, it became a lake in 1869 with the damming of an arm of the Oakland estuary. It still supports migratory birds and remains connected to the estuary, but its 155 acres are briny and unfit for swimming. You’ll spot hundreds of Canada geese (and their droppings) along a 3.5-mile perimeter path. You can also rent boats. Those crew teams whipping past? They’re the Lake Merritt Rowing Club.
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Rockridge
Rockridge is a popular shopping district. The lively, upscale neighborhood is centered on College Ave, which runs from Broadway all the way to the UC Berkeley Campus. College Ave is lined with clothing boutiques, good bookstores, a vintage record shop, several pubs and cafés, and quite a few upscale restaurants - maybe the largest concentration in the Bay Area. You could easily spend a satisfying afternoon or evening browsing, eating and drinking here.
Exiting BART at the Rockridge station puts you in the thick of things.
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Fox Oakland Theatre
Downtown Oakland has plenty of buildings adorned with art nouveau or art deco details; unfortunately, many now stand empty and are in need of care, particularly those further out from City Center. One success story is the 1928 Fox Oakland Theatre, once the largest cinema west of Chicago. A two-year renovation ended in 2009, and now the theater hosts the likes of Sonic Youth and Kylie Minogue; it also houses the Oakland School of the Arts.
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Farmers Market
The waterfront where writer and adventurer Jack London once raised hell now bears his name. It's hardly a roughshod district anymore, but a tourist-oriented shopping mall dotted with chain restaurants, chain stores and cute little gift shops. The waterfront location is lovely, though, and for that reason it's worth a stroll - especially on Sunday, when a weekly farmers market takes over. Catch a ferry from San Francisco and you'll land just paces away.
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Children’s Fairyland
In oak-shaded Lakeside Park, on Lake Merritt’s eastern shore, Children’s Fairyland was apparently Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland. Through adult eyes, it has a weirdly dilapidated charm; little kids love it. The boating center lets you sail or paddle beneath Oakland’s downtown towers. At night, the lake is ringed with little lights, the kind you see decorating Christmas-tree lots.
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Camron-Stanford House
In the late 19th century, Lake Merritt was lined with fine homes, only one of which remains: the 1876 Camron-Stanford House . You can take a tour on the second and third Wednesday (11:00 to 16:00) and on the third Sunday (13:00 to 17:00) each month. But the best aspect of the house is really its wonderful lakeside setting and the hint it gives of how Oakland looked in its Victorian heyday, which can be admired from the sidewalk.
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Oakland A's
Giants on the road? Across the Bay Bridge, the A's are usually at home, expanding the possibilities for a summer baseball fix - BART stops just outside the ballpark. The A's most recent championship came at the Giants' expense in the quake-addled 1989 series, but they are still fierce contenders, having made the first round of playoffs in 2006. Sadly, this team will likely be moving away from the aging, inhospitable Coliseum.
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Yukon cabin
A replica of Jack London's Yukon cabin stands in an awkward spot near a parking lot at the eastern end of the square. It's supposedly built from the timbers of a cabin London lived in during the Yukon gold rush, though many of the original materials had to be replaced during reconstruction. Another worthwhile stop, adjacent to the old cabin, is Heinhold's First & Last Chance Saloon.
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Lake Chabot
At the southern end of Chabot Park is the enormous Lake Chabot, with an easy trail along its shore and canoes, kayaks and other boats for rent from the Lake Chabot marina (510-582-2198).
AC Transit bus 53 runs daily from the Fruitvale BART station to the Chabot Center and Joaquin Miller Park. Bus 46 runs from the Coliseum BART along Skyline Blvd, during weekday commute hours.
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Kayaking & Boating
At the southern end of Chabot Park is the enormous Lake Chabot, with an easy trail along its shore and canoes, kayaks and other boats for rent from the Lake Chabot marina (510-582-2198).
AC Transit bus 53 runs daily from the Fruitvale BART station to the Chabot Center and Joaquin Miller Park. Bus 46 runs from the Coliseum BART along Skyline Blvd, during weekday commute hours.
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Old Oakland
Old Oakland, immediately west of Broadway, is lined with historic buildings dating from the 1860s to 1880s. The buildings have been restored and new, upscale restaurants have begun to make this a hub of evening activity. The area also hosts a lively Chinese-influenced farmers market every Friday morning – a great time to visit.
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Chinatown
Oakland’s Chinatown is much smaller than its San Francisco sister, but bustles with commerce. English is infrequent and tourists few. Oaklanders argue that its Chinese restaurants are more authentic than those in San Francisco’s Chinatown. We’d prefer to take this argument on a case-by-case basis; otherwise it’s a draw.
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Camino
Kick-back-chic Camino’s short daily-changing menu showcases the best of local organic produce and meats, most cooked over an open fire in slow-food-meets-California-now style. The tables are of recycled old-growth redwood, and the place buzzes with the city’s bon vivants, high on European biodynamic and organic vintages. Reservations essential.
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Paramount Theatre
This gorgeously restored art deco theater is fabulous from every angle; check out the gentlemen’s smoking room and the ladies’ chamber. In any given month there’ll be rock concerts (Morrissey, Nelly Furtado), the Oakland Symphony or stand-up comedy. Tours ($5, starting at 10am) are on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
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Museum of Children's Art
This museum, also known as MOCHA, is a combination children's art gallery, and children's art class, where your kids can create their own masterpieces. Not surprisingly, it's a very popular venue for children's birthdays. A lively farmers market takes place every Friday morning outside the museum, making this a particularly good time to visit.
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Piedmont Ave
North of downtown Oakland, Broadway becomes a lengthy strip of car dealerships called Broadway Auto Row. Just past that is Piedmont Ave, wall-to-wall antique stores, coffeehouses, fine restaurants and an art cinema. At the end of Piedmont Ave, Mountain View Cemetery is perhaps the most serene and lovely man-made landscape in all the East Bay.
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USS Potomac
The 50m (165ft) USS Potomac was once Franklin D Roosevelt's presidential yacht; he fondly referred to it as the 'floating White House'. It's now moored by the ferry dock and is open for dockside tours. Two-hour history cruises are also held several times a month from April to October; call for reservations.
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Mountain View Cemetery
OK, it’s not your typical park, but Mountain View Cemetery was designed by Frederic Law Olmstead, the man behind NYC’s Central Park, and its gardens and statuary are gorgeous. Once you overcome (or indulge) the macabre aspect, it’s a lovely place for a picnic.
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Wood Tavern
The daily-changing New American brasserie-style menu features what’s in season, with earthy, soulful dishes like pan-roasted lemon-rosemary chicken, chopped salads, cheese boards, charcuterie plates and a damn good burger. Very local, happening crowd. Make reservations.
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Shan Dong
Hand-cut sesame noodles, giant pork buns, fresh dumplings – you can’t go wrong at this authentic Mandarin hole-in-the-wall with plastic chairs and fluorescent lighting. This is the real deal, so don’t expect fortune cookies, which are American in origin.
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À Côté
Small plates are the specialty at this foodie-scenester restaurant, and they’re deliciously creative – our favorite is the knock-out lobster-corn fritters. Great cocktails. Women can sport high heels without standing out; men can wear jeans and blend in.
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Kona Club
Despite the tiki bar’s return to vogue, there ain’t many around, which is why we love Kona. Think low-fi tiki – no pineapple-shaped glasses or torches, but rattan walls, a good pool table and paper cocktail umbrellas compensate.
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Tamarindo
The carefully crafted antojitos (Mexican tapas) aren’t your usual Mexican fare. Expect flavor-packed spins on familiar dishes, like tostadas and tacos (try the shrimp), served in a stylish brick-walled space. No reservations.
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