Berkeley, United States: Self-Guided Walking Tour

The best things to do in Berkeley include exploring the University of California, Berkeley campus, discovering landmark architecture, visiting museums and theaters, and walking through distinctive neighborhoods such as Telegraph Avenue. Set in California’s East Bay, Berkeley combines university history, scientific achievement, cultural institutions, and an independent spirit. Neywo offers a free audio guide to Berkeley with 86 narrated places.

What to See in Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is the founding campus of the entire University of California system, established in 1868. More than 45,000 students study across fifteen schools and colleges, and the university manages three national Department of Energy laboratories.

The campus is also one of the richest places to explore Berkeley’s history and architecture. Its landmarks include Sather Gate, Doe Memorial Library, Sather Tower, Hearst Greek Theatre, Founders’ Rock, and the Hearst Memorial Mining Building.

Sather Gate

Sather Gate connects Sproul Plaza with the bridge over Strawberry Creek and has welcomed students since 1910. Jane Sather donated it in memory of her husband, Peder, a trustee of the College of California before it became the University of California.

Architect John Galen Howard designed the Classical Revival Beaux-Arts structure, while sculptor Earl Cummings created its decorative panels. The original panels, depicting nude figures representing fields of study, caused a scandal and were removed. They were rediscovered beneath Edwards Stadium in 1977 and returned to the gate in 1979. Sather Gate is both a California Historical Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sather Tower, the Campanile

Sather Tower is one of Berkeley’s defining landmarks. Completed in 1914 and designed by John Galen Howard in the Gothic Revival style, the 307-foot tower was modeled after the Campanile di San Marco in Venice, which explains its local nickname: the Campanile.

The tower contains a 61-bell concert carillon, which grew from the original twelve bells donated by Jane Sather. Its design and bell collection make it an essential stop on any Berkeley campus walk.

Hearst Greek Theatre

The Hearst Greek Theatre is an open-air amphitheater built into the UC Berkeley hillside, with seating for 8,500 people and views toward the Golden Gate. Its design draws directly on the ancient theater of Epidaurus.

The venue opened on September 24, 1903, with a student production of Aristophanes’ The Birds. It was designed by John Galen Howard with help from Julia Morgan and has hosted figures ranging from President Theodore Roosevelt to the Grateful Dead.

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, known as BAMPFA, combines an art museum with a repertory cinema near the edge of the UC Berkeley campus. Its collection includes more than 22,000 works, while the film archive holds 16,000 films and videos, including one of the largest Japanese film collections outside Japan.

The institution began with a 1963 donation from artist and teacher Hans Hofmann. In 2016, BAMPFA reopened in a retrofitted Art Deco building on Center Street, bringing its galleries and film program together under one roof.

Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life is located on the UC Berkeley campus and includes more than 45,000 artworks, artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts. It is the third-largest collection of its kind in the United States.

The collection is organized through three connected parts: the Archives, the Library, and the Museum galleries. Together, they document Jewish art, history, and life across centuries and around the world.

Lawrence Hall of Science

High in the Berkeley hills, the Lawrence Hall of Science is the University of California’s public science center. Since 1968, it has offered hands-on ways to explore scientific phenomena, with exhibits focused on experimentation and the forces that shape the planet.

The center is named for Ernest Orlando Lawrence, who won UC Berkeley’s first Nobel Prize in 1939 for inventing the cyclotron. Its facilities include interactive exhibits and a planetarium, while its educational work also supports teachers and students beyond the museum.

First Church of Christ, Scientist

Across from People’s Park, the First Church of Christ, Scientist showcases the architectural imagination of Bernard Maybeck. The building brings together Byzantine Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and Japanese influences.

Its Greek-cross floor plan, crossed trusses with gilt inlays, Roman arches, distinctive tiles, industrial steel window sashes, and hammered Belgian glass create a remarkably varied whole. The Japanese-inspired roofline of the Sunday School entrance is especially distinctive from the street.

Corder Building

At Shattuck Avenue and Bancroft Way, the Corder Building has helped define downtown Berkeley for more than a century. Its sand-colored facade, white columns, and balconies reflect the quiet dignity of architect Plachek’s work.

The building helped connect Berkeley’s previously scattered business districts into a continuous downtown core. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and is also a City of Berkeley Landmark. Its historic facade has been preserved alongside seismic upgrades and updated interior spaces.

Berkeley Historical Society

The Berkeley Historical Society is located in the Veteran’s Memorial Building opposite Civic Center Park. Designed in 1928 by Henry H. Meyers in a Classic Moderne style, the building is part of the Civic Center Historic District and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998.

Its lobby displays medals, photographs, and personal objects from veterans’ organizations. The building was created as a memorial and community home, but it also became part of Berkeley’s cultural history through events held there, including a 1966 Grateful Dead performance.

Telegraph Avenue

Telegraph Avenue is one of the clearest expressions of Berkeley’s independent character. The street is associated with bookstores, record shops, eclectic stores, and international restaurants, creating a lively mix of commerce and alternative culture.

It is also included on the bike route connecting West Berkeley to Telegraph, making it easy to combine with other sights such as Civic Center Park and the First Church of Christ, Scientist.

Berkeley’s Storybook Architecture

Several Berkeley buildings show how varied the city’s residential and institutional architecture can be.

Cloyne Court Hotel, built in 1904 by John Galen Howard, has been home to Berkeley students since 1946 and is now part of the Berkeley Student Cooperative. Its name refers to the Irish village where the philosopher George Berkeley served as bishop.

Normandy Village, also known as Thornburg Village, occupies the corner of Spruce Street and Hearst Avenue. Completed in 1927, it features brick and stone facades, steep gables, tower rooms, and turrets. Although the original plan included shops and restaurants, every unit became a private residence. Hillside Elementary School, meanwhile, is a Berkeley historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Explore Berkeley with a Free Audio Guide

A Berkeley self-guided walking tour is an easy way to connect the city’s campus landmarks, museums, architecture, and cultural history. Neywo has four walking tours, one bus route, and one bike route in Berkeley, covering 86 narrated places in total. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The walking tours include:

• Campus of Firsts: Free Speech, Plutonium and the Campanile — 2.13 km, 89 minutes, 12 stops.
• Downtown Berkeley: Brick, Terra Cotta and Stage Lights — 2.27 km, 87 minutes, 12 stops.
• Maybeck, Morgan and the Brown-Shingle Berkeley — 3.93 km, 104 minutes, 10 stops.
• Up the Berkeley Hills: Science, Stadium Views and the Greek Theatre — 1.64 km, 43 minutes, 4 stops.

There is also an AC Transit F bus route covering 6.1 km in 26 minutes with 11 narrated stops, plus a 4.5 km bike route lasting 22 minutes with 5 stops. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

Berkeley is part of California, in the United States. Download Neywo and explore Berkeley with a free audio guide that lets you discover the city one place at a time.