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Editor’s note: This story was last updated in October 2025.
Let’s say it’s a Thursday evening and you’re thinking of cool places to take your friends while they’re in town. Maybe you’re new to Berkeley and want to get to know the city better. Or perhaps you’d like to take someone out on a date but can’t seem to find anything fun to do without breaking the bank. We hope this non-comprehensive guide to budget-friendly things to do in Berkeley will help you plan your social week.
Featuring iconic Berkeley activities like kite-flying at the Marina and flower-sniffing at the Rose Garden, as well as more underrated attractions such as visiting museums devoted to sake or lace, we’ve organized this list by day of the week and included a section of activities you can do pretty much any time (though we recommend checking the website before you go).
Have something you think belongs on this list? Let us know at the-scene@berkeleyside.org and we’ll consider adding it.
Things to do: Anytime | Weekend | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Things to do anytime in Berkeley
Visitors admire the Tilden Little Farm’s resident pigs, Pinky and Perky, sisters who were born on site. Credit: Joanne Furio
🐮 Visit the Tilden Little Farm and feed the animals lettuce or celery (please don’t feed them anything else). Built in 1955, the farm features cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, ducks, turkeys, chickens and pigs. Read our story. Open daily, 5 a.m.-10 p.m. unless otherwise posted. FREE
🦖 Explore the fossil exhibits on the first and second floors of UC Berkeley’s Valley Life Sciences Building. Make sure you stop by and say hi to the freestanding mounted cast of a T-rex skeleton (his name is Osborn). Visit when the Bioscience, Natural Resources & Public Health Library, located inside the building, is open. FREE
📚 While you’re at UC Berkeley, stop by Doe Library to check out the rotating exhibits on display in the lobby, admire the neoclassical-style architecture and people-watch (though you’ll most likely find exhausted students hunched over their laptops). Open Sunday-Friday (see hours). FREE
👗 Tour the Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in South Berkeley and learn about the history of textile arts and costumes. Monday-Saturday, 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. RSVP required. $3
✡️ The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art in downtown Berkeley was one of the first Jewish museums in the U.S. when it was founded in 1962. The museum is open during UC Berkeley’s fall and spring semesters. Check the site for museum hours. FREE
🎲 Gather a few friends and head to Berkeley’s Victory Point Cafe to explore its vast board game collection over food and drinks. Open daily. $8 per person
A mother and daughter at the Berkeley Rose Garden in May 2021. Credit: Clara Mokri
🌹The Berkeley Rose Garden, a Works Progress Administration project that opened in 1937, features 1,500 rose bushes, 250 varieties of roses, as well as a stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge. We recommend going in mid-May. Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
📦 A trip to Codornices Park, located across the street from the Rose Garden (they’re connected via a tunnel), isn’t complete without descending the popular 40-foot concrete slide. Bring a flattened cardboard box to sit on to avoid scrapes. Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
🪴The 34-acre UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, established in 1890, features more than 10,000 types of plants, including many rare and endangered species. (There’s also a garden shop where you can buy plants and other garden-related gifts.) Garden open daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Shop open daily, 10:30-4:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. $18
🔭 The Lawrence Hall of Science’s hands-on exhibits are great for kids. An additional $4 fee grants you access to their hypnotizing planetarium, where you can lean back and enjoy a live, interactive show. Read our story about their outdoor nature lab, which opened in 2022. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $20
🚶 Go on one of the 21 self-guided walking tours highlighted in Berkeley residents Robert Johnson and Janet Byron’s Berkeley Walks ($22) and learn about the city’s diverse architecture, unusual gardens and secret pathways and parks. There are also some free walking tours available for PDF download on their website. Read our Q&A with the guidebook’s authors.
Joey Chiang and Melody Yu love Berkeley Bowl so much they took their engagement photos there. Credit: Anna T. Nguyen
🍎 Weave through the crowded aisles at Berkeley Bowl and pick up one of the 90+ apple varieties. The popular market has been the setting of engagement photoshoots and was featured in the Netflix show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Read our tips for what to buy. (Tip: don’t sample the produce before paying … or else.) Open daily, Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
☕ Have a cup of joe at the original Peet’s Coffee location at 2124 Vine St., which opened in 1966 and helped start a specialty coffee revolution. Stroll through the mini museum in the back hall (located in what used to be the roasting room). Read our interview with Bill Coffin, the cafe’s first employee. Open weekdays, 5:30 a.m.-8 p.m, and weekends, 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
🪁 Fly a kite at the Berkeley Marina’s César Chávez Park whenever the wind blows. You can buy one from Highline Kites, a mobile kite shop run by Tom McAlister — the man behind the beloved Berkeley Kite Festival, which ran from 1986 until 2019. The kite shop is parked on Spinnaker Way most weekends. Saturday-Sundays, 1:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Basic kites start at $14.
🪨 Indian Rock Park, located in the Northbrae neighborhood, offers stunning views of the Bay, especially at sunset, from atop a giant mass of rhyolite, millions of years old. It’s a popular destination to watch the sunset over a Cheeseboard pizza. Climbers make their way up the steep walls, but the stairways carved in the stone will also get you up to the top. Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
🪨 Here’s another rock with a scenic view. Head toward the back of Cragmont Rock Park, also located in the Northbrae neighborhood, and you’ll find a two-story cliff to climb. It’s a good place for beginners, but you’ll want to go with someone who can show you the ropes. Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
Children play in Lake Anza in June 2023. Credit: Sylvie Carr
🦆 Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park, is a popular recreational swimming spot during the summer months — at least when the water isn’t covered in squishy fern or toxic algae. When closed to swimming, we recommend walking the lake’s perimeter and picnicking on the sandy beach or grass lawn. Open daily, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. FREE ($4 to swim when lifeguards are on duty)
🍓 When Strawberry Creek Park was built in the 1980s on an abandoned rail yard, its centerpiece, a section of daylighted creek, marked a watershed moment (pardon the pun) in Berkeley’s environmental history. Today, it’s a popular place to hang out or attend the occasional live outdoor concert. We recommend stopping by the cozy Hidden Cafe while you’re there. Read our story. Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
🏀 The 13-acre San Pablo Park, which opened in 1914, is the city’s oldest park. There’s a soccer field, a softball field, and several basketball and tennis courts. Here’s how to reserve one of the city’s sports fields or courts. Read our story. Open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
Restoration work on John Hinkel Park’s historic amphitheater, built by the Civil Works Administration in 1934, was completed in 2022. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight
🌳 Nestled a nondescript hillside oak grove, John Hinkel Park in North Berkeley is a neighborhood treasure that’s too great to gatekeep. Local theater groups Actors Ensemble of Berkeley and Inferno Theatre regularly put on free outdoor shows at the park’s 1934 outdoor amphitheater. Read our story. Park open daily, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
🌼 The Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve, which sits behind the fancy Claremont Hotel, offers sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. The .75-mile Stonewall Panoramic Trail takes you through a eucalyptus grove and up a short but steep hill. It’s a great place to go wildflower spotting; here’s a PDF guide from the East Bay Regional Park District. Open daily, 5 a.m.-10 p.m. FREE
🎨 The nonprofit Berkeley Art Center, located in Live Oak Park, showcases the work of Bay Area contemporary artists. Open Thursday through Sunday, 12 p.m.-5 p.m. FREE
The plumbing section at Urban Ore. Photo: Pete Rosos
🚽 Browse through Urban Ore, a salvage yard in West Berkeley with antique toilets, funky lamps, fancy cabinets, a very adorable old cat named Bobby, and so much more. Open daily. See the website for hours.
🦎 Make a new (slithery) friend at the East Bay Vivarium, which claims to be the nation’s oldest reptile store. “If you like reptiles, they’ve got a better collection than some zoos, and it’s free,” wrote a Berkeleyside reader. Open daily, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (Closes 6 p.m. weekends) FREE
♨️ Visit a sauna. We recommend the Perspire Sauna Studio in South Berkeley, where photojournalist Ximena Natera left “feeling very energized” after trying out their infrared light sauna. Sessions can be pricey, but the studio is offering a $20 deal for first-timers.
🍵 Sip a warm cup of tea in a tatami room at Blue Willow Tea on Tenth Street. The shop is open daily, but reservations are “encouraged” on weekends. Open daily, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
🪓 Cal students are really fond of axes. Fittingly, there’s an axe-throwing spot on Telegraph Avenue. On some nights at Axe Ventures, you’ll even be able to try your hand at glow-in-the-dark axe throwing. Open daily. See the website for hours. $32
Bouldering at a Touchstone gym. Credit: Touchstone Climbing
🧗 Hit up one of Berkeley’s indoor bouldering gyms, most of which offer day passes. Popular spots include Berkeley Ironworks in South Berkeley and Benchmark Climbing in North Berkeley (read our story), both of which offer $30 day passes. Mosaic Boulders in the Southside neighborhood offers day passes for $18. Equipment rentals are available. Check websites for details.
💃 Shake off the rainy day blues by taking a Samba, Salsa or West African dance workshop at the BrasArte Cultural Center on San Pablo Avenue. The nonprofit offers discounts if you sign up for multiple class packages. Check the website for the class schedule. $18 per class
🎨 Paint pre-made pottery at Brushstrokes Studio. Walk-ins are always welcome, but if you’re going with a group, you can make a reservation. The exact price varies depending on the ceramic item you select, but the average mug or bowl will run you $25 plus a $17 studio fee (there’s no time limit for painting). Open daily, except Tuesdays. 12-6 p.m.
🐻 Yell “Go Bears” at a home game. Prices vary, but tickets for the sparsely attended women’s volleyball and basketball games tend to hover at around $15. Check the Cal Athletics calendar for details.
🧸 Wander through Fun Park, a cutesy gift shop reminiscent of the Sanrio Surprises stores that were once a ubiquitous presence in malls across the West Coast. Try your luck at the claw machines ($1 per play) or purchase a phone case or mirror to customize in its DIY section upstairs. Open daily, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., 2441 Durant Avenue.
Watch out! Raw bagel dough flies high at Boichik’s West Berkeley factory. Credit: Zac Farber
🥯 Watch bagels travel down a conveyor belt at Boichik’s West Berkeley factory and admire Berkeley artist Nigel Sussman’s massive mural outside. While they typically don’t offer public tours, the large window inside provides a decent view of the hypnotizing machinery. We recommend ordering the Eggything bagel with whitefish! Open daily, 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
🌎 Two floors of the David Brower Center are devoted to environmental art. Previous artists featured in its art gallery, which rotates exhibitions three times a year, include Sebastiao Salgado, Maya Lin, Richard Misrach, Edward Burtynsky and Amy Franceschini. Open weekdays. Check the website for hours. FREE
📚 Go on a bookstore crawl. As a cat person, I’m partial to Sleepy Cat Books, which went viral when someone shared a photo of Lyla, the cat, peacefully napping in the window display. Other favorites include Moe’s Books (which has a fantastic poster section), Pegasus Books and Mrs. Dalloway’s. Check websites for details.
💿 In an era of online music streaming, Berkeley still has some of the Bay’s best record stores. Spend an afternoon browsing through Amoeba Music, Rasputin Music, Hercules Records or Dave’s Record Shop, and you might just discover your new favorite album. Check websites for details.
Weekend events in Berkeley
The Golden Gate Live Steamers’ tiny trains run on propane. The somewhat larger trains of the Redwood Valley Railway Company are located just uphill and are also available to ride. Credit: Joanne Furio
🚂 Take a short scenic ride through Tilden on a real steam locomotive. The Redwood Valley Railway Company’s miniature trains have delighted East Bay families for more than 70 years. If you’re prone to mosquito bites, we recommend bringing bug spray. Saturday-Sunday (and most holidays and summer weekdays), 11 a.m. -6 p.m. $4
🛤️ Located a short walk downhill from the Redwood Valley train is the Golden Gate Live Steamers, the nation’s oldest live steam train club. You can ride the tiny steam trains, which run on propane (and member donations – the club is a nonprofit), for free. Read our story. Sundays, 12 p.m.-3 p.m. FREE
🎠 Here’s another Tilden gem: a merry-go-round built in New York in 1911 that was used in the Universal Studios film “So Ends Our Night” (1941). Reservations are encouraged but not required. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. $4
🌱 Take a docent-led tour of the 10-acre Tilden Regional Parks Botanic Garden on weekends and holidays. Read our story about its award-winning rock garden, which opened in 2022. Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. FREE
🪘 The eclectic Berkeley Flea Market has been a South Berkeley staple since the ’70s. Browse through clothing, jewelry, fabric, soap, vinyls and other goods from local vendors — many of whom are retired or disabled — as community members jam out on the drums. It went through a rocky summer, but is going strong. Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Ashby BART Station.
🐠 Volunteer to clean up the Berkeley coastline and compile data about trash and marine debris. Buckets, bags and gloves will be available. Meet at the Shorebird Park Nature Center at 160 University Ave. Third Saturdays, 9-11 a.m. FREE
The Downtown Berkeley Farmers Market on Center Street. File photo: Pete Rosos
🧺 The Downtown Berkeley Farmers Market, one of three in Berkeley, features locally grown produce, baked goods, prepared foods and more. Put on by the Ecology Center, the market accepts CalFresh EBT and WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks. Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Center Street at MLK Jr. Way.
👃 The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in North Berkeley is the only museum dedicated to perfumes in the U.S. You’ll get to choose four samples to take home with you. Read our story. Saturdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. $25
🖼️ The Berkeley Historical Society & Museum’s History Center is located in the Veterans Memorial Building. Thursday-Saturday, 1-4 p.m. FREE
🥭 Sunday brunch at Wat Mongkolratanaram, or “Thai Temple.” Food sold in the temple’s backyard food court includes curries, pad thai, fried chicken, beef noodle soup, taro fritters, and if you’re lucky, mango sticky rice (which usually runs out before noon). Here’s a Berkeley High Jacket article about this “hidden gem.” Every Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., 1911 Russell St.
🧶 Spend a “Sunday Crafternoon” with other knitting and crocheting enthusiasts and finally make some progress on that sweater sleeve you’ve been procrastinating on for months. ImagiKnit’s Elmwood location, which opened in February 2024 in the former Sweet Dreams Toy Store space, holds many knitting and crochet classes and other social events, which you can keep up with via their email newsletter (to sign up, scroll to the bottom of their website). Sundays, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. FREE
The swimming pool at the Berkeley City Club. Credit: Trevor Johnson
🏢 Take a 45-minute-long guided tour of famed architect Julia Morgan’s Berkeley City Club. Fourth Sunday (except in December). 1-3:30 p.m. $10
🔔 Head toward UC Berkeley’s Campanile, the third-largest clock and bell tower in the world, for a carillon recital. Programs are available online 30 minutes before the concert starts. (We also recommend taking the elevator up to the observation platform at least once – more, if you’re a fan of our resident peregrine falcons — while in Berkeley.) Every Sunday during the fall and spring semesters, 2 p.m. FREE
🍶 Learn about the sake production process and taste five types of sake at Takara Sake’s West Berkeley museum and tasting room. Takara says its museum is the “only one of its kind within the USA.” Ages 21+. Thursday-Friday, 1-5 p.m., and Sundays, 12-6 p.m. RSVP required. $20
🕯️ Learn the basics of candle making at a workshop by Jiā Home on San Pablo Avenue, which specializes in Asian-inspired scents like ume soda and lychee jelly. You’ll leave with a full-sized, 8.5-ounce soy wax candle. Reservation required. $60
🤔 Test your teamwork — or compatibility, if you’re with a date — at Game On, which features more than 30 hands-on games. Some games rely more on physical strength — including one where you have to cling to ropes to avoid “lava” — while others require you to think and work together. Read our story. Open Friday through Sunday, 4-10 p.m. Check the website for details. $35-$40 per person
🎨 Take a class or one-day workshop at the Berkeley Art Studio. Due to its location below the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, most assume it’s just for Cal students, when in fact, anyone can register for its ceramics, photography, drawing, painting, design and printmaking classes. Prices vary, but for example, attending a four-week ceramic clock-making workshop costs $240 for the general public ($160 for Cal students). See website for details.
Monday events in Berkeley
🍻 The Starry Plough Pub offers traditional Irish Ceili dancing every Monday. 7-11 p.m.
🎵 Each month, jazz lovers gather at Pegasus Bookstore’s Solano Avenue location for Richard Leiter’s “Jazz Stories!” series, in which he and other jazz players play a concert and share stories about the music and their lives. Most second Mondays. See Pegasus Bookstore’s calendar before you go. FREE
Tuesday events in Berkeley
🧺 The South Berkeley Farmers Market is held every Tuesday. 2-6:30 p.m., Adeline Street and 63rd Street.
🍸 Kip’s Berkeley hosts a weekly trivia night with prizes for first and second place. Register your team in advance. 7 p.m.
🎤 The Starry Plough Pub holds a weekly Open Mic Night. 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday events in Berkeley
🎶 The UC Berkeley Music Department’s Noon Concerts feature student musicians and occasional guest artists. Concerts are open to all. Every Wednesday, 12:15 p.m., Hertz Hall. FREE
🎬 The Berkeley Public Library’s Claremont Branch hosts weekly movie nights. 5 p.m. FREE
🍺 Triple Rock Brewery’s weekly “Geeks Who Drink Pub Quizzes” feature eight themed rounds played in teams of up to six people. Winners get a gift card. 8 p.m.
🎤 The Berkeley Poetry Slam, which claims to be the longest-running poetry slam in Northern California, is held weekly at the Starry Plough Pub. Every Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.
🍕 Bobby G’s Pizzeria hosts a “hump day trivia” every week featuring a different guest brewery each time and a raffle between rounds. First prize wins a $30 gift certificate, and those voted to have the best team name get a free pitcher of beer. Every other Wednesday, 7 p.m.
📖 Pegasus Books Downtown hosts Lyrics & Dirges, a monthly reading series hosted by Sharon Coleman and Mk Chavez. Last Wednesday, 7 p.m. FREE
🎤 Learn something new at one of the Berkeley City Club’s monthly arts and culture talks. Previous talks have delved into mid-century modernism, gene editing, elections and more. First Wednesdays, except in January. $10
Thursday events in Berkeley
The nation’s only sake museum is in Berkeley. Credit: Takara Sake
📚 UC Berkeley’s noontime poetry readings are held in the old-timey Morrison Library (inside Doe Library) and open to the public. First Thursdays, 12 p.m. FREE
🎤 UC Berkeley’s “The Loft Hour” invites faculty from across Art Practice, English/Creative Writing, Film & Media, History of Art, Music, and Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies departments to discuss their work in casual, moderated lunchtime conversations. Past speakers include poet Tehmina Khan, novelist Fae Myenne Ng, artist Asma Kazmi and choreographer and dance researcher SanSan Kwan. Check the website for speakers. Second Thursdays, 12 p.m. FREE
🖼️ The volunteer-run Berkeley Historical Society & Museum’s History Center is located in the Veterans Memorial Building. Thursday-Saturday, 1-4 p.m. FREE
🎬 The Berkeley Public Library’s weekly “Super Cinema” film showings resumed in September after a nearly three-year hiatus. Thursdays, 2:30 p.m., Central Branch. FREE
🧺 The North Berkeley Farmers Market occurs every Thursday. 3-7 p.m., Shattuck Avenue and Vine Street.
🎨 The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (or BAMPFA) offers free admission to its gallery once a month. First Thursdays. FREE
🍶 Learn about the sake production process and taste five types of sake at Takara Sake’s West Berkeley museum and tasting room. Takara says its museum is the “only one of its kind within the USA.” Read our story. Ages 21+. Thursday-Friday, 1-5 p.m., and Sundays, 12-6 p.m. RSVP required. $20
Friday events in Berkeley
🍷 The Gilman District Wine Block’s First Friday Block Party features wine, various pop-up chefs, and live music. First Friday, 3-8 p.m., Donkey & Goat Winery, Hammerling Wines and Broc Cellars. FREE
🏓 The Berkeley Table Tennis Club holds weekly round-robin-style tournaments every Friday. 6:15-10 p.m. James Kenney Recreation Center. $8
🚲 The East Bay Bike Party, founded in 2010 to promote community positivity and safe cycling, holds monthly group bicycle rides that are open to all ages. Bring blinkies, water and snacks. Locations (and themes!) vary, but routes often go through Berkeley. Second Fridays, 7:30 p.m. FREE
🍶 Learn about the sake production process and taste five types of sake at Takara Sake’s West Berkeley museum and tasting room. Thursday-Friday, 1-5 p.m., and Sundays, 12-6 p.m. RSVP required. $20
🖼️ The Berkeley Historical Society & Museum’s History Center, located in the Veterans Memorial Building, is also open on Fridays. Thursday-Saturday, 1-4 p.m. FREE
🤔 Game On, which features more than 30 hands-on games, is also open on Fridays. Read our story. Open Friday through Sunday, 4-10 p.m. Check the website for details. $39 per person
Things to do: Anytime | Weekend | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
This story was first published on Oct. 17, 2023.
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