Skip the Line: Exploratorium General Admission
Overview
- Skip the line! With your mobile ticket, simply scan your phone for direct entry to San Francisco's Exploratorium
- Spend a day with the whole family at this enthralling hands-on museum
- Enjoy more than 650 fun, immersive, interactive exhibits that engage all the senses for visitors of all ages
- Learn about physics, music, art, biology, ecosystems and much, much more
- Conveniently located at Pier 15 between the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39
Explore at your own pace on a self-guided experience through more than 650 exhibits spread across five different galleries, including an open air-space outside and many brand-new features. Isolate the senses at the Seeing and Listening gallery, and discover the inner workings of the brain in the Human Phenomena space.
Get creative by building mechanical contraptions in the Tinkering gallery, and investigate Earth’s amazing eco-systems at the Living Systems area. Learn about the natural and human forces that shape the unique San Francisco Bay Area in an outdoor discovery space, and take in sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay and new Bay Bridge at the Bay Observatory Gallery.
See Itinerary below for a more complete description of the Exploratorium’s multi-sensory galleries.
Itinerary
Exploratorium Galleries
Central Gallery: Seeing and Listening
Experiment with light and vision, sound and hearing, and motion and spatial perception. Our eyes and ears respond to light and sound waves, but these are just the first steps in perceiving the world. Playing with light and sound is the best way to learn how they work, and investigating real phenomena can also give you a deeper understanding of the scientific process.
West Gallery: Human Phenomena
Experiment with thoughts, feelings and social behavior to see how humans think, feel and interact. Here, you and others are the exhibit, so play with social interactions, observe others and contribute your reflections.
South Gallery: Tinkering
Think with your hands! Making things and developing ideas by hand helps us construct understanding. So slow down, settle in and make something personally meaningful, from playful contraptions to surprising connections between mechanical systems and natural phenomena.
East Gallery: Living Systems
Sometimes life is hard to observe, because it’s too tiny or fast or is hidden underground or in the ocean. Here, investigate the living world to discover what you’ve been missing! Use scientific tools to investigate living things of different sizes, the ecosystems they inhabit and the processes they share.
North Gallery: Outdoor Exhibits
Open your senses to this place by the Bay! Investigate forces shaping the city of San Francisco, San Francisco Bay and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Watch shifting winds and tides, reveal hidden life, walk across the Fog Bridge, observe human behavior, and find new ways to notice the places we inhabit.
Bay Observatory Gallery: Landscape Observation
See how natural and human forces interact to create the dynamic landscape surrounding us. Learn to uncover the stories embedded in a place by directly observing the geography, history and ecology of the San Francisco Bay region. The Observatory Gallery also offers incredible views of the Bay and the Bay Bridge!
Temporary Special Exhibitions
During the summer and winter holidays, the Exploratorium showcases dynamic temporary exhibitions—ensuring visitors always have something new and exciting to experience in addition to our more than 650 hands-on exhibits, programs and annual events. These temporary exhibitions have featured colossal art installations, social experiments and more.
Reviews
Viator Traveler's Reviews
Fantastic...this is amazing for kids of all ages. Bought tickets for 2 adults and 3 children...arrived to find it closed and was upset to be out over $100. The voucher said no refunds. Called Viator that night,they changed ticket to next day!! I was beyond impressed and thrilled. Always use Vistor!
Amazing for Kids. So so for adults.
If I was an energetic kid this would be a feast for the 5 senses. Through no fault of the attraction, it wasn't for an adult like me.
If you do visit, make sure you visit the end of the museum section 5 or 6 where the observatory is, very beautiful view of the water.
