Public Transit: From San Francisco International Airport board BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit www.bart.org) in the International Terminal traveling south bound. Transfer to a sound bound Caltrain train and the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station. Depart Caltrain at the Hillsdale Caltrain Station. Hillsdale Shopping Center will be located directly across the street and the California Welcome Center is located on the first floor.
By car: Please see Getting Here

Sunshine and mild temperatures. Average annual temperature is a pleasant 68F/20C degrees (summer highs rarely over 78F/25C degrees and winter lows in the mid 50F/10C). Average rainfall is approximately 20in/50.8cm per year, occurring primarily from December to March.

Mavericks, a yearly phenomenon anticipated by the best and most intrepid surfers around the globe, is a world-renowned 60-foot wave surf spot located off Pillar Point on the San Mateo County coast. This natural event is regarded by many to be the most challenging in the world, prompting the annual Mavericks surfing contest to be considered the “Super Bowl of Surfing.” The Mavericks Surf Contest is held yearly between November and March. When perfect conditions are met, the two dozen surfers are called in with just 24 hours notice to compete.

The San Mateo area boasts a variety of wineries and wine tasting rooms all within an hour’s drive. If you wish to go wine tasting, you simply cannot miss Barterra Winery, Domenico Wines, La Honda Winery, La Nebbia Winery, Savvy Cellar Wines or Thomas Fogarty Winery.

Visitors to the Stanford Campus are more than welcome to explore the Stanford Campus on their own or to partake in one of the guided tours. The hour long walking tours that depart from the Stanford Visitor Center are held ever yday at 11:00am and 3:15pm, and are free to the public. The walking tour covers central campus and includes the Main Quad, Memorial Church, Science & Engineering Quad and the White Plaza. Golf cart tours are also available at a cost of $5.00 per person. This tour covers the same areas as the walking tour in addition to the Red Barn, the Cantor Arts Center and athletic facilities (reservations must be made online 2 weeks in advance at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/visitorinfo/tours/golf_cart.html). Another site to see on campus is the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts. The center is home to one of the largest collections of Rodin bronzes in the world outside of Paris, free to the public and open 5 days a week (for hours please see museum.stanfoard.edu).

Both BART (www.bart.gov) and Caltrain (www.caltrain.com) will take you into San Francisco.

Whale watching is available on the Pacific Ocean departing from Pillar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay. A variety of companies offer the chance to partake in ocean adventures including Huck Finn Sportfishing and Huli Cat Sportfishing. In addition, whale watching is also possible while kayaking on the ocean with California Canoe & Kayak.