The Oakland Zoo

Don't miss the best stuff on your visit to the Oakland Zoo!

The Oakland Zoo is located on Golf Links Road just off of 580 in Oakland, California. The zoo is open every day from 10:00 to 4:00, and only closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. There's a children's ride area right out front as well. The ride area opens at 11:00. Children under 2 years old get into the zoo for free, and children 2 to 14, as well as seniors over 55 receive a discounted price. Current admission prices are listed on the zoo's website at http://www.oaklandzoo.org/. There is also a small parking fee.

The Oakland Zoo is probably our family's favorite Bay Area zoo. We've been members for several years. It is easy to get to, with plenty of parking. It's large enough to fill up a whole day, but not so huge that we need to rush to see everything we want. Most of the animal exhibits are well designed, updated, and maintained. The animals generally appear active and content whenever we visit.

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The Habitot Children's Museum

Habitot Children's Museum is an indoor play area for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. It features an art room, a play store/restaurant, a water play area, wiggle wall (a tunnel that kids can crawl and climb through), a baby play area, a short riding toy space, and an area for a changing exhibit - currently, a recycling center.

The cost to get into Habitot is $7.00 for children, and $6.00 for adults. Multiuse passes are also available. They offer occasional free entry days or evenings. We visited on such an evening. Their website lists free entry days for January of 2008, but we visited much later than that. It may be worth a call to ask about upcoming free admission days before scheduling your visit. The phone number is 510-647-1111. We had a good time, but if I'd paid $20.00 for my two children and I to get in, I would have been disappointed.

Habitot Children's Museum is located at 2065 Kittredge Street at Shattuck Drive in Berkeley near the Berkeley BART station. Street parking is available, but tricky to find. There's a parking garage across the street, which is convenient, but adds to the cost of a visit.

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Sonoma Traintown Railroad

The Sonoma Traintown Railroad Park is a little scale model railroad world. Located in the city of Sonoma on Broadway, between Napa Road and MacArthur Street. It is a family attraction that is sure to thrill any small train enthusiast. In addition to the train, there are old-fashioned carnival rides, a few train displays, snack bar and gift shop. The cost to ride the train is $4.25 for anyone over 15 months of age. Those under 15 months are free. The carnival rides require tickets (many require two) that run $1.25 each or 10 for $10.00.

The main attraction is a train ride aboard the small Traintown rail line. The cars are open with low bench seats. The ride lasts for twenty minutes and only one train runs at a time. Sonoma Traintown has several small train engine replicas that take turns pulling the train. The miniaturization doesn't end with the engine and cars. Scaled down tunnels, trestles, buildings and figures appear all along the train tracks.

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