Things to Do in Mountain View, California

By Cassie Kifer

Updated 05/15/17

Things to Do in Mountain View California
Eric Fredericks / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Planning a visit to Silicon Valley? Here's a list of some of the best things to do in Mountain View and neighboring communities.

Explore Castro Street. Take a walk down Downtown Mountain View's pedestrian-friendly main drag, Castro Street. This street has many of the city's best restaurants and a unique range of shops and nightlife.

Tour the Googleplex. Take a walk around Google's headquarters campus and take a selfie next to the quirky art exhibits, Android lawn sculptures, and colorful campus bikes. 

Learn about tech history. Check out the Computer History Museum for a walk through computing past and present.

Learn about space exploration. Visit the NASA Ames Research Center's public visitor center for displays on NASA's space research and aeronautics. Admission is free.

Take a hike. Shoreline Park has 8-miles of trails for walking, jogging, and biking. The local trails connect to Stevens Creek Trail, Permanente Creek Trail, and the Bay Loop Trail. For other local hiking trail networks, check out this guide to Hiking Trails in Silicon Valley.

Fly a kite. The city government dedicated the Kite Lot, a windy open space in Shoreline Park as the official kite-flying spot for the City of Mountain View.

Watch a concert at Shoreline Amphitheater. Most of the biggest musical acts that come to the Bay play at Shoreline. The outdoor amphitheater seats 22,500, including 6,500 reserved seats and 16,000 general admission seats available on the lawn.

Watch a theater performance. Get tickets for a show at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, the Pear Theatert, or the Peninsula Youth Theater.

Visit with baby farm animals. Visit Deer Hollow Farm, a 160-acre historic ranch and educational farm in the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve in Cupertino. Admission is free.

Shop fresh at an open-air market. Mountain View has a year-round weekly farmer's market on Sunday mornings in the VTA/Caltrain station parking lot. Milk Pail Market (2585 California Street) is a much-loved outdoor gourmet food market that stocks artisan foods from California and hard-to-find European imports.

Mark your calendar for these popular annual festivals and events: The Irish Fleadh (May), Japanese Obon Festival (July), Mountain View Art and Wine Festival (September), and German Oktoberfest (October).

Head over the hills to the beach. Mountain View is just a quick, 30-minute drive from the beaches on the Silicon Valley coast. Check out this itinerary for a some things to do in Half Moon Bay and Pescadero, CA.