Once a vaudeville theater and silent-movie house, this 1926 beauty near Lake Merritt lures you in with its huge corner marquee (which sometimes displays left-leaning political messages) and keeps you coming with a fun balcony and a Wurlitzer organ playing on weekends.
Grand Lake Theatre
Oakland
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
13.09 MILES
When Frederick Law Olmsted, architect of New York's Central Park, gazed in 1865 upon the plot of land San Francisco Mayor Frank McCoppin wanted to turn…
11.32 MILES
Was it the fall of 1966 or the winter of ’67? As the Haight saying goes, if you can remember the Summer of Love, you probably weren’t here. The fog was…
8.81 MILES
If you look close today at the clinker-brick buildings lining these narrow backstreets, past the temple balconies jutting out over bakeries, acupuncture…
8.75 MILES
No one could have predicted the cultural force City Lights would become when it first opened in 1953. Sure, it had a proletarian ethos suggested by its…
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
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When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expanded in 2016, it was a mind-boggling feat that nearly tripled the institution's size to accommodate a…
8.67 MILES
If you want to really see San Francisco, head to Coit Tower, a 1933 art deco beaut designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard that sits high up on…
12.58 MILES
Few cities boast a structure so iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, commemorated in everything from films like The Maltese Falcon to not one but two emojis…
10.44 MILES
Welcome to San Francisco's sunny side, the land of street ball and Mayan-pyramid playgrounds, semiprofessional tanning and taco picnics. Although the…
Nearby Oakland attractions
0.72 MILES
An urban respite, Lake Merritt is a popular place to stroll or go running (a 3.5-mile paved path circles the lake), with bonsai and botanical gardens, a…
0.73 MILES
This 10-acre kiddie attraction dates from 1950, and we're not sure if it's been overhauled since. We mean that as a compliment! Children's Fairyland, with…
3. Museum of Art & Digital Entertainment
0.98 MILES
If you love video games, the MADE is the heaven you go to when you die and are all out of extra lives. It's a museum of sorts, but more a sort of time…
1.22 MILES
This small park doesn't have much draw on its own, but it forms the geographic heart of Oakland's Little Saigon neighborhood, and is an interesting spot…
5. Oakland Museum of California
1.25 MILES
Every museum has an educational mission, and this one is dedicated to California. You'll find rotating exhibitions on artistic and scientific themes, and…
1.44 MILES
At the northern end of Piedmont Ave, this is perhaps the most serene and lovely artificial landscape in the East Bay. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead …
1.44 MILES
This beautifully refurbished 1914 beaux-arts building is a downtown landmark. This was the first high-rise government building in the country, and when it…
8. Oakland Public Library, Asian Branch
1.51 MILES
This library is packed with books in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, plus locals playing Xiangqi (Chinese chess) and Mahjong. It's a nice spot…