San Mateo offers a range of options for your stay: a downtown park, garden culture, art and exhibitions, as well as nature and water activities. The selection ranges from a music series and a landscaped garden to wildlife viewing and boating; the differences between the locations can help you shape each day around your interests.

Parks, Music and Garden Culture

Central Park is a 16.3-acre park in downtown San Mateo. It is also the venue for the Central Park Music Series, one of the city’s signature community events. Dates and programming may vary. If you want to include the series in your stay, check the current schedule before planning a visit around it.

The Japanese Garden offers a different focus. The garden was designed by landscape architect Nagao Sakurai of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Its features include a granite pagoda, a teahouse, a koi pond, and a bamboo grove. Architectural elements sit alongside water and plant features. Compared with Central Park, the emphasis here is less on open space and a downtown location and more on the design of individual garden elements.

Exhibitions and Art

CuriOdyssey’s largest year-round exhibition comprises 15 exhibits designed and built in-house. The focus is on purpose-developed exhibit elements, a different emphasis from landscaped garden spaces. Exhibition details may change as the museum updates its programming, so check the current displays before your visit if the exhibition is important to your plans.

The Art in Public Places Gallery provides information about the artist, location, history, and year of installation through images of the artworks. This adds an approach focused on individual artworks and their context to the garden and park themes. While the Japanese Garden names a landscape architect as its designer, the Gallery offers information on various aspects of individual works.

Nature and Waterfront Recreation

Coyote Point Recreation Area offers opportunities for picnicking, swimming, windsurfing, cycling, jogging, fishing, boating, and sailing. Picnicking, land-based activities, and several water activities are all available. When planning, you can choose according to the type of activity you want rather than narrowing the options to a single sport.

Parkside Aquatic Park is located on Marina Lagoon and is home to the city’s only boat launch ramp. The two locations have distinct, identifiable focuses: Parkside Aquatic Park is known for the city’s boat launch ramp, while Coyote Point Recreation Area offers several recreational activities, including boating and sailing. This distinction is useful if you are looking specifically for a boat launch ramp or for a range of water-related activities.

A boardwalk runs along the Bay Marshes at Ryder Park. Visitors can observe wildlife there, including the endangered California Clapper Rail. Information panels on the history of Indigenous people add a distinct historical topic to the natural setting. Wildlife observation and historical information therefore offer different points of interest.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Burlingame, Atherton, Pacifica, Moss Beach, Brisbane, Colma, Montara, South San Francisco

For the main travel overview: San Mateo.