About San Leandro
San Leandro is probably one of the more generally overlooked cities in the San Francisco Bay area of California. First settled by the Spanish in the late 18th century then inhabited by Portuguese migrants, San Leandro with its oceanfront location and low-rise urbanization has a Mediterranean air that's truly enchanting.
The city's European heritage is just one feature that makes it stand out from all of the other California cities nearby. The main annual event held there is another that makes it unique. Since 1909 San Leandro has hosted a festival celebrating the cherry. It's a massive carnival-style event that sees the streets lined with stalls laden with fruit from local farms and thronged with crowds enjoying the party atmosphere created by the marching bands.
Apart from in June when the Cherry Festival is held, San Leandro is a peaceful city where the residents make the most of the California weather on the golf courses, on the city beaches, and in its superb regional parks. Cultural offerings in the city are as diverse and as different as a history museum is to a haunted house of horrors. San Leandro is a place to visit, not just in June, but at any time of the year.
Things to do in San Leandro
There's one thing to be said about the things there are to do in San Leandro and that is they are seriously diverse. The city's regional parks are world-class and places where you can have outdoor recreational time in superb natural surroundings. There are attractions suitable only for adults and others which are great for families as well as several fascinating museums which everyone will enjoy visiting.
- Immerse yourself in San Leandra's bygone days by touring around the Casa Peralta. The Casa Parelta is a Colonial-style home built by a Spanish family in 1901 which now houses an era-related history museum.
- Discover the incredibly varied birdlife in California by spending the morning at the Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline. You'll get to see big birds too as the park is on the flight path for Los Angeles International Airport.
- Enter into a dark and totally terrifying world by spending an hour or two at the Fear Overload Scream Park. Be warned, you'll be having recurring nightmares for weeks.
- When you've had enough of the ocean waves head to the tranquil waters of Lake Chabot for an afternoon of floating about in a boat or do a spot of quiet fishing from the shoreline.
Transit options in San Leandro
- Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, connects San Leandro with downtown San Francisco and other nearby cities.
- The Flex Shuttle offers a North and South route through the city and in Castro Valley, Oakland, and other nearby areas.
- Links Shuttle offers a free service to Downtown from outlying areas of San Leandro.
Luggage storage in San Leandro
Using a Bounce luggage locker in San Leandro to store your bags while you're sightseeing in the city or exploring the amazing parks there is a sensible thing to do. By leaving your bags in one of Bounce's San Leandro luggage lockers, you'll know they're in a secure place, but one where you'll still have access to them any time you want and it won't be costing you a fortune as Bounce luggage lockers are always economically priced.
Attractions and activities near San Leandro
- Oakland Zoo: Oakland Zoo is a zoological park in Oakland where you can do a lot more than see animals in enclosures. The zoo is part of the Conservation Society of California and houses many exotic animals that have been rescued from locations where they have been inadequately cared for. The zoo consists of various areas which coincide with the regions of the animals’ natural habitats and also organizes activities related to those areas. In Adventure Land you can learn to fly like a bush pilot, take a ride on an Outback train or take a jeep ride through the Serengeti. Hiking the California Trail at the zoo is highly recommended. To get to the trailhead you'll get a ride on a cable car to the visitor center six hundred and fifty feet up the side of a mountain from where the views are awe-inspiring.
- Hayward Regional Shoreline: The Hayward Regional Shoreline is a vast nature preserve covering almost two thousand acres of the California coast. The preserve consists of various types of ecosystems such as wetlands and swamps as well as fresh and saltwater marshes which are the nesting habitats of migrant and resident birdlife. The preserve is intersected by a twenty-five-mile-long network of walking and cycling trails that wind through the open landscape around ponds and islands which are ideal spots to get out a pair of binoculars.
- Oakland Aviation Museum: The Oakland Aviation Museum is a must-visit for any fan of aviation and aircraft. The museum is housed in what was the training center for pilots and maintenance staff of the Boeing airline company. The museum has various collections related to aviation on the west coast including displays about people involved in the industry, how aircraft engines work, and the companies who flew from the area. There are many vintage aircraft on display in the hangers and outdoors. You can take a short flight in a Solent seaplane if you're there early on a Sunday morning.