Stanford Campus Walk

If you are entering Stanford University from El Camino you will see the Oval and Quad sitting on the far end of Palm Drive. The road is appropriately named, as palm trees line either side of the street from El Camino to the main Campus, and it almost looks as if you are approaching a castle with the green field in front of the prominent Stanford Quad.

The Cantor Arts Center has a lovely museum and sculpture garden outside where you can see many Rodin castings including The Thinker and the famous Gates of Hell.

The Rodin Sculpture Garden is the largest Rodin collection outside of France (and you can see a few more sculptures in the main quad). While you are there, make sure to check out The Gates of Hell, inspired by Dante's Inferno.

The Stanford Oval (shaped like an oval) can become quite crowded on weekends where people play frisbee, have a picnic, play pickup volleyball, or watch students trying to study in the nice weather.

As you walk from the Oval to the Quad you may see a wedding photographer taking pictures of newlyweds, it seems that there are several weddings a day on the weekends in the beautiful Memorial Church, and the steps to the Quad is a favorite place for pictures.

As you walk to the inner Quad you will see another Rodin sculpture on the left, the Burghers of Calais. During the 100 years war, the French town of Calais was under siege by the English and supplies were running low. Rather than force everyone to starve, Edward III demanded the town's most intelligent and influential people sacrifice themselves to save the town. 6 men stepped forward to save their city and face their death, but England's Queen stopped the execution, afraid that it would bring bad luck to her unborn child. The statue honors the courage of the 6 men who offered their lives for their town.

Memorial Church if one of the most popular destinations on any tourist's visit to Stanford. Because of the mosaic on the exterior and its beautiful interior decorated with stain glass it is also a very popular choice for weddings.

You are free to walk inside, but first check to make sure a service is not already in session.

Here you will find students buying books, school supplies, or just an afternoon coffee to get through their homework. Upstairs you will be able to buy sweatshirts, t-shirts, or any other stanford apparel.

In front of the Bookstore is "The Claw", the fountain you see that looks somewhat like a claw. In the spring you may find students floating around in the afternoon sun.

As you walk back from the Bookstore notice the clock tower above. The base is glass so you can see all of the inner workings. Every 15 minutes the clock chimes with the time, and you can hear it from almost anywhere on campus, likely telling you that you are late for class.

As you walk by, look at Green Library on your left and Meyer Library on your right. They are connected below by a hall filled with books (called the lower stacks).

Both are popular places to study on campus. Meyer remains open throughout the night while Green closes at 2am (so early, I know).

Wind your way around to Hoover Tower, one of Stanford's most recognized landmarks. The building is home to the Hoover Institute on War, Revolution, and Peace where there is research being done on Public Policy.

For $2, you can ride the elevator to the top to see the entire campus (and surrounding area) from high above while seeing the 48 large bells up close. In the evenings the bells are played for all to hear.

During Big Game Week (the week before Stanford plays Berkeley in football) the entire tower is lit up red during the night to support the Cardinal. It's quite a sight.

Here you will find the tourist office along with other information about shows and programs being offered in the auditorium.

On Sunday nights, students host "Flicks" where they show a movie so that students can take a break from studying. Don't sit on the lower level, or you will be hit with balls of newspaper from above, another popular way for students to let off some stress.

The Auditorium (or "MemChu" as the students call it) also hosts campus speakers and various performances and events.