Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
4.5
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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436 within 3 miles
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See what travelers are saying
- Elina MichaelidouLondon, United Kingdom585 contributionsInteresting museum to spend a couple of hoursThis was a great stop during our Silicon Valley driving tour. There were a lot of exhibits about the history of computation and the development of computers and the computer science field in general. We spend around 2 hours there, but we could have spent longer as there are a lot of things to see and there are even a few interactive exhibits. Lastly, the shop had various cool gifts to get.Visited June 2023Traveled as a coupleWritten August 10, 2023
- DOITYMAYCardiff, United Kingdom157 contributionsSuperbAs we were in San Jose we thought we would visit here. This museum is superb. So much to see. And being 64 years old I could remember a lot of the old style computers. It takes you down memory lane. We had a ham and cheese toasted and a pizza in the cafe. They were excellent. All prepared fresh as you wait We sat outside in the sunshine to eat them. That was fine but as next to a busy road was very noisy. The young man on the desk when we checked in on the afternoon of Thursday 22 sept was absolutely fab. Very friendly and funny. He is a delight to have there at the museum. Sorry I did not get his name. We spent a few hours there and was well worth it. Only $19 per person and worth every penny.Visited September 2023Traveled as a coupleWritten September 22, 2023
- FuzzyBeaverMontreal, Canada1,273 contributionsAn amazing museum not to be missedThis is a huge museum packed full of interesting exhibits. They also do a great job of keeping up with evolving trends such as artificial intelligence. The place is so large you will want to go back again and again. Be sure join the various special presentations. The docents are so dedicated and passionate. An absolute must-see museum.Visited January 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten January 12, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
782 reviews
Excellent
559
Very good
187
Average
31
Poor
4
Terrible
1
DOITYMAY
Cardiff, UK157 contributions
Sep 2023 • Couples
As we were in San Jose we thought we would visit here.
This museum is superb. So much to see. And being 64 years old I could remember a lot of the old style computers.
It takes you down memory lane.
We had a ham and cheese toasted and a pizza in the cafe.
They were excellent. All prepared fresh as you wait
We sat outside in the sunshine to eat them.
That was fine but as next to a busy road was very noisy.
The young man on the desk when we checked in on the afternoon of Thursday 22 sept was absolutely fab. Very friendly and funny. He is a delight to have there at the museum. Sorry I did not get his name.
We spent a few hours there and was well worth it.
Only $19 per person and worth every penny.
This museum is superb. So much to see. And being 64 years old I could remember a lot of the old style computers.
It takes you down memory lane.
We had a ham and cheese toasted and a pizza in the cafe.
They were excellent. All prepared fresh as you wait
We sat outside in the sunshine to eat them.
That was fine but as next to a busy road was very noisy.
The young man on the desk when we checked in on the afternoon of Thursday 22 sept was absolutely fab. Very friendly and funny. He is a delight to have there at the museum. Sorry I did not get his name.
We spent a few hours there and was well worth it.
Only $19 per person and worth every penny.
Written September 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LUIS H
10 contributions
Mar 2023
Awesome and educational experience that explores the curiosity of where the notion of computing began. This walking tour-like environment displays a comprehensive look at the evolution of early punch card systems (IBM) and calculators to military tech integration and decryption demands. Then leads to the modernization which includes topics of: the analog to digital conversion, introducing the micro computer, robots, the PC, internet age and even the gaming evolution. So much to cover and understand, this is a tech geek's delight. Just be ready to be patient and learn to get the full experience. Plus, plenty of photo and video ops.
Written March 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Elina Michaelidou
London, UK585 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
This was a great stop during our Silicon Valley driving tour. There were a lot of exhibits about the history of computation and the development of computers and the computer science field in general. We spend around 2 hours there, but we could have spent longer as there are a lot of things to see and there are even a few interactive exhibits. Lastly, the shop had various cool gifts to get.
Written August 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wendy G
Box Hill, Australia322 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
This museum was on our list to visit, due to my husband’s interests. We visited together, on the understanding that if and when I was bored, I could wander over to the nearby Starbucks and read a book. But no book reading was done today. This museum was engaging on every level, and not just for the computer nerd! The information was interesting, displays fantastic and there were a range of ways to access information including great short videos. The layout was clear, easy to follow, showed a clear progression and the collection was fantastically curated. We had planned a half day here but ended up having a sandwich at the cafe and spending most of the day. Definitely to be recommended.
Written March 31, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FuzzyBeaver
Montreal, Canada1,273 contributions
Jan 2024 • Couples
This is a huge museum packed full of interesting exhibits. They also do a great job of keeping up with evolving trends such as artificial intelligence. The place is so large you will want to go back again and again. Be sure join the various special presentations. The docents are so dedicated and passionate. An absolute must-see museum.
Written January 12, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MSLAMT
MOUNTAIN VIEW27 contributions
Jan 2013
The exhibits are very well laid out, very interactive, the musuem isn't overly crowded, so I felt comfortable working at my own pace. I only got through 2 rooms out of 19 in 90 minutes. Will definitely return.
Written January 29, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
interceptpubs
Columbus, IN1,026 contributions
Feb 2020
This overwhelming museum covers the history of computing starting from ancient times (from counting machines like the abacus and mechanical devices for computing astronomical information) through the industrial revolution (punched cards for controlling looms and mechanical computers like babbage's engine) to the modern era (from sophisticated mechanical analog computers to the modern electronic digital computers) in great detail. Indeed, it is almost overwhelming (25,000 square feet and over 1,000 historical objects). It was something of a personal history for us - we can remember getting an abacus as a grade schooler, using a slide rule in high school (the last class to be taught how to use the slipstick), typing in punched card programs in our first FORTRAN class in college, buying our first personal computer (an Osborne of all things - a marvel at the time, but today a bad joke), and designing gas turbine engines with supercomputers as an engineer. We were able to find almost every computer related device we've used over the last 50 years here on display - plus many things we'd only heard about or knew only from their applications to make the modern world possible.
You can easily spend hour upon hour here - indeed, if like us, your time is limited it can be a bit frustrating: so much to see, so little time. The general admission price is around $20, but we lucked out and visited on Bank of America day (or whatever they called it). By showing our BoA credit card, we got free admission. Sadly we see the museum is currently closed due to COVID, but we heartily recommend you make a visit once it reopens.
You can easily spend hour upon hour here - indeed, if like us, your time is limited it can be a bit frustrating: so much to see, so little time. The general admission price is around $20, but we lucked out and visited on Bank of America day (or whatever they called it). By showing our BoA credit card, we got free admission. Sadly we see the museum is currently closed due to COVID, but we heartily recommend you make a visit once it reopens.
Written January 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jose Lejin P J
Bengaluru, India1,595 contributions
Jun 2019
Excellent museum to visit. The museum mainly showcases the stories and artifacts of the digital computing revolution with historical details. It has significant collection of computing artifacts with detailed written descriptions. Staff are friendly and helpful. Good parking space. There is a cafe near to the reception.
Written August 18, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ken R
Springfield, IL271 contributions
May 2017 • Family
My wife and I spent an entire afternoon here and enjoyed ourselves even though I am neither a geek or a museum fan.
Written May 11, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The_Chez
Stafford, UK24 contributions
Apr 2015 • Family
If you are a geek or love your computer, games console or just love to see how technology has come along in recent years this place is a must. If you get around the place in an hour I can only imagine that you walked around without actually looking. The building is like some sort of illusion as the museum is massive. It snakes you through the history of the original idea of calculators right through to the modern hand held and AI tech of today. There are few demonstrations to take in and one or two video/film areas that help bring things to life a little more. We loved the ides of trying to find where we arrived into the computing world. We found the first computer we remember about three quarters of the way around. There are a few interactive parts right towards the end when it goes into software and games. You can play Pong on a giant screen and there are a few other games as well. We spent about 3 hours here and loved it, we are geeks but then if you aren't then I would suggest coming here. Just to mention the whole museum is one the ground floor so there is no stairs climbing or anything like that
Written April 19, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ALcleo
Lake View, AL309 contributions
If forced to choose, and entrance fee is not a factor, which is better - this or Intel museum?
935hhl
Charlottesville, VA134 contributions
The Computer History Museum is definitely more of a “Must See” compared to the Intel Museum. It is much larger and comprehensive, as the Intel Museum is more focused on one aspect of computing, the integrated circuit. The Intel Museum is basically one big room, whereas the Computer History Museum has many rooms, floors and wings. The Intel Museum does have a couple of interactive activities, though. The Intel Museum is always free, and I got free admission to the Computer History Museum through Bank of America’s Museums on Us program.
d_sanz2014
Valeria del Mar, Argentina42 contributions
hola, hay info en castellano o solamente en ingles?
gracias
Leonardo2H
Bogota, Colombia272 contributions
Hola, toda la información del museo esta solamente en Ingles.
moggy-moore
Littlehampton, UK26 contributions
Is it open on 05/24 /15
R P
Chicago, IL45 contributions
yes, i also went on sunday.....
Perry B
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania23 contributions
Can't find admission charges, and parking info on Web
There are 400 free parking spots in front of the museum.
Adult admission is $15. Students with an ID, Active Military with ID and Seniors 65+ are $12. Children 12 and under are free.
How much does a visit to this museum last?
Buttercup92
MetroWest Boston399 contributions
We spent many hours, but could have spent more. I think it is up to the visitor how deeply they want to go into the exhibits and the interest level. My husband has worked in the tech field for decades, so he was very interested in everything. We also enjoyed the special demonstrations and took breaks for lunch and coffee. I think the answer is, you can spend an hour or the whole day...but don't miss this great museum.
How much does a visit to this museum last?
415Andrewbelo
Los Altos, CA13 contributions
The suggest allocating at least 2 hours for the visit.
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