To our new Golden Bears: Welcome! We hope your summers have been relaxing and rejuvenating, and that you’re excited to take on a new year of learning, discovery and personal growth at the very best public university in the world.
UC Berkeley is a fantastic place for many reasons, but one of the things that brings so much vitality to our institution is its location within the city of Berkeley — a diverse urban center with a legacy of political activism and a remarkable array of intellectual, cultural, artistic and recreational activities. As you settle in, we encourage you to take advantage of everything this community has to offer and to do so in a way that is respectful to the thousands of other students and residents who call Berkeley home. To that end, we have a few recommendations for you:
Take time to get off of campus and explore
Beyond our campus’s borders lie beautiful parks, cozy bookstores, cafés and restaurants of all kinds, impressive art spaces (check out the growing public art collection in the Telegraph district) and so much more. Get acquainted with Berkeley by meandering around the city on a weekend afternoon, or use your AC Transit Student EasyPass to quickly get to a particular destination for free.