The Stanford campus is the most beautiful in America by some distance — a Frederick Law Olmsted plan of long arcades, sandstone walls, palm-lined approaches, and red-tile roofs spread over a former horse farm at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The 1891 Main Quad and Memorial Church are the obvious starting point, with the church's gold and Venetian mosaic facade glowing in late afternoon light.
The Cantor Arts Center is free and excellent; the adjacent Rodin Sculpture Garden holds the largest collection of Rodin bronzes outside Paris, including a powerful cast of the Gates of Hell. Climb Hoover Tower (free, 285 feet up) for the long view across to the Bay. Don't miss the Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden tucked away in a redwood grove — a thicket of carved totems that few visitors find. The campus is comfortably walkable in a half-day, longer if you stop to read every Rodin plaque.