Lick Observatory
 

Can anyone give me some info. about this place? is it worth a visit and how far is it from San Francisco or from Monterey?
Thank you.

Here's visitor info for the observatory:
http://www.ucolick.org/public/visitors.html

It's funny you ask how far it is from San Francisco or Monterey because it's kind of smack dab in the middle - just east of San Jose.

I've never been myself, but it's featured on local Bay Area news every time there's either a big celestial event or snow comes to the area.

Just the fact that you're asking about it makes me think you'd probably enjoy the visit.

If you wanted to stick closer to San Francisco (if this is part of a larger trip) you might consider the Cahbot Observatory in Oakland:
http://www.chabotspace.org/visit/observatories.asp

Here's a nice website with links to other Bay Area Astronomy places:
http://astron.berkeley.edu/localastro.html

Sorry for the typo.

Obviously by the link, I meant the Chabot Observatory.

When I was a kid we lived in the San Jose foothills on the route to Mt. Hamilton and visited the observatory several times. It's a small complex administered by the University of California and is very worth a visit, especially when the big telescope is set to view Mars or Venus.

Thank you both for the help and the websites. I will add this to my to do list.
GIna

FYI, the road up to the observatory has a lot of hairpin turns--you can't hurry!

Thanks Underhill, trust me when am out of town I am like a Sunday driver :) specially when it comes to mountains.