The hook
Rodin's Gates of Hell, and the largest collection of his bronzes outside Paris, sitting free and outdoors on the Stanford campus.
01Why it's worth it
Stanford's Cantor Arts Center holds one of the biggest Auguste Rodin collections anywhere outside Paris, and the best of it is outside and free. In a sculpture garden you can walk right up to the six-meter Gates of Hell, writhing with figures from Dante's Inferno, standing in the open air beside The Thinker and dozens of other bronzes. Work that's roped off behind glass in most museums is here at arm's length, any time of day. The Cantor itself, also free, is worth an hour, but the outdoor Rodin garden is the thing: serious, dark, monumental art you stumble into on a college campus.
02How to experience it
It's at the Cantor Arts Center on the Stanford campus, free; the outdoor Rodin garden is open even when the museum is closed. Go early or late for quiet, and it's an easy ride from East Palo Alto.