virtual tour of caltech

Undergraduate Admissions

Visiting Caltech!

• Posted March 20, 2024

• in Before College

Have you been wanting to come visit Caltech? Here are all the ways in which you can come visit campus!

If you are able, I believe on-campus tours are the best way to come and see Caltech for yourself. During a tour, you will be taken around campus, potentially even through dorms and lecture halls. You will also get the chance to talk to a current Caltech student firsthand to have all of your questions answered. The Caltech Undergraduate Admissions Office offers two in-person events. The first is a one-hour information session led by an Admissions Officer who will present about Caltech and the application requirements in the first thirty minutes. Following the presentation, there will be a Q & A session for you to ask your most pressing questions. The second is a one-hour campus tour led by an Admissions Ambassador. To sign up for either of these options, you can click here . 

DiscoTech, or Discover Caltech, is a 3-day event for admitted students, typically in April, that allows students to get a good feel of Caltech before decision day. During DiscoTech, students get the chance to explore student life up close by staying in the dorms with current students and attending events all day. Students get to explore research and academic opportunities through a research symposium, lab and research institute open houses, and lectures with prize-winning faculty. They also get a glimpse into Caltech’s social life through DiscoTech’s club fair, residential house activities, and social mixers. Some other events include exploring a little bit of LA by going to Griffith Observatory. 

I applied to Caltech early action, and when I was accepted in December, I was first of all shocked but also excited to see the campus and get a true feel for it. I visited the following month, but unfortunately, tours were not running due to COVID restrictions at the time. Thankfully, DiscoTech happened before decision day, so I was able to go and receive a true Caltech experience. DiscoTech is what ultimately pushed me to commit, so I could not recommend it enough. 

Caltech In A Day

Now, let’s say you are not able to attend DiscoTech this year but still want a more personal tour experience before committing. Caltech In A Day is the perfect option for you! Caltech In A Day is a personalized alternative for admitted students who aren’t able to attend DiscoTech. During this day, you will be matched with a Caltech ambassador who will host you around campus. You will get the chance to chat with them, see the campus and labs, eat lunch with them, and perhaps go to their classes with them.

Self-Guided Tour

As I mentioned before, I visited Caltech without tours running, so I went on a self-guided tour! Caltech Admissions fortunately has an entire guide with a map and information to follow, which is linked here . If you do visit, I definitely have to recommend finding one of these handy guides located around campus.

This will point you toward wherever you need to go! Some personal favorite spots to check out would be Caltech Hall, Throop Memorial Garden (turtles!), Beckman Auditorium (what we like to call the wedding cake!), Beckman Institute, and walking down Olive Walk to see where ⅞ of the Caltech houses are located!

Virtual Tour

If you can not visit Caltech in person, don’t worry! Caltech also offers a virtual tour online where you can see dining halls, dorms, house lounges, multiple types of labs, and some academic buildings. The link to this virtual tour can be found here .

Ria Patel '26

Hi! I’m Ria, a junior in Page House from Gainesville, Florida. I am majoring in Computation and Neural Systems & Business, Economics, and Management. On campus, I am part of the Society of Women Engineers, Caltech Data Science Organization, and am in training to be a Health Advocate. In my free time, I love hanging out with friends, hiking, photography, exploring LA and Pasadena, and trying out new food spots!

Made with <3 by Juni and Michael, Class of 2025

1200 East California Boulevard Pasadena, California 91125

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Visit the Caltech campus

Thank you for your interest in visiting Caltech. On this page, you can find directions to campus, parking information, maps, information about event venues, tour information, and more.

To learn more about what happens at Caltech, visit the This Is Caltech website .

Campus tours

There are several ways for individuals or organized groups to tour campus, including a self-guided walking tour ( PDF ). You can find information on our main tour page or below.

Tours led by the Caltech History and Architectural Tour Service

The Caltech History and Architectural Tour Service, a program of the Caltech Women's Club, offers public, in-depth campus tours about once a month, with the next ones coming up on these anticipated dates . Find out how Caltech's unique academic buildings and high-tech laboratories inform research and discovery, as well as enrich the greater Pasadena community. Some guides are bilingual; please email the guides to request a tour in Spanish .

Tours for high school and college students

High school and college students who are considering enrolling at Caltech, as well as groups of 10 to 49 students and family members, can find tour information on Caltech's admissions website . Prospective students, their parents and guardians, and others also can explore Caltech through a virtual tour developed by the admissions department.

Request a tour for your organization

Organizations interested in a group tour for prospective students should contact Caltech's Undergraduate Admissions office . Tours for other groups are offered on a limited basis and must be arranged in advance. To help us respond to your request, please use this form to share a bit about your group or organization and what you hope to see on campus. We'll bring your request to the attention of staff members with expertise in your interest areas.

Two New Tours of the Caltech Campus

Caltech has developed two new tours to help people on and off campus get to know the lay of the land and learn about different aspects of the community.

For those who are physically on campus, a new walking tour brochure offers an introduction to the buildings and other spaces that make up the Institute. On this 60-minute self-guided walking tour, visitors (and readers online) can learn more about Caltech's history, study examples of noteworthy campus architecture, get a glimpse of student life, and explore some of the groundbreaking investigations being conducted here.

In addition, a new online interactive tour allows those off campus to make a virtual visit to Caltech and learn about some of the places that are integral to the community, such as the Athenaeum, the Beckman Institute and Gene Pool, and the Turtle Pond, through a sequence of 13 captioned 360-degree photographs.

NOTE: Google shut down Poly on June 30, 2021. As a result, the online interactive tour is no longer available.

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Virtual Tour

• Student Life

California Institute of Technology Virtual Tour

Are you considering caltech take a virtual tour of the campus below..

A visit to California Institute of Technology is ideal, but virtual tours can act to refresh your memory or as a preview for your on-site tour.

What's in it for me?

Inevitably, on-campus tours of classrooms, libraries, dorms, and dining halls will start to blend. Jog your memory using the virtual tour and even explore the area surrounding the campus using the interactive mapping tool. If you're just beginning your college search, a virtual tour can be a great way to get a feel for a campus before your visit. Remember, when you do go, be sure to ask current students about their college life. A student perspective can be the most helpful way to gauge your future experience at Caltech.

Use the resources below to start your virtual tour.

Using the Map

Click and drag the little orange person to a location on the map. Locations with panoramas appear as blue lines or blue dots when moving the orange person. The blue dots are panoramic views that you may swivel. The blue lines are paths that you can navigate along.

Panoramic View

You can "pan" or "swivel" the camera around by clicking on the image and dragging your mouse or finger. If you see a white arrow on the picture, you can click or tap on it to move in the direction of the arrow. This will also update the location of the little orange person on the map so you can get a better sense of where you are and what direction you are facing.

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Campus Visits

To display and register for events, select an available date from the calendar.

Visiting Palomar Observatory

The Observatory will be closed on Tuesday, September 17 to allow for maintenance operations at the 200-inch telescope. Also, the Observatory will open at 12:00 PM on Friday, September 20. Updated Thu 12 Sep 2024 8:19 am PDT

Group tour at the base of the 200-inch Hale Telescope. (Palomar/Caltech)

Palomar Observatory is owned and operated by Caltech , and as such it is private property. The Observatory is a popular destination in Southern California and receives tens of thousands of visitors a year from all over the world. Most come to see the famous 200-inch (5.1-meter) Hale Telescope —for decades the largest effective telescope in operation. Whether you are an astronomy, history, or engineering enthusiast, or simply curious about the Observatory, you will enjoy visiting our museum and taking one of our guided tours of the facility. All are welcome at the Palomar, but we ask that all visitors respect our rules and procedures.

Map of the Observatory showing the location of areas accessible to visitors. (Palomar/Caltech)

• Visiting hours
• Public areas
• Plan your visit
• Before you drive
• Driving directions
• On the Observatory grounds
• Information for mobility-impaired visitors
• Free audioguide

Visiting Hours

With some exceptions, Palomar Observatory is open to the public daily. These exceptions are Caltech institutional holidays (e.g., Juneteenth, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, December 24 through January 2), certain maintenance operations, and for possible weather emergencies. The Observatory is open from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm PT. Please be aware that the visitor gates will be closed promptly at the times indicated.

Particularly in the winter months, the Observatory is occasionally closed to the public due to severe weather and/or dangerous conditions. Whenever possible, this web page will be updated to reflect any closures. All visitors are encouraged to check this site before departing to Palomar.

Public Areas

The public areas of the Observatory consist of the A.W. Greenway Jr. Visitor Center and the Visitors Gallery inside the 200-inch Hale Telescope dome. The Visitor Center also features the Palomar Observatory Store (Please note: The store can accept only electronic payments—Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay—for tours and purchases. No cash transactions) which is open on weekends and most weekdays .

Plan Your Visit

Before you drive.

Snow-covered Hale Telescope dome. (Palomar/Caltech)

• Visitors should be aware that we may close the Observatory to the public due to weather or other unforeseen conditions without advance notice.
• The Observatory makes every effort to inform the public of the facility's current status. The environment of Palomar Mountain is, however, both dynamic and uncertain, sometimes resulting in dangerous road conditions. Due to the uncertainties of our mountain environment, road conditions and our complex operations supporting our research mission, we can not guarantee that information presented on our website or phone information system will be accurate at the time when visitors arrive at our facility.
• Please be aware that regional road and weather information supplied by state and other authorities may not reflect the specific conditions prevailing at the Observatory.
• Visitors are urged to pay close attention to signs indicating the Observatory's closure to visitors that may be posted at the S6 "summit" location approximately 4.2 miles south of the Observatory. Please see our driving directions page for directions and information on any possible road closures.
• There are no gas stations on Palomar Mountain. Check your fuel before driving to the Observatory.
• Visitors who plan on using our free audioguide should bring their own mobile device (e.g., smartphone or tablet) and ear/headphones.

Driving Directions

• Please visit our driving directions page for instructions and map.

On the Observatory Grounds

Paved path that leads from the parking lot to the Hale Telescope dome. To the right, the Visitor Center's access ramp. (Palomar/Caltech)

• Please note that the interior of the Hale Telescope dome is kept at nighttime temperatures for an elevation of 5,598 feet/1,702 meters. Dress accordingly.
• Please see our tours page for information about guided tours. We do not offer guided tours every day that the Observatory is open to the public. On most days, visitors are welcome to look around the designated public areas on their own, at their own pace.
• Cellphone reception, if any, is very limited on Palomar Mountain.
• Palomar Observatory is a research facility. Please respect the safety rules you will see posted on signs around the grounds. Help maintain the environment and the structures by not walking on the buildings or climbing in trees. When you visit, we request you stay on the designated walking paths.

Steps to the Visitors Gallery inside the Hale Telescope dome. (Palomar/Caltech)

Information For Mobility-Impaired Visitors

• The dome that houses the 200-inch Hale Telescope is at a moderate distance from the parking lot. There is a 1,050-foot (320-meter), slightly uphill, paved walking path that connects the parking lot with the dome.
• Access to the Visitors Gallery in the Hale Telescope dome requires climbing 70 steps. We welcome mobility-impaired visitors and support Hale access for such visitors at 10:45 am and 1:15 pm daily, resources and conditions permitting. Mobility-impaired visitors should check-in with the Gift Shop attendant (the Gift Shop is located in the Greenway Visitor Center ) to receive specific access instructions, and may discuss any special support needs. We regret that we cannot accommodate wheelchair access to the Hale Telescope dome at this time.
• The Observatory's Visitor Center , only 130 feet (40 meters) from the parking lot, is open whenever the Observatory is open and is wheelchair accessible.

Free Palomar Observatory Audioguide

Audioguide home. (Palomar/Caltech)

We have developed a free Palomar Observatory audioguide—a collection of media and information that explores individual topics about the Observatory—to accompany visitors during their self-guided tour. The audioguide is browser-based (i.e., no app to download) and can be accessed via ag.palomar.caltech.edu or QR codes posted throughout Observatory public spaces. We encourage visitors to bring their own smartphone, ear/headphones, and sufficient battery charge on their device for 30 – 60 minutes of use.

The audioguide provides visitors with supporting media (video, audio, and bilingual text/closed-captions) enhancing an Observatory visit. Other sections of the audioguide include “virtual visits” to many areas not public accessible, information on other visitor services like guided tours or public events, an interactive map, and relevant links to this website. While on site, audioguide users may connect to our free Wi-Fi through access points located in the Greenway Center and the Hale Telescope Visitors Gallery.

See reviews from recent Palomar visitors, or contribute a review of your own: TripAdvisor , Yelp .

Questions? We've answered many common visiting, media, and academic questions in our public FAQ page . Please share your feedback on this page at the COO Feedback portal. Visiting / v 1.0.16 Last updated: 10 July 2024 AFB/SBF/ACM

Experience Caltech

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