Best Stanford University Tours in Summer

Officially called Leland Stanford University, this Silicon Valley higher education institution was established in 1885 by former California governor Leland Stanford and his wife Jane to honor their only son Leland Jr. who died at age 15 in 1884. The elder Leland said, "The children of California shall be our children" when founding Stanford University opting for it to be co-educational and non-denominational - an uncommon choice at the time. The Stanfords enlisted famed architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the campus that eventually expanded to 8,180 acres on the San Francisco Peninsula. Travel + Leisure magazine named it one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States in 2011.