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I'm on business travel to San Jose the weekend after Easter. I have one appointment on Friday, and the next on Monday. I have been to San Francisco before, but never to San Jose.
I might get a car, but I'm reluctant to drive. I don't even like driving here in Europe, but all alone on myself in a US-city I never have been too before - too scary.
So: what can one do over the weekend in San Jose? Is the best advice "try to get to San Francisco"? Or has San Jose sights to offer as well? (Hope I don't offend any San Joseians who might read this thread) Is it manageable without a car? What about saftey? How far is it to Yosemite? Manageable for a one-day-trip?
Any advice would be welcome!
Unfortunately I've only ever been to "San Joze," and the only thing to do there is look out over the cornfields. Sorry I can't be more help . . .
Illinois. Mhmm. Been to Chicago once (actually on 7-11-2001) and kinda liked it. But I guess Illinois landscape is different :-)
So, anybody from San Jose, CA, or familiar with this town, to offer any advice? They should be awake by now (17:18 CET).
The best thing I can say is go for a drive on Saturday. Head over the hill to Santa Cruz and hit the pier. A definate must also is "Natural Bridges" in Santa Cruz. If it is the right times, it happens twice a year, you will get to see monarch butterflies by the hords (It's really trippy looking). They hang out in one area in Natural Bridges. Also Capitola has a nice beach area (being right next to Santa Cruz). I would then swing around the bay and hit some sites in Monterey. I wish I could remember what and where but it has been a long time (over a decade). However it is a great highway drive, being route 1. Along the way you can pull off at numerous senic views and beaches. Santa Crus to Half Moon Bay on highway 1 is always a great senic drive.
Take care,
Brian
Reflect is right about driving along the coast... it's wonderful countryside to see.
Highway 1 is great all the way from Monterey to San Francisco and north, but it's also not an easy road to drive if driving makes you nervous. Highway 17 that runs between San Jose and Santa Cruz is also curvy and can be confusing at night, but it's easier than Hwy 1.
I'm not much for the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, but that's a personal preference. You might love it. If you can manage to get some sort of transportation, I'd try for the Aquarium in Monterey, but that's a long drive. It's an amazing place, though.
A lot depends on what your tastes are. There's a Tech Museum in San Jose that's mainly science exhibits for kids, with an IMAX theatre. Some of the buildings in Silicon Valley might be of interest, just as cultural icons of sorts... I don't remember which ones are the most lavish, and which ones are now standing empty.
Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto has a nice art museum for a west coast university, and a great Rodin sculpture garden. There's also a Papua New Guinea sculpture garden that's a bit hard to find. But even "nearby" Palo Alto is a big drive. Forget public transportation.
San Francisco is a wonderful city... not huge... just beautiful... but to see much of it in two days, or to see it's stunning views you'd also need to drive or to have a lot of time to walk.
California has evolved around the automobile since the end of WWII, and there hasn't been the population density or the political will to really support public transportation.
Maybe I reconsider the car-thing. If I survived German "Autobahn" so far, US-highway should not be that much of a challenge. However all the times I drove in the US so far I had someone with me to have a look at the map. That's my main fear here: to get lost and not finding my way back.
That's my main fear here: to get lost and not finding my way back.
That is very different from what I thought. It's extremely difficult to get lost on Highway 1, so if you like scenery, that might be a good strategy. You'd have to get some directions to get you to and from your hotel, though, probably not that difficult.
I'd say Yosemite is too far, and car reservations and crowds on weekends are also problematic.
Driving in the San Jose area itself is very tricky, at least for me, and I know the area.
If you drove to San Francisco confined yourself to simple automobile destinations and then walked from there, it might not be too complicated. I don't think the tourist rush starts until May, but I forget from year to year.
Or, you could drive to a train station near San Jose and go into San Francisco by rail. The station near downtown San Francisco is very conveniently located if you don't mind a little walk. I don't know what parking is like at the San Jose end, though, or how often or late the trains run on weekends. You need a San Jose commuter to tell you that.
What kinds of things interest you to do, so we can give you more relevant feedback?
As a stereotype, the "American way of life" is very much intresting too. So maybe crusing down the highway at 50mph (incredibly slow for German standards) isn't that bad after all.
Shopping - not too important, but I need a birthday present for my wife because my company has sent me on that business trip and I miss her birthday by one day. That will probably cost me...
Got my travel documents today. I'm facing 20 hours travel time, including a 2 hour turnover in Dallas :-(
Maybe you should just consider spending the weekend sleeping. ;)
I've been hoping someone else would jump in here to give me more to go on, but here goes... I may do this in sections.
For now, I'm going to assume that you're going to get a car, and that you won't be going into San Francisco. The San Francisco Giants have afternoon home games at c1 PM on both the 17th & 18th, Sat & Sun, so getting into town could get complicated unless you were really early or waited until the game started. There are ways around this, but the two most likely routes will be mobbed, since they both go near the stadium.
My suggestion would be to get a car and explore the California coast... on Highway 1 (abbreviated Hwy 1) north from Santa Cruz to up around Half Moon Bay or Moss Beach one day, and south from Santa Cruz down to Monterey/ Carmel/ maybe even Big Sur on the other. There's lots to do in towns and parks in both directions.
You'd take Hwy 17 roughly southwest to get to Hwy 1. Your hotel would have to tell you the best route to Hwy 17, but from Hwy 17 on, and particularly on Hwy 1, it's very hard to get lost. I'm assuming also that you'd like to get out of the car and walk.
Going north on Hwy 1, there are some good hikes you can take in Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The redwoods are I believe unique to the California coast, and Big Basin is the best example you'll find around where you'll be.
Further north on the coast there are some great beaches to explore, and some funky towns that I like a lot. Some of the beaches have intriguing rock formations... Others have tide pools that are best at low tide. Half Moon Bay, near the north end of your northward trip, is a wonderful two-street old time town that's not become too gentrified, with some beautiful beaches in the area, some great little restaurants, a sushi restaurant (Sushi on Main, that's actually just off Main), etc. There are more spots to visit and details about the area that I or other WW Bay Area members could fill in for you.
In the south direction, on another day, I'd make the Monterey Aquarium my main destination. It has an incredible re-creation of an underwater kelp forest, which all by itself is worth the drive. Further south there's Carmel, a very artsy small town which has gotten pretty touristy over the years, but it might be a good place to shop for your wife. Further south is Point Lobos and Big Sur. Again, more details if it interests you.
For the record, the boardwalk in Santa Cruz is an amusement park that's a fun place to visit, particularly with friends or family, but not something I'd come part way round the world to see.
If the above doesn't intrigue you, there's a very nice walk around one of the old parts of San Jose near the Tech Museum, maybe an hour or so at the most, which I can describe in another message, but I'd be hard put to spend a whole day in San Jose just walking around (but I've got to confess that I've never tried it... It could be fascinating). And, again, I don't know that the big corporate headquarters in Silicon Valley are something I'd travel part way round the world to see... and you can probably see them on Mon or Fri.
This is long so I'm going to sign off tonight.
Whilst the conference was ok, the "night life" was pretty average. Most people hung out at the bar.
Having been to San Fran for Ad Tech, I would suggest going there. Much more exciting things to do and much better night life.
That is what I would do anyways.
Warren
It seems I'm getting my share of silicon valley anyway. Today(!) I finally learned WHERE I'm going to have my appointments, and it turns out that it's one of the global big guys in semiconductor business (and the company name does NOT start with an "I").
I heard nice things about Santa Cruz from another source, so I'm probably going there. Also I found an online resource on the tech museum in San Jose itself which also sounds like fun.
I'm currently checking into getting a car with GPS route planning. I'd feel more comfortable with it...
Thanks all for your input. I'll let you know what I actually did :-)
Soooooo, what can I do in Los Angeles on a Sunday without a car? :-)))
Soooooo, what can I do in Los Angeles on a Sunday without a car? :-)))
ROFL....
If you can get to the Venice Boardwalk, as it's called, it's a real show. The sidewalk is concrete now... but just walk up and down in both directions. As unique as I can think of. Bring shoes that won't get messed up by sand, and casual clothes that you can wear in layers.
Is Venice Beach the "Baywatch" beach?
I do filmmaking both low-level in my job and as a hobby. Are studio tours in Los Angeles worht it? Which studio to recommend?
I've worked in the studios, so I'm kind of jaded. I can't imagine that you get to see real filmmaking on a tour.
Universal City has some great stuff... and probably the best tour too. The "Terminator 2 3D" attraction is pretty amazing, as is the "Back Draft" attraction, but most of it is a big arcade with everything expensive... and your chances of getting lost if you don't know the city are pretty good.
Is Venice Beach the "Baywatch" beach?
I think so, but I don't know. Haven't seen the show in years. The boardwalk is where the beach turns into pavement. It's great for people-watching. You get a good view of the volleyball, etc, but, up away from the water, a lot of the people have clothes on. ;)
Parking near the beach is tricky on weekends. Essentially, as I remember, you can go down Venice Blvd or Washington Blvd and then park reasonably far away and walk. Don't drive too close or the traffic gets to be a drag.
It's San Jose -> Orange County on Friday night, work in Orange County all Saturday, Sunday at my disposition and Orange County -> San Jose early evening on Sunday.
Our US guys will arrange a car for Sunday and they also got me a few tips on what to do.
I'll report back :-)
Weeeeeel..... San Jose - as far as I have seen it - is rather dull. And Silicon Valley? Well I thought it would be closer together like a huge business park (or even a theme park?). I would not have guessed that it is actually several towns and several business parks / campuses scattered all over.
As for Los Angeles. I actually had about 5 hours of free time but since I was down in Santa Ana (near John Wayne Airport) I only had time for a car-tour around downtown LA, a trip to Griffith park (the observatory is closed because of renovation) and a short walk including lunch on Hollywood Blvd - that was all.
As for the business side of the trip: it was a business success, but a personal disappointment.
Well... thanks again for all the tips. It looks like I'm going to return anyways so maybe I can follow them at the next opportunity.
CaboWabo
It seems more than likely that I have to return there, so I'll be able to check out the biking there.
Thanks!
