San Francisco - Looking for things to do in San Jose

Dear FT experts,

I'll spend several hours this Saturday (Feb. 5) in San Jose. Alaska Airlines had a great r/t fare so I booked a day trip. I've never been to the area and have no idea what to do or where to go.

My flight arrives SJC at 10 a.m. I depart at 6 p.m. so I'll need to be back at the airport by 4:30-4:45 or so. And my travel will all be on public transit.

I have no plans for the day, know almost nothing about the area, and am open to almost anything: museum, maybe a visit to Stanford, a scenic area, good food etc.

Any suggestions?

Bob

Public transit seriously limits you at this airport. The only realistic way to get to Stanford is to take the free bus shuttle to the Caltrain station and then the train or bus to Palo Alto. This will take at least 90 minutes each way because the bus is slow (take the 522 "express") and the train only runs once each hour. When you get to Palo Alto, you'll have to take the free Stanford shuttle, Marguerite, to get to and from campus, and I think the express shuttle from the train station doesn't run on Saturday.

I guess then instead you take the free airport shuttle bus the other way to the trolley and go to downtown San Jose. There is an art museum and a science museum there and and assortment of restaurants, nothing special in my book.

Go downtown and visit the Tech museum and enjoy the food in the area.

I am trying to think what else you can do in six hours on Public Transit and aside from the poster above mentioning CalTrain, I am drawing short. PT is not super fabulous leaving the airport.

Public transit in the entire Bay Area is the pits. Pay $25 and get a car to drive around in - you'll be able to get a lot more done that way.

Public transit in the entire Bay Area is the pits. Pay $25 and get a car to drive around in - you'll be able to get a lot more done that way.

You might get really lucky and find a $25 car through Priceline but I don't think there is any other way at SJC. Heck, the one time I had to take a taxi home (unexpected destination switch), the meter was reading $10 before we left the airport grounds!

The Tech museum exhibits are looking very old and faded, I was not impressed when I visited recently. The art museum is improving significantly but it's a smallish place and won't keep you busy for hours.

The Japanese Friendship Gardens - Hakone Gardens - are in Saratoga and are very impressive.

http://www.hakone.com/

As far as visiting Stanford, it is indeed a beautiful campus but it is still a college campus and there isn't much to do for a visitor who is "just looking".

You could drive up into the hills to one of the wineries - there are quite a few that are within 30-45 minutes of the airport.

One of my favorites is Ridge -

http://www.ridgewine.com/index.taf

There are tons of options - depends on your interests. Food? outdoors? high tech?

You could take yourself out for a nice lunch at Manresa, Sent Sovi, Alexanders, or tons of global/regional cuisine options - search the restaurant and food threads, or OpenTable.com.

You could go for a walk (I hesitate to say "hike", given your time constraints)in the redwoods at Big Basin park, or many other preserves in the Santa Cruz mountains. Or drive out to the beach in Santa Cruz or Capitola (I'm partial to lunch at Zelda's) and go for a walk afterwards - just watch out for traffic on the return in the PM. Definitely need to rent a car for this.

If you are into techie toys, you could go shopping at Fry's, visit NASA/Moffett Field or the Intel or Computer Science museum (as well as the aforementioned Tech.) Or that mecca for Mac-heads: Apple.

Provide some more details and I'm sure you'll get better tips.

Virtually all of the new tips in the above two postings require a car.

There's also the Winchester Mystery House...thats a good hour or so tour and have a nice lunch at Santana Row, all relatively close to SJC.

There's also the Winchester Mystery House...thats a good hour or so tour and have a nice lunch at Santana Row, all relatively close to SJC.

Opinions differ just a bit on this attraction. To me, it's the biggest ripoff west of the Mississippi and very possibly east of it too. Car rental also required.

Once again, FTers to the rescue! Thank you all for your guidance.

I found a couple of sites where I can get a small car for $25 for the day, ($12 for the car, the rest taxes and charges) and will go that route.

The Tech museum looks interesting to me, so I'll give that a shot too. I did not realize Moffet Field offered anything for tourists; so will probably try that one too, or Hakone.

All of this hinges on Mother Nature wishing me her best. We have a winter storm supposed to hit tomorrow, so I may not be able to get to the airport on Saturday morning. One inch of snow can paralyze the area - they are predicting three. :(

Thanks again for all your help!

Bob

Sucks about the weather... we're supposed to have upper 60's, blue skies and sunny on Saturday :)

I did not realize Moffet Field offered anything for tourists; so will probably try that one too

Unless you just want to drive around and look at the buildings, Moffett does not offer much in the way of a tourist attraction. There is a *very* small NASA exhibit and gift shop at the Moffett St. entrance (big white tent-like enclosure). You can view the outside of the wind tunnels and Hanger One, but that's about it.

Likewise Apple. There is really nothing at 1 Infinite Loop but a standard Apple Store.

Stanford has the largest collection of Rodin sculptures (http://museum.stanford.edu/view/outdoor_sculpture.html) outside of Paris. See Cantor Arts Center (http://museum.stanford.edu/) for a list of all their exhibits.

Stanford also has their Memorial Church (MemChu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Memorial_Church)) which is a remarkable piece of architecture. There is lots of great art everywhere you look.

The more I think about it, Stanford (and a stroll down University Avenue in Palo Alto), might be just the ticket.

The Tech museum looks interesting to me, so I'll give that a shot too. I did not realize Moffet Field offered anything for tourists; so will probably try that one too, or Hakone.

Bob

If you are getting a car and interested in the Tech museum, you may also be interested in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, which just opened some new exhibits:

http://www.computerhistory.org/

Also, your timing coincide with the lunar new year this week. There is a large Vietnamese-American community locally. They used to do parade annually. But looks like they had transitioned into a fairground type of event, may also be interesting.

http://www.hoitetfairgrounds.org/

Don't forget the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Truly a strange place.

I enjoyed the Mystery House. I'm not sure why the other poster thinks its a rip-off. It's interesting both as architecture and because of the story behind its construction.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

Woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow, icy overpasses, schools and businesses shut. Since this is Texas, by 2 p.m. it had all melted and become a lovely day. :)

You have all given me so many wonderful suggestions, I'm going to put Googlemaps to use tonight to see how I can see them.

Once again, thank you all very much, I am looking forward to a fun day tomorrow!

Bob

I'd be interested in what the OP did...

For the record, here are a few other ideas: Intel Museum, Lick Observatory, Mission Santa Clara at Santa Clara University with Mission Gardens and deSaisset Museum there, walk about Los Gatos (area with a bunch of shops and restaurants).

I grew up in SJ -- not a whole lot for a tourist, though more than before.

I enjoyed the Mystery House. I'm not sure why the other poster thinks its a rip-off. It's interesting both as architecture and because of the story behind its construction.

I should qualify my comments by saying when I last went, they were doing a local customer promotion and I paid only $2. I still felt it was a ripoff at that price, they should pay me.

Some reasons:

1. If I didn't see the guide breathing, I would have sworn she was a robot. Even then she might have been.

2. They have taken the "all paths lead you to the gift shop" to extremes I've not seen anywhere else.

3. If you could walk through it yourself with a handout, you'd be done in 15 mins max.

4. It's bounded by tacky old movie theatres and a freeway. More generally, it's in San Jose.

I should qualify my comments by saying when I last went, they were doing a local customer promotion and I paid only $2. I still felt it was a ripoff at that price, they should pay me.

Some reasons:

1. If I didn't see the guide breathing, I would have sworn she was a robot. Even then she might have been. I'm not a big fan of guided tours anywhere. Our guide wasn't bad but, to tell the truth, I was poking around the peripheries, rather than listening to her.

2. They have taken the "all paths lead you to the gift shop" to extremes I've not seen anywhere else.Well, in fairness, entry to the grounds is staged for specific times and it does provide something to do. When I was there, I grabbed a snack at the snack bar while I waited.

3. If you could walk through it yourself with a handout, you'd be done in 15 mins max.Though I'd prefer to walk through myself, I would have taken more time than the tour allows. The Mystery House is the kind of thing my wife and I love -- esoteric period architecture maintained as it was. It lets us pretend we're back in the specific period. We wouldn't have rushed through, but would have soaked up the atmosphere, imagining what it must have been like.

4. It's bounded by tacky old movie theatres and a freeway. More generally, it's in San Jose.Well, sure, but I was there to see the Mystery House, not the area around it. I was up there for business and had several hours to kill before my flight back. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Different strokes, I guess. :)