KAYAK - San Jose, California Travel Guide

San Jose Travel

Popular California (CA) Destinations

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San Jose Airports

San Jose Vacations

San Jose was founded in 1717 and is Northern California’s largest city thanks in part to the prosperity of Silicon Valley. Filled with trendy restaurants, a state-of-the-art light rail system, and a sports arena, it also has lots of museums for tourists to wander through like Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium filled with Egyptian wonders; the Tech Museum of Innovation, where visitors get to try their hand at some really cool high-tech activities; and the San Jose Museum of Art with its permanent and revolving art collections. While in the city, it might also be fun to check out the Winchester Mystery House with one-hundred-sixty rooms of twisty mayhem set up to fool the angry evil spirits its former owner once believe resided there.

Popular San Jose Hotels

Moorpark Hotel, a Joie de Vivre Boutique Hotel
4241 Moorpark Avenue

Valley Park Hotel
2404 Stevens Creek Boulevard

San Jose Airport Garden Hotel
1740 North 1st Street

Hotel De Anza
233 West Santa Clara Street

Four Points by Sheraton San Jose Downtown
211 South First Street

San Jose Marriott
301 South Market Street (Downtown)

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Top rated attractions in San Jose

1.	Winchester Mystery House Winchester Mystery House began in 1884 when the widow of the rifle magnate’s son consulted a seer after losing her infant daughter and husband. Told that the family had been targeted by evil spirits who would only be appeased by perpetual construction on the mansion, the widow financed thirty-eight years of twenty-four/seven continuous building. The end result is a house that consists of one-hundred-sixty rooms that covers six acres, filled with oddities like doors that open to blank walls, thirteen bathrooms, thirteen windows and doors in the sewing room, a chandelier with thirteen lights, and thirteen palms that line the main driveway. « hide
2.	The ArtCar Fest The ArtCar Fest is an annual part of the San Jose Art Museum that happens in September and ends on a Sunday with the How Berkeley Can You Be? Festival with over one-hundred modified cars that express not only American’s love of cars but also their love of self-expression like the Cathedral car and the Cowasaki, a life-size, cow-shaped motorcycle. The festival’s highlight is a brand-new ArtCar that is auctioned off allowing the winner to join in the parade each year. « hide
3.	Enjoy the San Jose Jazz Festival For tourists who are visiting during August, the Comcast San Jose Jazz Festival is an annual event that takes place at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, and features over one-thousand musicians who perform on various stages. The individual stages feature blues, world jazz, Latin jazz, and salsa. Besides the music, the festival includes a gala opening, jam sessions, and discussions. Tickets cost five dollars for the entire day and kids under the age of twelve are free. « hide
4.	San Jose Historical Museum The San Jose Historical Museum is situated on twenty-five acres in Kelley Park and consists of twenty-six original and replica building that have been restored and represent what life was like in the 1880s in San Jose. Buildings include an 1888 Chinese temple and the original Stevens fruit barn as well as a post office, printer, and doctor’s office. « hide
5.	The Children’s Discovery Museum The Children's Discovery Museum features over one-hundred-fifty interactive exhibits, workshops, and shows that explore technology, the arts, humanities, and science. ZoomZone was designed by kids for kids and consists of art and science activities, and Bubbalogna is a favorite exhibit that explores the world of bubbles. Smaller children can dress up in costumes and play on the fire truck as well. « hide
6.	San Jose Museum of Art San Jose Museum of Art is a contemporary art museum with a permanent collection that features contemporary art and revolving exhibitions with post 1980 works as well as a Historic Wing with a bookstore, education center, and café. Public tours are offered daily at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. At 12:30 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month, the hearing-impaired and deaf can take advantage of a tour that is signed. « hide
7.	Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium is all about reincarnation and the afterlife as depicted by the ancient Egyptians and features human and animal mummies, canopic jars, and funerary boats along with bronze tools, pottery and jewelry. Also featured is a replica of a noble Egyptian tomb. « hide
8.	The Tech Museum of Innovation The Tech Museum of Innovation is located in a 132,000 sq. ft. facility that allows its visitors to create their own virtual roller coaster ride, operate an underwater remotely operated vehicle, survive an earthquake on a giant shaker table, and play with a lot of other high-tech toys. Also featured is an IMAX Dome Theater, Virtual Bobsled Ride, and Jet Pack simulator. « hide
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Top rated restaurants in San Jose

1.	Paolo's Paolo's is popular with the lunch crowd and features northern Italian cuisine with a menu that changes seasonally and includes items like tuna carpaccio with capers, sea scallops baked in foil with romaine lettuce, black truffle, herbs, and pancetta, veal saltimbocca, as well as desserts like semifreddo of cookies and cream or chocolate torte with orange-caramel sauce. A prix fixe lunch is also available. « hide	6.	Sousa’s Restaurant Sousa’s Restaurant is an informal little restaurant that offers Portuguese cuisine featuring all types of fish and seafood dishes including crab legs, lobster, clams, and octopus stew. « hide
2.	Villaggio Restaurant Villaggio Restaurant is a casual Italian restaurant also popular with the lunch crowd with an open kitchen featuring dishes like fusilli siciliani, pastas, veal, and seafood entrees. « hide	7.	Eulipia Restaurant and Bar Eulipia Restaurant and Bar serves up Californian cuisine along with other American favorites with menu items like Southern fried chicken, New England clam chowder, and Idaho river trout. « hide
3.	Bella Mia Bella Mia offers up Italian cuisine in an elegant atmosphere with popular dishes that include flatbread pizzas, roasted duck, and seafood pastas. They also have happy hours specials on small plates and drinks during the week. « hide	8.	A.P. Stump's Chophouse A.P. Stump's Chophouse is a favorite, classy spot for couples with a club-like atmosphere that features entrees like Maine lobster, rib eye, and lamb. The bar is also a popular spot with live jazz featured Tuesday thru Saturday. « hide
4.	Emile's Emile's features contemporary European cuisine in an elegant atmosphere like New Zealand lamb rack with rosemary lamb jus reduction, veal tenderloin medallions with white gulf prawns, and Sonoma foie gras as well as chocolate truffle cake for dessert. « hide	9.	The Grill on the Alley The Grill on the Alley has private dining rooms as well as an intimate main dining room with leather booths and is famous for its hand-stirred martinis as well as prime rib, fillet mignon, and grilled seafood. « hide
5.	Menara Moroccan Restaurant Menara Moroccan Restaurant spells exotic with a tile fountain, arched entrance, pillowed couches, an occasional belly dancer, and waiters wearing fezzes. The menu contains items like seasoned hare, honeyed lamb, and Moroccan pigeon pie with items like homemade baklava for dessert. « hide	10.	Gordon Biersch Brewery Gordon Biersch Brewery is a chain brewpub that is popular and is known for a flavor-packed menu that features pizzas, pastas, salads, sandwiches, and main entrees as well as its German ales and lagers. The weekends can get fairly crowded and is popular with the twenty-one to thirty-five crowd. Summer time also means live music. « hide

San Jose Insider tips

Areas to Avoid in San Jose

Even though San Jose is listed by the FBI as one of the safest large cities in the United States, like any big city, there are a couple of areas that should be avoided. There are some rough neighborhoods that can be found in the Cambrian Park and Alum Rock areas. Capitol, King, and Story are the absolute roughest areas in the city. Another place to avoid is the downtown area after a Sharks game as it can become congested with people and cars all trying to get home. « hide

Driving in San Jose

For those tourists who are either driving to San Jose or are planning to rent a car, it is important to know that the driving can become fairly hazardous with too many drivers, especially on major highways. The county has outgrown its highway system and the locals tend to drive faster than the posted speed limits and have limited patience with slower drivers on the highway, cutting in and out of vehicles and tailgating slower cars until that vehicle moves over to the slow lane. Pedestrians should also be careful when crossing the street as drivers often don’t stop when turning the corner on downtown and other major streets. « hide

San Jose nightlife

Club Cuccini

Club Cuccini features two large dance floors and a large garden patio in a lively dance club that plays host to live entertainers and Mash up DJs weekly. Also featured is the “bringing back $2 Tuesdays” with draft beers, cocktails, and Jello shots all costing $2 each as well as late night barbecues. They also sell blended and pure tobaccos for people who like to smoke hookahs. « hide

Voodoo Lounge

Voodoo Lounge is yet another dance club that features lava lamps and dim lighting with Bay area DJs that play house hip-hop, trance, dance, techno, and the top forty tunes as well as a few nights that have MC throw downs with rappers that square off on stage. There is also a private loft-style lounge upstairs with a huge dance floor and VIP area. « hide

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