San Jose is surely a tech-hub of Silicon Valley, that might attract more coders than travellers in your perspective! But this bustling city near California’s Bay Area surrounded by rolling stones is the ideal place to explore in a week. Ranging from iconic Architectural landmarks, from 1883 Italianate-style designs to Spanish Colonial Revival structures. There is nothing that can pull your travel spirits down in San Jose. I have meticulously created a list of the 10 best places to visit in San Jose in a week. Such a tour saves your money & time. So don’t let me down while browsing another top 100 listed destinations of San Jose that you might not be able to cover even in years! Let’s slide straight into the brief tour guide to explore San Jose in a week.
List of 10 Places to Enjoy in San Jose for Weekend
1. Municipal Rose Garden
It is renowned as America’s best rose garden. This place should be on your must-visit list if you want to see beautiful varieties of roses in one place. It has more than 150 varieties and contains 3500 plants making this place a bed of roses! Thousands of tourists visit the Municipal Rose Garden of San Jose every year.
2. Museums
San Jose has world-renowned museums and one of them is the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum; it started with a small artefact that was a lion goddess statue years back but now it has more than 4000 artefacts which make it the largest collection of authentic ancient Egyptian artefacts on display in western North America. This museum receives thousands of visitors including children and along with the Alchemy garden and planetarium it also serves as an educational institution. Another museum is Children Discovery Museum; it is one of its kind and has won many awards in its name. It exhibits arts, science, innovations and different programmes and always showcases new technologies. It is a very interesting place for children as it provides hands-on exhibits, broad themes of community and leaves them to explore more.
3. Santana Row
It is one of the famous places located in the heart of San Jose with neatly architecture buildings, beautifully carved streets for shopping lovers; yes you guessed it right this place is full of shops, boutiques. Fashion shows are arranged frequently on the streets thus bringing life and entertainment together.
4. Happy Hallo Park & Zoo
This park is more than 50 years old. It is best suited for families. It includes a play and amusement area for children and also has a zoo area with over 140 animals from lemurs to horses.
5. The Tech Interactive
To the science lovers and techies out there this place is for you, perfect for family outings it is a science and technology centre located downtown San Jose. It is marked as the most inventive place on earth with the largest IMAX Dome screen in the west and the first in the world with a 4K laser projector. Displaying the latest inventions and programmes, it has a fabulous sound system and mind-blowing screen display.
6. Japanese Friendship Garden
Who doesn’t want to escape from the busy and fast life of the city to get some peace, on visiting this place you can enjoy the view and admire nature and its beauty. It gives the same vibes as Okiama city. You can sit peacefully at one of the tea houses and enjoy koi ponds. This park is available for wedding ceremonies and various other occasions. The scenery is so wonderful that you will forget the world.
7. SAP Centre
Commonly known as the San Jose arena, it is an indoor space for various sports activities. It is a primary tenant as the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League or shark tank. Many sports events take place and it also holds the record for selling the fourth-highest number of tickets in the world.
8. Almaden Quick silver Park
If you want to know the history of mining in America then you should visit this place. Now mining is closed but you can see the San Cristobal mine area from behind the closed gates. You can explore this park through trails and it also has hiking trails and biking trails. If you get tired of walking then there are many picnic benches scattered out there, isn’t it great? It serves as a great place for adventure and fun with friends. DO NOT forget to bring drinking water as no potable is available.
9. Bars and restaurants
American beers and wines are world-famous. So here are some breweries and beer bars for you to enjoy a vacation with a little taste of wine. Camino brewing company located downtown San Jose serves authentic and flavoured beer. Another spot is B Bar which is located in hotel Valencia, having stylish decor and it serves specialised handcrafted drinks.
10. Japantown
Japantown is a renowned historical area in the United States that boasts the culture of Japanese immigrants who visited the states 20 years ago. Now this place is a melting pot of numerous restaurants and storefronts claiming their variable mix of cultures. Jtown, also comprises art galleries, fresh markets, and historical monuments that you must not miss on a weekday tour of San Jose.
Hope you liked the above-mentioned list of top 10 things to do in San Jose on weekends. There are endless options yet exploring the city in a week is a great task to accomplish. San Jose readers out there, please do comment if there’s anything more interesting to explore in a week at San Jose. Till the Adios Amigos guys!