Day 1: Visit Lick Observatory & the San Felipe Hills Whichever way you arrive for your weekend in San Jose, the first of matters to do in San Jose is to leave… to the San Felipe Hills, that is! Actually, you won’t be capable to do the things to do nowadays besides a car, so decide to hire one at the airport in San Jose for the day even if you don’t use it for the relaxation of the trip. 1.First Stop: Space The purpose of today’s tour is to go to Lick Observatory, a well-known historical observatory nestled in the San Felipe Hills atop Mt. Hamilton. As you know, I’m a huge house nerd, so I constantly love to go to spots like Lick – it’s additionally one of the first-class matters to do in San Jose, so even much less space-obsessed humans may discover the records fascinating – and the post-visit dinner give up is well worth for the trip it alone! Speaking of the journey… Though the distance isn’t long, it takes about one hour to force from San Jose to Lick. This is due to the fact of the winding two-lane mountain street you’ll be on.Lick Observatory has two principal public sights: the Great 36″ refractor (mentioned in the article linked above) and the Shane 3-meter telescope (a workhorse telescope used for longer observations) in a exceptional complex. It’s a exceedingly effortless 15-minute between the two observatory buildings. There’s additionally a present keep you can browse if you’re ready for a tour to start. 2.Dinner with a View After admiring the two telescopes, make your way lower back towards San Jose. Along the way, end off at the Grand View Restaurant. They have first-rate farm-to-table meals from their personal farms as properly as neighborhood suppliers. This restaurant has beautiful views out throughout the Santa Clara Valley – you can watch airplanes coming in and out of the airport and the solar set in the back of the Santa Cruz Mountains.traditional Pollo Parmigiana with tangy tomato sauce, a decadent Kabocha squash pyramid pasta drizzled in brown butter – observed by means of two cakes (Tiramisu and Butterscotch Budino). The two muffins solely came about after all that meals due to the fact we cited Watertable in Huntington Beach and the fantastic three-dessert dinner we had there! Stay till the solar goes down, then make your way safely down the mountain for the night. (I have a area on the place to remain in San Jose at the give up of this post!) Day 2: Explore Downtown San Jose Today it’s time to discover downtown San Jose – i.e. the actual San Jose the place humans stay and which you would possibly leave out if you solely go to these fancy Venture Capital dollars attempting to get your cool tech notion the funding to turn out to be a ‘unicorn.’ 1.Catch the Vibe Downtown San Jose feels like “where it’s about to be” in the Bay Area. It has the vibe of a university city on the part of commencement blended with a town about to fill up with all the hipsters and tech bros that have made the San Francisco Bay Area one of the world’s most fascinating locations to live, eat, drink, and travel. This is due to the fact of San Jose State University, shut to downtown (#collegebars) plus the reality that San Jose is one of the final fundamental housing markets reachable for tech human beings transferring from SF. It’s simply about to “be” in San Jose. Start your morning with a self-guided avenue artwork on foot tour. (I in my view did one that became out to be space-themed! ?) San Jose is a grid metropolis so it’s incredibly convenient to wander besides a route; Google Maps for sure works nicely right here too for the reason that their HQ is simply up Highway a hundred and one in neighboring Mountain View. For lunch, snatch a desk on or close to the patio at Olla Cocina. This cool Mexican restaurant is positioned in San Pedro Square and an effortless stroll from most downtown attractions. Order a horchata and the chorizo mac and cheese (or the fish tacos if you’re vegetarian) and humans watch via the storage doorways that are open most days. 2.Indoors vs. Outdoors In the afternoon, take a look at out the Tech Interactive. As the identify suggests, this science museum suggests off the first-rate of what occurs in the South Bay. But, it’s household oriented to make biotech, aerospace, and different fields way extra accessible. It’s handy to spend a few hours exploring the exhibits, some of which require queuing up for, and it’s necessary to be affected person if you choose a threat to do any of the hands-on stuff… like the jet pack chair in the area section!! If you’d as a substitute be outside, reflect onconsideration on taking a stroll alongside the Guadalupe River Trail. This city waterway has been closely modified however the trails are fantastic and take you thru some greenery. One excellent cease on the route is Little Italy. This small cluster of constructions offers you a experience of historical San Jose and some of the immigrant agencies that helped structure the metropolis in centuries past. 3.Dinner Options If you determine to remain in San Jose, eating places that capture my eye encompass Elyse, a French-Vietnamese restaurant, or Il Fornaio for Italian if you’re now not tapped out from closing night time at Grand View. (You see now there’s nevertheless an Italian affect here!) Day 3: Discover Santana Row It’s time for your ultimate day of this three days in San Jose trip! If you stayed in Santana Row remaining night, nowadays is great easy; roll up and wander the fundamental avenue (Santana Row) on every occasion you’ve completed breakfast at your hotel. If not, upward jostle and shine to get parking earlier than the crowds of day buyers flood this charming aggregate of outside mall and self-sufficient deliberate community. 1.Get Lost … however Don’t Leave Yet Beyond the flashy storefronts and hip eating places and bars, the Winchester Mystery House is by using a ways one of the high-quality matters to do in San Jose. I went in the nighttime for their Halloween tour; for the duration of the day they provide a records tour via a absolutely special section of the house. That is all to say you ought to without a doubt do their daylight tour plus any extraordinary middle of the night activities they would possibly be presenting based totally on seasons or holidays. There are no images authorised in the Winchester Mystery House, but on the tour you’ll analyze about Sarah Winchester and her weird obsession with retaining the residence – really, it’s a compound – in a steady country of construction. Be organized for disorienting flooring plans, functionless stairs and rooms, and the abnormal experience you’ve stepped into that residence you get misplaced in when you have a nightmare… Okay, possibly you ought to solely go to at some stage in the daytime! 2.Not to Be Morbid – Here’s Your Last Meal After the Winchester Mystery House, end your weekend in San Jose with lunch alongside Santana Row. There are a variety of terrific eating places in this area; all you want to do is pick out one that sounds fascinating to you. (The restaurant we ate at and which is pictured above – Sino – closed a few years ago, which is unlucky as their fancy dim sum was once delicious!) Then it’s possibly time to head home, sadly! Whether you want to fly domestic from San Jose or make your way again to SF to end your day out there, your three days in San Jose have come to an end. You’ve had the hazard to pattern the city’s views, food, and innovation that makes this South Bay vacation spot so compelling. 3.Where to Stay in San Jose As you diagram your weekend in San Jose, you may marvel the place to stay. You’ll want to e book two nights for a three-day weekend, so hold in thought which of these matters to do in San Jose that you favor to do, and the place they are, when booking. I used to be hosted at two residences in San Jose, cut up between downtown San Jose and Santana Row for one night time each. This allowed me to pattern the fine of each areas in the city.