San Jose, California

San Jose, California
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Panoramic_Downtown_San_Jose.jpg
Author: XAtsukex


San Jose, located on the southern end of San Francisco Bay, is the third largest city in California, and the tenth largest in the United States. It is also the county seat for Santa Clara County. The city, which sits on the greater San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, with a population of 7.5 million, is a major location of high technology industries in the United States. It is often called the Capital of Silicon Valley.

Mission Santa Clara de Asis at the Santa Clara University, San Jose
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mission_Santa_Clara.jpg
Author: JaGa


San Jose was founded on 29 November, 1777, and was originally known as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. Once a farming town, it experienced rapid growth in the 1950's. Its position as the center of Silicon Valley triggered the highest increase in real estate prices in the country. Between 1976 and 2001, property prices in San Jose rose by 936%.

Despite its importance to the U.S. economy, San Jose sits of the volatile San Andreas Fault, an area seriously prone to earthquakes. Numerous major quakes have rocked the area in the past one hundred years, the last major one happening in 1989.

As with much of the Bay Area, San Jose experiences a Mediterranean Climate. The position of mountains on three sides of the city shelters it from rain, creating a semiarid feel to the city. It gets only a third of the precipitation of the coastal parts of the Bay Areas. Warmest months are July and August, with average high temperature of 84°F (28.9°C). Coolest months are December and January, with average low reaching 41.7°F (5.4°C).

Tower Hall, San Jose State University
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Jose_SU_Tower_Hall.jpg
Author: roarofthefour

Travel to San Jose

By Plane
The Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is the main airport in the Bay Area serving San Jose. It receives direct flights from major cities in the United States. Arriving at the airport, you have the option for leaving it by door-to-door shuttles, hotel shuttles, scheduled public buses, rental cars and taxis. If you plan to do a lot of exploring, I would suggest that you rent a car.

The other two airports are the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Oakland International Airport (OAK).

By Train
The train lines that pass through San Jose are Caltrain, Capital Corridor, Coast Starlight and Altamont Commuter Express.

By Road
Take US Highway 101 or Interstate 280 from San Francisco.

Winchester Mystery House
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winchester_House_Front.jpg
Author: Ben Franske

Travel within San Jose

Having a car at your own disposal is the most convenient way to explore San Jose. The public transportation in San Jose is mananged by VTA (Valley Transportation Authority). It comprises public buses and some Light Rail (within the Mountain View-Winchester route and Alum Rock-Santa Teresa route). You can buy the all-day pass for $5.

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rc_egyptian_museum.jpg
Author: Zarathustra

Places of Interest in San Jose

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.