This is a list of

tourist attractions A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...

in and around

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

, it includes parts or most of

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

, and

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. A ...

Arboreta and gardens

* Arizona Cactus Garden, Stanford University * Chinese Cultural Garden, San Jose * Emma Prusch Farm Park, San Jose * Filoli Estate, Woodside *Gamble Gardens, Palo Alto * Hakone Gardens, Saratoga * Japanese Friendship Garden, at Kelley Park, San Jose * Overfelt Gardens, East San Jose * San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, downtown San Jose *San Mateo Japanese Tea Garden,

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, San Mateo, designed by Nagao Sakurai. *

Stanford University Arboretum The Stanford University Arboretum is an arboretum located on the grounds of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is open to the public daily without charge. Background The arboretum began with the indigenous live oaks on Leland Stan ...

, Stanford University * Villa Montalvo Arboretum, Saratoga

Cultural

Art

This is a list of Silicon Valley art museums and art collectives/cooperatives. * The Anderson Collection, at Stanford University, Stanford * Allied Arts Guild, Menlo Park * De Saisset Museum, at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, Santa Clara * Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, Stanford * The Lace Museum, Sunnyvale * New Museum Los Gatos, Los Gatos * Pacific Art League, Palo Alto * Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto *

San Jose Museum of Art The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum in downtown San Jose, California, United States. Founded in 1969, the museum holds a permanent collection with an emphasis on West Coast artists of the 20th and 21st cent ...

, downtown San Jose * San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose * The Foster Museum, Palo Alto * Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara *

Montalvo Arts Center The Montalvo Arts Center is a non-profit center for the arts in Saratoga, California, United States. Open to the public, Montalvo comprises a cultural and arts center, a park, hiking trails and the historic Villa Montalvo, an Italian Mediterran ...

, Saratoga, California

Dance

* Ballet San Jose, downtown San Jose (closed 2018) * sjDANCEco, downtown San Jose

Estate

* Emma Prusch Farm Park, San Jose * Filoli Estate, Woodside * Gamble Gardens, Palo Alto * Rengstorff House, Mountain View * Villa Montalvo, Saratoga * Winchester Mystery House, West San Jose

Faith-based

* Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, downtown San Jose * Five Wounds Portuguese National Church,

Little Portugal, San Jose Little Portugal is a historic neighborhood of San Jose, California, and historically the center of the local Portuguese-American community. Little Portugal is home to numerous Portuguese businesses, including Adega (San Jose's first restauran ...

* Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose, East San Jose * Stanford Memorial Church, at Stanford University

Historical

* Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia, Burlingame * Circle of Palms Plaza, downtown San Jose * De Anza Hotel, downtown San Jose * Forbes Mill, Los Gatos * Hangar One, Mountain View * Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos * History Park at Kelley Park, Willow Glen (south-central San Jose) * Japanese American Museum of San Jose, San Jose *Little Italy San Jose, San Jose * Mexican Heritage Plaza, East San Jose * Museum of American Heritage, Palo Alto *

New Almaden New Almaden, known in Spanish language, Spanish as Nueva Almadén, is a historic community and former mercury (element), mercury mine in the Capitancillos Hills of San Jose, California, located at the southwestern point of Almaden Valley, San Jo ...

, Quicksilver Mining Museum * New Museum Los Gatos, Los Gatos *The

HP Garage The HP Garage is a private museum where the company Hewlett-Packard (HP) was founded. It is located at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California. It is considered to be the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley". In the 1930s, Stanford University and ...

, Palo Alto * Los Altos History Museum, Los Altos *

Peralta Adobe The Peralta Adobe (), also known as the Luis María Peralta Adobe or the Gonzales-Peralta Adobe, is the oldest building in San Jose, California. The adobe was built in 1797 by José Manuel Gonzeles, one of the founders of San Jose, and is named ...

, downtown San Jose * Portuguese Historical Museum, East San Jose * Viet Museum, East San Jose * Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, downtown San Jose *

San Mateo County History Museum The San Mateo County History Museum is located in downtown Redwood City, California. Housed inside the former courthouse built in 1910 for the San Mateo County Superior Court, the museum showcases the rich history of San Mateo County and the su ...

, downtown Redwood City * San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, downtown San Jose * Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum, Sunnyvale * Winchester Mystery House, West San Jose

Music

* Choral Project, downtown San Jose * Fox Theatre, Redwood City * Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, downtown San Jose * Opera San Jose, downtown San Jose * Symphony Silicon Valley, downtown San Jose * Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose, San Jose

Theatre

* Broadway by the Bay, Redwood City * City Lights Theater Company of San Jose, San Jose * Hillbarn Theatre, Foster City * Los Altos Stage Company, Los Altos * Montgomery Theater, San Jose * Palo Alto Players Theatre Company, Palo Alto * Pear Theatre, Mountain View * Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory, Portola Valley * Ram's Head Theatrical Society, Stanford University * San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, downtown San Jose * San Jose Improv, downtown San Jose * San Jose Repertory Theatre, downtown San Jose * San Jose Stage Company, San Jose * Sierra Repertory Theatre, San Jose * Sunnyvale Community Players, Sunnyvale * Tabard Theatre Company, San Jose * TheatreWorks Theatre Company, Palo Alto and Mountain View

Children's Theatre

* Children's Musical Theater San Jose, San Jose * Palo Alto Children's Theatre Company, Palo Alto * Peninsula Youth Theatre, Mountain View * Pied Piper Players, San Mateo * Roberta Jones Junior Theatre, Santa Clara * San Carlos Children's Theater, San Carlos * Silicon Valley Children's Musical Theater, San Jose * Willow Glen Children's Theatre, San Jose

Other

* Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, downtown San Jose * San Jose City Hall, downtown San Jose * San Jose Flea Market, Berryessa (northeast San Jose)

Event venues

This is a list of larger event venues. *

PayPal Park PayPal Park (formerly Earthquakes Stadium and Avaya Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, California. It is the home stadium of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Bay FC of the National Women's Soccer League ...

, San Jose * Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara * California Theatre, downtown San Jose *City National Civic Events, San Jose * Event Center Arena, downtown San Jose * The Flint Center for the Performing Arts, Cupertino *

Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, United States, just west of the much larger city of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (N ...

, Santa Clara *Lucie Stern Theater, Palo Alto *Montgomery Theater, San Jose * San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, downtown San Jose * San Jose Civic Auditorium, downtown San Jose * San Jose Convention Center, downtown San Jose * San Jose Municipal Stadium, downtown San Jose * San Jose Repertory Theatre, downtown San Jose *

Santa Clara Convention Center The Santa Clara Convention Center is located in northern Santa Clara, California. It serves as one of the large meeting and convention facilities in Silicon Valley, with of meeting space. It was built in 1986 and expanded in 2009. The conventio ...

, Santa Clara * SAP Center at San Jose, downtown San Jose * Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View * Spartan Stadium, downtown San Jose *

Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencement exercises. Opened in 19 ...

, Stanford

Events

BayCon BayCon is the San Francisco Bay Area's longest-running fan-run science fiction convention, speculative fiction convention. It was held over Memorial Day weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area, California but moved to July 4th, Independence Day (U ...

, Santa Clara * Christmas in the Park, downtown San Jose *

Cinequest Film Festival The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It ...

, multiple venues * FanimeCon, downtown San Jose *Los Altos Art and Wine Festival, Los Altos *Mountain View Art and Wine Festival, Mountain View *Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, Palo Alto * San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, downtown San Jose * San Jose Bike Party, monthly bicycle ride in San Jose area, different route each time * San Jose Jazz Festival, downtown San Jose * Stanford Jazz Festival, Stanford University

Parks and trails

* Almaden Lake Park, South San Jose *

Almaden Quicksilver County Park Almaden Quicksilver County Park is a 4,163 acres (17 km2) park that includes the grounds of former mercury ("quicksilver") mines adjacent to south San Jose, California, USA. The park's elevation varies greatly: the most used entrances ( ...

, South San Jose *

Alum Rock Park Alum Rock Park, in the Alum Rock, San Jose, Alum Rock district of San Jose, California, San Jose, California, is California's oldest municipal park, established in 1872 but serving as public land since the pueblo was established in 1777. Located ...

, East San Jose * Bay Area Ridge Trail, surrounds and crosses the valley * Belgatos Park and connected Heintz, and Santa Rosa open space preserves, Los Gatos * Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz Mountains * Castle Rock State Park, Santa Cruz Mountains *

Coyote Creek Trail The Coyote Creek Trail is a pedestrian and cycling trail along Coyote Creek in San Jose, California, which continues into Coyote Valley and northern Morgan Hill. The Coyote Creek Trail was designated part of the National Recreation Trail sy ...

, San Jose to Morgan Hill * Ed R. Levin County Park, Milpitas * Fremont Older Open Space Preserve, Saratoga * Grant Ranch Park, East San Jose/Mount Hamilton *

Guadalupe River Trail The Guadalupe River Trail is an pedestrian and bicycle path in the city of San Jose, California. The path runs along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The trail is currently composed of two discontinuous segments: a shorter "upper" segment in ...

, downtown San Jose, Willow Glen and South San Jose * Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz Mountains * Kelley Park, Willow Glen (south-central San Jose) * Lake Cunningham, East San Jose * Los Alamitos Creek Trail, South San Jose * Los Gatos Creek Trail, West San Jose, Campbell and Los Gatos * Mission Peak, Fremont, California *

Plaza de César Chávez The Plaza de César Chávez is an urban plaza and park in Downtown San Jose, California. The plaza's origins date to 1797 as the ''plaza mayor'' of the Alta California, Spanish ''Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe'', making it the oldest public sp ...

, downtown San Jose * Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, Santa Cruz Mountains * Rosicrucian Park, downtown San Jose *

San Francisco Bay Trail The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that when finished will allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2020, of the trail have been completed. When finished, the trail will be over of pa ...

, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose and Milpitas * Sanborn Park, Saratoga and Santa Cruz Mountains * Santa Teresa County Park, South San Jose * Shoreline Park, Mountain View, Mountain View * Stevens Creek Trail, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Mountain View *

Uvas Canyon County Park Uvas Canyon County Park is a natural park located in upper Uvas Canyon on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains, west of Morgan Hill, California. The park has several small waterfalls, some of which flow perennially, that feed into trib ...

, west of Morgan Hill * Vasona Park, Los Gatos * Villa Montalvo Arboretum, Saratoga See additional parks, hiking trails, and open space preserves at: Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Science, technology and education

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose (CDM) is a cultural institution serving children, families, and schools in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area. A member of the Association of Children's Museums and the Association of Science and Tech ...

, downtown San Jose *

Computer History Museum The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a computer museum in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the Information Age, and explores the Digital Revolution, computing revolution and its impact ...

, Mountain View * CuriOdyssey, Coyote Point Recreation Area, San Mateo * DeAnza College Fujitsu Planetarium, Cupertino *EcoCenter, Palo Alto Baylands, Palo Alto *

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The ...

, Mount Hamilton, San Jose * Museum of American Heritage, Palo Alto * NASA Ames Exploration Center, Mountain View * Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, Palo Alto * San Jose electric light tower (model, in History Park at Kelley Park, San Jose) *

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, downtown San Jose *

, Santa Clara *

, Stanford *

The Tech Interactive The Tech Interactive (formerly The Tech Museum of Innovation, commonly known as The Tech) is a science and technology center that offers hands-on activities, labs, design challenges and other STEAM fields, STEAM education resources. It is locate ...

, formerly The Tech Museum of Innovation, downtown San Jose

Technology campuses

Apple Park Apple Park, also known as Apple Campus 2, is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located in Cupertino, California, United States. It was opened to employees in April 2017, while construction was still underway. It replaced Apple Campus as ...

, Cupertino *

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

headquarters, Menlo Park *

Googleplex The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google. It is located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The original complex, with of office space, is the company's second largest square footage assemblage of ...

, Mountain View * Intel Museum, Intel campus, Santa Clara

Shopping

* Eastridge Center, East San Jose * Great Mall of the Bay Area, Milpitas * Hillsdale Shopping Center, San Mateo * Pruneyard Shopping Center, Campbell * San Antonio Shopping Center, Mountain View * Santana Row, West San Jose * Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto * Westfield Oakridge, South San Jose * Westfield Valley Fair, West San Jose * Westgate Mall, West San Jose

Theme parks and tours

* Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, Los Gatos * California's Great America, Santa Clara (formerly "''Paramount's Great America''") * Gilroy Gardens, Gilroy (formerly "''Bonfante Gardens''") * Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, Willow Glen (south-central San Jose) * CaliBunga Waterpark, East San Jose * Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad, Santa Cruz Mountains

Vineyards and wineries

* Byington Vineyard, Los Gatos * David Bruce Winery, Los Gatos * J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines, downtown San Jose * Mountain Winery, Saratoga * Picchetti Brothers Winery, Cupertino * Rabbits Foot Meadery, Sunnyvale * Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards, Saratoga

References

External links

Things to do
at City of San Jose
Activities
at San Jose/Silicon Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau
List of attractions
at SanJose.com
List of events
at ''San Jose Mercury News''
Moffett Field Museum and ToursJapanese American Museum of San Jose and Tours
{{San Jose and Silicon Valley attractions