Does this give us enough time to see anything in San Francisco? Could we rent a car and see the city? Or, should we explore somewhere else? Thanks for any help!

San Francisco is a bit of a drive( about an hour)but if you haven't been there before it would be worth it. The Winchester Mystery House is close to the San Jose Airport and really cool.

Joe's right...go to the Winchester House...it's great and will fill up the time.

Thanks for the info on the Winchester House - it looks interesting. I've never been to San Fran though and would love to see it. Is the traffic brutal? I'd even enjoy driving down to the city and walking around. Will there be anywhere to park (mid-day) and do you suggest walking around the Wharf/Presidio/elsewhere?

Depends on what time of day you are driving up to San Francisco and then driving back to San Jose. If you get caught in rush hour traffic it will take almost two hours and I'm not sure if it would be worth it. If you choose to drive up to the city you should head for Fisherman's Wharf and just pay to park in one of the lots. From there you can see the bay and the Golden Gate bridge. You can ride a cable car, eat some sourdough bread and cracked crab or clam chowder. Have an Irish coffee at the Buena Vista. Then jump back in your car and head south! If you've never been to SF you would probably feel it was worth the drive.

KCD, San Francisco is definately too far for your 7 hour layover, given the current airport situation. Frankly I'd put the Winchester Mystery House on the Been there, done that, skip it list.

I live in San Jose and if you give me some ideas about what you are interested in will give you some suggestions. You can even take public transportation to get to one or two things, believe it or not!

Feel free to email me.

Do you have a full 7 hours to be away from the airport, or 7 hours between flights? What time of day? If you're just in need of a place to pass some time, the Mystery House would be OK. I live near there and find it over rated and expensive but hey, it's in my own back yard! Depending on the time of day and the "real" amount of time, I'd head to the City. I'd take 280 N. cut over to the coast at Daly City, take Pacific Coast Hwy., stop at the Cliff House (just to walk around). There's a small restaurant just north for a bite to eat, drive around Golden Gate Park, stop at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge (get out for a few moments) make your way to Lombard Street, a quick drive through the Wharf area (you can meter park even if it's for 30 minutes), make your way to Van Ness which is Hwy 101 and head back to the airport. I do this when friends come from out of town and we never spend more than seven hours away from home unless we include a museum stop or a relaxing meal. It can be done but it definately depends on the time of day. Hope this helps.

I live in San Jose. All these people are trying to politely tell you that the drive from the airport to San Francisco is about 60 miles and doable.........if the traffic is okay. That is a big "if". You may be okay on the way up and bad on the way back. I would personally just stay in the San Jose area.

Downtown SJ has the TECH MUSEUM that is new and has an IMAX theatre. They currently have the space capsule that sunk in the 60s and was recently recovered on display along with many other great exhibits. I have never been to the Mysterey House so cannot tell you about that.

Another drive of about 1 hour 15 minutes from the airport is the Monterey Peninsula that has Carmel, Monterey and the 17 Mile Drive. That may be a possibility. But knowing what I know about the Bay Area traffic, I would never recommend someone try to see SF and make it back to San Jose for a flight with only 7 hours. That will be close unless you never get out of your car and just drive. Good luck!

I agree with Bob, to try to go to SF from San Jose with just seven hours in between flights is madness. I absolutely would not recommend it. I think the Mystery House is a cheesy waste of time, and expensive to boot! I would recommend that you go to downtown San Jose, very close to the airport, and go to the Tech Museum and have a nice lunch (or dinner) at a restaurant somewhere. If this is before Christmas, Christmas in the Park will also be up so you could walk around and look at the displays.

SF is definitely too far and too much of a gamble to go to. Mystery House is a waste of time as well. I went there several years ago and was very disappointed. If you're interested, you could stop by Standford Universty and the Paolo Alto area. It's very beautiful place. There's also Los Gatos closer to SJ.

The traffic is just too unpredictable to try San Francisco. San Jose has a fine Egyptian Museum, The Rosecrucian. First rate. The Japanese Gardens are also very nice. There are some excellent restaurants. If we knew what you like, we could recommend some.

Hi KCD,
I second the Tech Museum which is in downtown San Jose across from the Fairmount Hotel. I really liked it the last time I was there. You can also walk around the artsy area of San Jose which is a nice stroll and have a bite to eat at several cafes. You can take a taxi to all of this. There's also some beautiful hiking areas in the valley that you could explore (look on the citysearch.com site under Silicon Valley) as this is the time of year the waterfalls are at their best. You could drive to Santa Cruz and walk along the beach and shops. This drive is farther (maybe an hour) but you would have less traffic than trying to get up to SF.

Hope this helps.

Dawn,

Please tell me where the waterfalls are in Silicon Valley-San Jose? That would be big news to me.

Dick

Dick, cut and pasted from citysearch.com, just as Dawn suggested (I was curious about waterfalls in San Jose area also ;-)).

Berry Creek Falls Trail
A challenging trek through ancient redwoods to the Bay Area's biggest waterfall.

Big Basin Way
Big Basin State Park, CA
Phone: (831) 338-8860

What You'll See
You can see redwood trees in many parts of the Bay Area, but none quite so impressive as the 2000-year-old matriarchs that inspired the creation of California's first state park, Big Basin, in 1902. Deep in the backcountry of this stately preserve you'll find Berry Creek Falls, the Bay Area's largest waterfall (not in height, but in volume). The hike to the falls takes you through mile after mile of ancient redwood forest and along a series of cascades, none quite as big as Berry Creek Falls but all equally beautiful.

The Route
From Big Basin State Park headquarters, follow the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail approximately six miles west to the junction with Berry Creek Falls Trail. Go north on Berry Creek Falls Trail for a little over a mile, past Silver Falls and Golden Cascade Falls, to the Sunset Trail. Go east on Sunset Trail approximately five miles to the instersection with Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail and the return to park headquarters.

Thanks Susan, however, Big Basin is definitely not in Silicon Valley.

I'm also not really sure that kcd would want to drive all of the way over to Big Basin (probably on Hgwy. 9) and then walk a good piece to see a waterfall.

Let's face it, with a seven hour layover, there isn't a whole lot to do in San Jose. Sad, but true.

Dick

The current security situation makes any trip of more than 5 or 10 miles out of the question -- Since you have to be back at the airport a minimum of 2 1/2 hours prior to the flight out. Stay in central San Jose or maybe a drive up to Palo Alto to see Stanford Univ. or shop.

But north to SF or SW to Santa Cruz or the redwoods would be a big mistake. Unless you have a full fare ticket and can afford to miss your connection.

Dear kcd,
Unless you like to live dangerously, I think you'd better forget about going too far afield on this trip. If you run out and jump in a taxi, you could get to San Francisco in an hour, unless it's peak traffic time (which could be almost any time these days). If you want to rent a car, allow an hour and a half and that doesn't include getting lost in the city. If you want to be back at the airport two hours ahead of your departing flight, that leaves you about two hours to see San Francisco--not enough, in my book. Depending upon your interests, you could have an enjoyable time in San Jose. Nobody has suggested a nice lunch at Eulipia, Il Fornaio, Gordon Birsch Brewery, or La Pastia--just to name a few. You could stroll over to the San Jose Museum of Art or the Tech Museum. You could have a martini at the cozy bar in the De Anza Hotel or ride roller coasters over at Great America. You could even see a mummy at the Rosecrucian Museum.