Day drives from San Jose
 

My husband and I arrive in San Jose on June 19. We want to make day trips out of San Jose and will be there for 2 weeks. We have rented a car for the trip.
Of course, we will want to see San Franciso.
But we are not sure of how much time it will take to get to sites such as Yosemite.
Do we need to make reservations for the aquarium at Monterey ahead of time?
Do you have suggestions about other day trips? My husband said that he is not intested in the wine country.
But I want to see the redwoods.

Yosemite would be pretty tough to do in a day trip because of the distance. You would need to stay at least one night....two would be better.

Since you'll be staying in San Jose, you could go to Big Basin Redwood park in the Santa Cruz mountains for the day....it's a very nice drive.

If you go to the Monterey aquarium early in the day during the week, I don't think reservations are necessary.

You may want to consider a drive to Berkeley and the east bay for another day trip.

Margy

Thank you, margy.
We will look for a place to stay closer to Yosemite.
I appreciate your suggestions and tips.
glb

You can actually drive through the redwoods from San Jose to San Francisco.

*Depart SJ north on 280
*Take Highway 84 west through the town of Woodside until you get to the 84/35 junction
*Go right (north) on 35 and you will be in the heart of the coastal redwoods
*You can continue into SF on 35 or when you get to the 35/92 junction, you can turn right (east) and merge back onto 280 north into SF.

However, a day trip to Big Basin is a better way to experience the redwoods. Get a picnic lunch or deli sandwich along the way and then go into the park and pay for the day use only. Find a picnic table and enjoy. Also, there is a small store inside the park if you want to get food there.

Another day trip could be a drive over the summit to Santa Cruz and the beach boardwalk or any beach spot in the area. I particularly enjoy Capitola and Aptos.

There are several California missions around San Jose, the prettiest is San Juan Bautista just southeast.

Another interesting outdoor area is the Pinnacles National Monument about 60 miles from San Jose. You don't hear much about it but it has really interesting geographic formations.

All of these are easily done as day trips: Golden Gate Bridge; Golden Gate Park; The Presidio; Sausalito; Angel Island; Alcatraz; Marin Headlands; Muir Woods; Mt. Tamalpais; Livermore Wine Country; Duarte's restaurant in San Gregorio; a (very scenic) ride through Highway 9 including Felton/Bonny Doon/Ben Lomond and Saratoga; Monterey/Carmel/17 mile drive/Cannery Row; anything along the ocean on Highway 1; Half Moon Bay.

Check out www.viamagazine.com and www.sfgate.com for endless lists of festivals and events in the Bay Area.

DH and I did a day trip to Pinnacles over a year ago. Some easy hikes including through caves. Though keep a watch on the weather. If we are having a hot spell in San Jose, it's usually hotter at the Pinnacles. We actually went to Santa Cruz in the morning, had an early lunch in Moss Landing at Phil's, and went to Pinnacles in the afternoon. I think we were back in San Jose by 6 ish.

Lots of good day trips in the area, and there were good suggestions you've gotten. I'd agree that you want to pick a cooler day for Pinnacles at this time of year. Avoid trying to drive out of town on Friday afternoon, or returning on Sunday afternoon.

A couple of more items to consider: the drive up to Lick Observatory on Mt Hamilton east of San Jose, maybe continuing the drive down the other side of the mountain and into Livermore if you like country roads. Check out the concert schedule for Mountain Winery; it's a really neat mid-size venue west of SJ.

We appreciate all of your suggestions. I'm getting very excited about the trip. When we get back, maybe, we will have some more tips.
Thanks, to all.
glb