I will be traveling for business to this area in a couple of weeks. I've been to San Francisco already. What is there to do for recreation in this general area - I will have a car. I like the outdoors, hiking, art, antiques.... Any ideas?

You can tour the Santa Cruz mountains and go wine tasting at some of the wineries there (David Bruce is the best in my opinion). You can go hiking in Big Basin. There are antiques in San Juan Bautista, and it's a cute town to tour as well (a little over an hour south).

Emily,

If you like outdoors Monica's idea of Big Basin (www.bigbasin.org) is a good one. There is a steam train tour through the redwoods in nearby Felton which is also nice www.roaringcamp.com

Another idea would include spending some time in San Jose (www.sanjose.org) There is an antique row http://www.antiqueinfo.com/briarwood/antiquerow.htm
in the city on West San Carlos Street. For art I would recommend the San Jose Museum of Art www.sjmusart.org as well as the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/exhibits.html and the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art http://www.sjica.org/
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum www.rosicrucian.org is also quite interesting if you are into Egyptian mummies and artifacts. The History Museum of San Jose www.historysanjose.org which includes the History Park in Kelley Park and the Peralta Adobe and Fallon House in San Pedro Square might also be of interest to you. The touristy, but interesting Winchester Mystery House www.winchestermysteryhouse.com is a bizarre old Victorian Mansion with daily tours of both the mansion and gardens.

There are a number of art galleries as well as restaurants and nightclubs, along South First Street in what is know as the SoFA District(South First Area)

Other great restaurants can also be found in San Pedro Square www.sanpedrosquare.com

All good suggestions so far. I don't know how long you will be in town, but here are some suggestions if you have a day or two to explore.

Half Moon Bay is a nice town on the coast - take Hwy 280 North to 92 west. There is a main street with shops, restaurants and so on.

Santa Cruz is a beach town about 30-40 miles south of Half Moon Bay. The drive from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz is beautiful. There are a couple state parks along the way - Ano Nuevo and Butano State park come to mind. Or you can get to SC by taking Hwy 17 south from San Jose. In Santa Cruz you can watch the surfers, check out the Boardwalk, walk out on the wharf, get some chowder and watch the sea lions.

The art museum on Stanford's campus is open again, but check the hours because they can be pretty strange. All of Monica's suggestions are good. Big Basin is especially lovely---bigger than Muir Woods.Wineries are not open every day as in Napa. Also check Fogarty, Ridge and funky Bonny Doon.

Hey! No mention of the San Jose Giants? Sorry, my wife & I love baseball - especially Minor League. They are the Single-A affiliate of the SF Giants up north. See a future Barry Bonds for dirt cheap & enjoy the game at its purest. No Barry Bonds contracts, just playing all-out for love of the game. The ball park is one of the oldest in the nation - lots of history.

Not exactly antiquing, but the world's largest flea market is the Berryessa Flea Market in San Jose. I believe it's held every Wednesday thru Saturday. There should be a brochure in the rack at your hotel. Also if you're here the first Saturday of any month, there's a huge flea market at DeAnza College in Cupertino.

Check out Rancho San Antonio or the Baylands park for hiking. It's closer than going over to the coast to hike if your time is limited.

Welcome to Sunnyvale!

The towns of Los Gatos and Saratoga are quaint and worth exploring. From Saratoga you take highway 9 up the hill to get to Big Basin. The whole climb up is through beautiful redwoods. As has been mentioned before, Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero on the coast is a must stop for lunch and artichoke chowder.

I've asked this before, but never gotten an answer - does Duartes have anything on the menu worth eating besides artichoke soup? I've been tempted to stop there a couple times, but I don't like artichokes and the only thing I have ever heard about Duartes is the soup.

This is why this is such a great forum - all these great suggestions in such a few hours. Thank you all!