I'm visiting this area from the UK - been to SFO before. What is there to do?

No-body got any advice? I'm staggered

I live in San Jose. If you fly into the San Jose airport you are close to the Monterey Peninsula.... home to Pebble Beach golf, Carmel, Pacific Grove and Clint Eastwood. A beautiful area and about 1 and 1 half hour drive from the airport. Then on to Big Sur and the Hearst Castle on the coast.

Downtown San Jose is also nice with good restaurants, the Tech Museum and San Jose Arena..home to the Sharks Hockey team in season.

San Francisco is about 1 hour drive north. You could write a book about that city as many have done.

The small towns of Los Gatos and Saratoga are also worth a visit. Still small town feel and quaint. Plus a drive into the Santa Cruz mountains has plenty to explore and see.

If you have any specific questions, just email me. I will be happy to help in any way I can.

If you have the time - Go to Yosemite National Park. It is a few hours away and will require at least a couple of nights - but it is sure worth it.

Although touristy, I think the Winchester House in San Jose is a riot. Very interesting rambling old house built by a crazy hermit lady.

Ms. Winchester was the heiress of the Winchester Rifle fortune, and paranoid and superstitious in the in the extreme. For some reason, she believed she'd come to great harm if she ever finished building her mansion, so she continued to add to it and renovate until the time of her death. She was obsessed with the number 13, and had components of her house custom-built to reflect that, e.g., laundry sinks with 13 ridges in the scrubboards and thirteen holes in the drain. Plenty of stairways and doors leading nowhere...to confuse the ghosts.

Another strange find in SJ is the Rosicrucian Society museum--Egyptian relics.

There are wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the original redwood preserve is at Big Basin State Park. Elephant seals at Ano Nuevo beach. Santa Cruz, just over the hill via Rt. 17, is a beach town, "Surf City, U.S.A." full of surfers and middle aged hippies who never left the 60s. Has a great old boardwalk with an old wooden roller coaster. You can take a surfing lesson from near the fishing pier--they will include wetsuits and boards and guarantee you'll get up during your first lesson. Some great Mexican food in San Jose. Outdoor concerts in summer in Saratoga. Hard to suggest without knowing what you like to do.

Neal Sanders spent a week in San Jose one night. Do a search on:

One Traveler's Opinion: San Jose and the Fairmont Hotel

Having replied to Neal at the time, his fatal fault was that he didn't have a car! You really can't visit this area without a car! Otherwise, there are some nice little restaurants, the Tech Museum and the Fairmont in the heart of the city, but that is certainly boring after one/two days. You have got to have wheels to enjoy the SJ area and then you'll have a great time. It's totally the opposite of SF.