San Jose

Understand

El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe (literally, the Town of Saint Joseph of Guadalupe) was founded by José Joaquín Moraga in 1777 near the present day intersection of Guadalupe Parkway and West Taylor Street. In 1797, the pueblo was moved to the Plaza Pueblo (now Plaza de César Chávez), around which San Jose grew.

True to its location in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is now home to the headquarters of many tech companies such as Cisco Systems, eBay, and Adobe Systems.

There are so many different neighborhoods in the large geographic area of San Jose that, depending on where you are, you might not know if you're still in the same city. Like most Bay Area towns and cities, San Jose is an expensive place to live (many basic houses easily top $1M in price). Some of the hip areas to live these days are in San Jose's downtown area, for those who prefer urban living, or Santana Row for a mixed living, shopping and dining community. You can find vintage California charm in the neighborhoods of Willow Glen and Rose Garden. The woodsy area of Almaden Valley is known for its excellent schools, and Silver Creek is known for its subdivisions of sprawling "McMansions." Evergreen is in East San Jose, right at the foothills of the city. Evergreen has some more affordable housing and is very residential. Since it is at the foothills, east San Jose is not as accessible as the other neighborhoods. Evergreen has excellent views of the foothills and many parks and recreational areas. Groseprick Park is right in the heart of Evergreen and offers a mile long loop, basketball courts, baseball fields, playgrounds, and hiking trails.

Tourist information

Visit San Jose website

Get in

People who ask, "Do you know the way to San Jose?" (in reference to the 1968 hit song recorded by Dionne Warwick) will be glared at.

By plane

San Jose is home to one of the Bay Area's three international airports.

Go Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)

Non-stop air service is available from all regions of the United States including intrastate flights from all major airports in Southern California; from Canada, Japan, Mexico, El Salvador, and the United Kingdom. The main carriers are Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The following airlines serve SJC:

📍 1701 Airport Blvdabout 4 mi northwest of the downtown area; west of the junction between US Hwy 101 (Bayshore Freeway) & I-880; from either highway the terminals can be accessed via SR-87 (Guadalupe Freeway)⚠ Last checked Apr 2020 — confirm before you go

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There are two terminals at the airport, Terminal A and Terminal B, which are connected airside. Terminal A includes the international arrivals building, which houses departure gates 15 and 16 (for foreign airlines), U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection facilities and a public arrivals zone for non-travelers to meet & greet international arrivals. International arrivals disembark through Gates 15-18 where passengers proceed downstairs for U.S. immigration and customs inspection. Passengers come out into the public areas (non-secured areas) to meet local contacts or proceed to the adjacent Terminal A or B to check in for the next flight. Passengers will have to go through security screening to access connecting flights.

The next nearest airports are San Francisco International Airport (SFO), 33 mi northwest of San Jose along US Route 101 on the peninsula, or Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK), which is 34 mi north off I-880 in the East Bay. Below are directions on getting into downtown San Jose from the three bay area airports without a (rental) car:

From SJC to Downtown

• Taxicab. A cab to downtown San Jose will cost you $15-20 and take 10 minutes. Other neighborhoods will cost up to $60 and take up to 30 minutes.
• Public transportation. Take the VTA route 60 bus in either direction, to the Metro/Airport light rail station or the Santa Clara Transit Center. The Route 60 bus is free for travel in either direction if you board at the airport.

*From the Metro/Airport light rail station, take a southbound Green Line or Blue Line train (towards Winchester or Santa Teresa). Both go downtown, but only the Green Line goes to Diridon Station. *From the Santa Clara Transit Center, take a route 22 (local) bus or a Rapid 522 bus to Downtown San Jose. Alternatively, take Caltrain southbound to Diridon Station. From Diridon station, you can transfer to a multitude of VTA and other buses to your final destination.

• Walk. The SJC airport is three miles away from downtown and close enough that it is possible to reach within a one hour walk if your luggage is small and light. The best route is the Guadelupe River Trail which is a pleasant pedestrian and bicycle path separated from roads. Though the trail is quite close to the airport terminal (A mere 100m or 300 feet east), finding the pedestrian connector can be a challenge. It is roughly aligned with where Airport Parkway enters the airport road complex. Alternatively you can walk south on First Street which goes direct to the center of downtown San Jose.

From SFO to Downtown or SJC Airport

• Taxicab. A cab to downtown San Jose will cost you up to $150 and take 45 mins–1 hour on average and up to 2 hours in rush hour traffic.
• Public Transportation. Take a Red/Yellow Line BART train or SamTrans bus down to Millbrae station. At Millbrae, take Caltrain south to Diridon station. From Diridon Station, there are multiple bus routes as well as the light rail to get to downtown. To get to the SJC Airport, get off at the Santa Clara Caltrain station and transfer to a VTA route 60 bus (towards Milpitas BART).

*Depending on the time of day and your intended destination, it may be quicker to take BART down the East Bay, rather than Caltrain down the Peninsula. If that is indeed the case, when at SFO, take a northbound Yellow Line train (towards Antioch) and transfer to a southbound Green Line or Orange Line train (towards Berryessa).

If traveling between both airports, a direct alternative is the Groome Transportation / Monterey Airbus, which goes from SFO to SJC and then on to Monterey, Marina and Prunedale, surrounding Monterey Bay south of San Jose. Their northbound buses, coming from around Monterey Bay, do provide a direct shuttle from SJC to SFO.

From OAK to Downtown or SJC Airport

• Taxicab. A cab from Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport to downtown San Jose will cost you up to $120 and take 40 minutes on average, or up to 1 hr 15 min in rush hour traffic.
• Public Transportation. Take the BART connector train to the "Coliseum/Oakland Airport" BART station. Transfer to a southbound Orange or Green Line train towards "Berryessa/North San José".

*If going to the SJC Airport, get off at Milpitas Station and transfer to a VTA route 60 bus, which will take you to the airport. *If going downtown, get off at Berryessa/North San José Station (the end of the line) and transfer to a VTA Rapid 500 bus, which goes to Downtown San Jose as well as Diridon Station.

By train

• BART Orange Line and Green Line serve Berryessa/North San José Station, which is in San Jose. There is also Milpitas Station in the neighboring city of Milpitas. Both stations are connected to various parts of the city through VTA buses. The VTA Express Bus 500 provides service between the Berryessa/North San José Station and Diridon Station, making several stops in downtown San José.
• Train operators serving Diridon station:

• Routes stopping in San Jose:

• Coast Starlight operates daily between Seattle and Los Angeles. Stops include Tacoma, Lacey, Centralia, Kelso, Vancouver, WA, Portland, Salem, Albany, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Dunsmuir, Redding, Chico, Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, San Francisco (Emeryville), Oakland, San Jose, Salinas, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Simi Valley, Van Nuys, and Burbank.
• The Capitol Corridor runs 11-12 times daily between Sacramento, Emeryville and Oakland Jack London Station with some trains continuing to San Jose through Hayward and Santa Clara in the east and south side of the Bay. Caltrain (see below) is the best bet to get between San Jose and San Francisco. Discount BART tickets can be purchased in the cafe car.
• Caltrain, +1-510-817-1717 operates a regional rail service from San Jose to its San Francisco terminal at Fourth and King in SoMa. The service also runs between San Jose and Gilroy during rush hour. Caltrain is very useful for travel between San Francisco and communities on the Peninsula, Silicon Valley or South Bay. On weekdays Caltrain provides two trains per hour for most of the day but run more during commute hours, including "Baby Bullet" limited services that cruise between San Francisco and San Jose in 57 minutes; trains run every half hour from 5AM to midnight weekdays, 8AM to midnight weekends. The Diridon Station is the nearest station to downtown San Jose which is a shared facility with VTA (local bus and light rail), Greyhound and other intercity bus lines (see below under 'By bus'). Fares vary depending on how far you go. Tickets must be purchased before boarding the train from ticket vending machines at any of the stations or from ticket clerks at staffed stations. The region-wide Clipper payment card is accepted on CalTrain. Be sure to tag on before boarding and tag off when disembarking. If you forget to tag off, you will be charged the maximum fare. Tickets are checked on the trains and anyone found without a ticket is liable to a substantial fine. Cyclists should use the designated car at the northern end of the train, and be aware that bike space is often limited during commute hours.
• Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) runs from Stockton, Livermore, and Pleasanton into San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley in the morning and then returns in the late afternoon and evening. Passengers can also transfer to the Gold Runner Train from Stockton as well. Check the schedules beforehand, as there are only a handful of trains per day.
• There are free connecting shuttles at certain ACE stations, timed to match trains coming from/going to the north. From Santa Clara station, there is a shuttle to/from the San Jose airport. From San Jose Diridon station, there is a shuttle into downtown San Jose.

By bus

Most of the intercity bus lines connect San Jose to the Los Angeles Metro area and to the San Joaquin Valley (Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, etc.), though some buses also go further south to San Ysidro and Tijuana. With the exception of Greyhound, Flixbus, Amtrak & Caltrain, other bus lines generally do NOT sell tickets for travel between San Jose, San Francisco and/or Oakland, or anywhere in-between in the Bay Area. Northbound buses continuing to San Francisco and Oakland will only drop off in San Jose, and southbound buses will only pick up.

At Diridon Station, the buses for VTA, Santa Cruz METRO Highway 17 Express and Amtrak Thruway are all located in the bus hub north of the station building. The Greyhound bus stop is along Stover St between Cahill and Montgomery in front of the Diridon Station building while the taxi stands are on Crandall St, on the opposite side of the grassy divider from Stover St. Other long-distance bus carriers such as Intercalifornias, Hoang Express, Flixbus & Tufesa pick-up and drop-off passengers in different locations. See below:

*

• 511.org. Public service site with transportation information in the nine-county SF Bay Area (including San Jose). The site includes a trip planner to help users plan a transit trip from 'A' to 'B' across the greater SF Bay Area, as well as up-to-date traffic information for those driving. Site includes information and links to Valley Transport Authority (VTA) which operates city buses and light rail in San Jose and the surrounding municipalities of Santa Clara County.

By car

San Jose is connected to San Francisco by two major freeways, US-101 and Interstate 280. From Los Angeles, take Interstate 5 North to CA-152 West to US-101 North. From the East Bay, use either I-880 or I-680 South.

Travel time from San Francisco and Oakland is about an hour, but the trip is much longer during rush hour on US-101 and Interstate 880. Taking Interstate 280 from San Francisco is a scenic alternative, and consider a detour westward on Highway 92 to Half Moon Bay and the coastal Highway 1, which leads north to San Francisco and south to Santa Cruz. From Santa Cruz, take Highway 17 through the mountains.

Get around

On foot

The downtown area is compact and rather easy to get around on foot. Most of the streets are arranged in a grid, but the grid is not strictly aligned with north (more like north–northwest). Street address numbers increase (by 100 every 2 or 3 blocks) radiating from Santa Clara Street (an east/west street) or First Street (a north/south street). Furthermore, Santa Clara Street (and other east/west streets) carry the prefix East or West radiating from First Street; and First Street (and other north/south streets) carry the prefix North or South radiating from Santa Clara Street. This makes it somewhat easy to locate a downtown facility given its street address.

Downtown Willow Glen, Campbell and Japantown are also easy to navigate on foot. Going from one neighborhood to the other on foot is not easily feasible except for some neighborhoods directly adjacent to Downtown (such as Japantown and the Alameda area).

By car

Outside downtown, things are spread out in San Jose, so a car is the most convenient mode of transportation. Interstate 280 is the fastest route East–West, for example from the Valley Fair Mall or Santana Row, to the West, to Downtown, or from Downtown to Alum Rock Park. California 87 (to and from the airport) and Interstate 280/California 17 (from Rose Garden to Campbell and vice versa) offers fast North-South travel.

Lyft and Uber provide rideshare service to all of San Jose. Waymo robotaxis are also available, but they only serve San Jose north of Interstate 280 and west of the I-280/I-680/US 101 interchange (including both the airport and the downtown areas). Waymo does not serve the eastern or southern parts of the city.

Public transit

The Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority (VTA), does offer serviceable transit around town. The frequency and hours of buses vary depending on the route and your location, so it's best to check a schedule beforehand. The Light Rail system also provides quick service to, from, and around downtown and Diridon Station.

A single fare of $2.50 is valid for 2 hours of travel if using a Clipper Card (or contactless payment). A VTA day pass lets you use buses and light rail all day, costing $7.50 for an adult, and $3.75 for a youth aged 5-18. Express routes cost double, but these are primarily commuter routes and not what most tourists would take.

The Transit app is an app for trip planning endorsed by VTA, but it can also be used for scooters and e-bikes, and in more places than just the Bay Area. The 511.org website is also a great resource, whether by car or public transit (or a combination of both). Its Trip Planner spans all Bay Area transit systems. Alternatively, you can call VTA Customer Service at +1-408-321-2300 and listen to bus schedules on their automated system.

By bike

Many roads in San Jose have designated bike lanes and/or wide shoulders. A map of the city's bikeways is available on VTA's website. This, along with typically favorable local weather, makes biking a viable means of transportation within the city. Bus lines, light rail and Caltrain all accommodate bikes, making mixed-mode travel a simple affair.

There is a growing number of Bay Wheels Bike Share stations around Downtown which allow anyone to rent regular bikes or e-bikes (though e-bikes cost extra, even with a pass). Regular bikes must be docked at a station at the end of your ride, while e-bikes with a cable lock can be parked at public bike racks for an additional fee. A single ride can be quite expensive; if you will be riding more than once, a day pass ($15), month pass ($29), or yearly subscription ($165/year) can make a lot of financial sense.

Go next

Just east of the city lies Alum Rock Park, a canyon through which Penitencia Creek flows, which is lined by sulfurous mineral springs and several small waterfalls. Above the park stands Mount Hamilton, one of the highest peaks in the Bay Area at 4213 ft. The telescopes of Lick Observatory, operated by the University of California, crown the summit and are open to the public during daytime hours. Northeast of San Jose is the Livermore Valley, which includes wine country and the cities of Pleasanton and Livermore.

Other places to see in San Jose's backyard are the Scenic Drive in Saratoga Hills, the quaint and classy town of Los Gatos, and Mission Santa Clara at Santa Clara University. Palo Alto and Stanford University are about half an hour's drive to the northwest. About 45 minutes northeast, you can visit Fremont's Mission San Jose and the Ardenwood Historic Farm.

Less than an hour away over the scenic Santa Cruz Mountains, the small coastal city of Santa Cruz is a nice day trip out of San Jose. Spend the day enjoying the beaches and Boardwalk, or make it the first stop on a longer coastal drive. From Santa Cruz, you can take Route 1 (also known as the Pacific Coast Highway) south to Capitola, Monterey, and the charming town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The Hwy 17 Express bus links San Jose to Santa Cruz.

The Pacific Coast Highway is a nationally famous highway. It goes along the whole coast of California giving off spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. Many movies have shown this highway in scenes that take place in California, and it is also a main tourist attraction to drive along the coast. Route 1 can take you up to Pacifica which is about 30 minutes north of San Jose. Pacifica is an ocean side residential town that has affordable housing and sits on hills that overlook the Pacific. The beach here is typical of the Bay Area and has a very rough current.

Less than an hour away is Half Moon Bay beach. This beach sits on the bottom of cliffs with a very rough current. During most of the summer months the water is closed to swimmers because of rip tides and massive waves. The Pacific Ocean is typically cold and in Half Moon Bay this is still very true. The sunsets here have been known to lure in travelers and those wanting to rent beach houses. Since Half Moon Bay sits on cliffs, the sunset goes down over the water and seems to create perfect scenery.

Only about 55 miles north, taking highway 101, is the city of San Francisco. San Francisco is the heart of the Bay Area and is the proud owner of the Golden Gate bridge. San Francisco has many neighborhoods with all kinds of restaurants, shopping, parks, beaches, and views of the bridge. Caltrain and BART provide train service to San Francisco.

The rolling hills of San Jose surround the city creating a valley. See the top of these hills by driving into East San Jose. The houses on the hills are spread out and range from ranches to farms and even mansions. These houses can be seen from the valley and the picturesque drive leads to the top of the hills where you can see the entire landscape of San Jose. On the Fourth of July, many San Jose natives come up to the hills to watch the spectacular firework show over the city.