Here you will find information about downtown and other areas of San Jose, local transportation options, and getting to other Bay Area locations such as San Francisco, Berkeley, Stanford, and Santa Cruz.
Downtown San Jose  The
website of the Downtown San Jose Association has all the information you need
to explore the immediate area. To explore downtown by foot, check out the Downtown San Jose Walking Map and Scan Jose: A Downtown Walking Tour. Top spots of interest in downtown San Jose include:  201 S. Market St. (408) 294-8324 The Tech Museum is a must-see, must-do Silicon Valley experience for all ages. Explore how technology and science affect the way we live, work, play and learn. Over 100 hands-on exhibits, an 8-story IMAX dome theater help bring science and technology to life. A short walk from the Fairmont Hotel, across Chavez Plaza.  110 S. Market St. (408) 271-6840 Contemporary art that makes you think and have an emotional reaction. Since establishment in 1969, The San Jose Museum of Art has grown from small civic art gallery to a museum in the 10th largest city in America. A very short walk north of the Fairmont Hotel across Circle of Palms Plaza.  520 S. First St. (408) 971-0323 This museum celebrates the art, craft and history of quilts and textiles.  150 E. San Fernando St. San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 808-2000 A
joint project between the university and the city, the library offers some 1.5
million volumes of work – it is the largest all-new library west of the
Mississippi. The library is so much more than a feast for the mind – its public
art, interesting architecture and unique gadgets on every floor engage all
senses. Among
its cherished prizes are special rooms devoted to
The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies and
The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. San Pedro Square and Market, where you will find cafes, pubs, restaurants, theater, live music, and more. Shopping for Essentials in Downtown San Jose
Getting Around San Jose
Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH). The free DASH shuttle runs in a continuous loop through downtown San Jose from the San Jose Diridon transit station (Amtrak / Caltrain) on Mondays through Fridays, VTA (Light Rail and Buses). The Fairmont Hotel is across from the Paseo de San Antonio stop on the Mountain View-Winchester and Alum Rock-Santa Teresa and Alum Rock-Ohlone/Chynoweth light rail lines of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). One way fares on these routes are $2. Day passes are available for $6. Convenient bus service to other locations within San Jose and other South Bay communities are also available. For more information, see the VTA website. Places of interest outside downtown San Jose include: To get there: Or
walk 1.5 miles one way West San Jose, including the Winchester Mystery House, and shopping and dining at Santana Row and the Westfield Valley Fair Mall To
get there: Winchester Mystery House This is the house that Sarah, the troubled Winchester rifle heiress, built. Seeking a way to rid herself of the spirits of those killed by the “Gun that Won the West,” Sarah sought the advice of a medium. That consultation resulted in Sarah spending decades, as well as her $20 million inheritance, obsessively building onto the house. With its architectural oddities designed to disturb, confuse and evade these restless spirits that haunted her (such as stairways leading to nowhere, a chimney that rises only 4 floors and windows opening to walls) millions of visitors agree this beautiful historic treasure is among the most haunting and haunted places on earth. Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Center, across the street and 2 blocks away respectively, offers post-tour options for retail, restaurants and relaxation. Municipal Rose Garden and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum To get there: Rosicrucian
Egyptian Museum & Planetarium The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum began with one small artifact, a Sekhmet (lion goddess) statue, which stood on the desk of H. Spencer Lewis, the founder of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC. Since then the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium has become an educational institution that uses trans-disciplinary approaches to increase knowledge about the past, present, future, and learning for greater public understanding and appreciation of the world in which we live, drawing on the wisdom of ancient traditions and modern science. To get there: Getting to Other Bay Area Locations San Francisco The
easiest option is to take free DASH shuttle to the San Jose Diridon Station and catch CalTrain. The DASH runs approximately every 15 minutes from 6:30 a.m. –
7:00 p.m. on weekdays only. On weekends (and weekdays after 7pm) you may want to walk or take the VTA Light Rail Winchester-Mountain View Line to Diridon Station. The VTA platform is located 2nd St., a block from the Fairmont and the fare is $2. Transfer from CalTrain to BART at the Millbrae Station in order to travel to your desired San
Francisco (or East Bay) location. Alternately, you may wish take CalTrain to its South of Market terminus in San Francsico. Berkeley Catch DASH to the San Jose Diridon Station and take Amtrak on the Capitol Corridor line to Berkeley. To reach the UC campus from the Berkeley Amtrak train stop, take the 51B AC Transit bus to downtown Berkeley and get off at Allston Way and Shattuck Ave (approx. 20 minutes; fare: $2.10). The campus is one block east (toward the hills). You could also travel past downtown Berkeley to the corner of Durant and College (approx. 25 minutes). Walk north (left) one block and you will see a campus map near Kroeber Hall. More information on visiting the UC Berkeley campus. Alternately, go
to the VTA Bus 181 stop at First and Santa Clara (3 blocks from hotel) and take
VTA Bus 181 to the end of the line (Fremont BART station): 30 minutes. Take
a BART Richmond bound train to downtown Berkeley. Stanford Catch DASH to San Jose Diridon Station and take CalTrain
to Palo Alto Transit Center --OR--take VTA Bus Route 522 (express fare) from Santa Clara & First
Street to the Palo Alto Transit Center. From the Palo Alto Transit Center catch
the free Marguerite shuttle to campus. Allow
at least 75 minutes to get to Stanford on public transportation. More information on visiting the Stanford campus. Santa Cruz Take the Hwy 17 Express Bus. The closest stop is at Santa Clara & Almaden (weekdays only). On weekends, catch the bus from the San Jose Diridon Station. Travel time: 60-70 minutes. One-way fare: $4 Please note that the buses run less frequently on weekends. For Bay Area Transportation Agencies & Information please consult 511.org  California Poppy Eschscholzia californica |
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