Book San Jose attraction tickets

San Jose sits at the southern end of San Francisco Bay, cradled by the Diablo Range to the east and the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west, and it carries the distinction of being California's oldest civilian settlement, founded by Spanish colonists in 1777. That history sits quietly beneath a city that most of the world now associates with something else entirely: the technology industry. As the effective capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose has shaped the modern economy in ways that few cities of any size can claim, and that identity permeates everything from its architecture to the ambitions of the people who fill its neighbourhoods.

Downtown San Jose rewards time on foot. The Plaza de Cesar Chavez, named for the labour organiser and civil rights figure, anchors the centre and is flanked by the ornate Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph, whose twin towers have presided over the city since the nineteenth century. The San Jose Museum of Art sits nearby, and the Tech Interactive, a hands-on science and technology museum a short walk away, draws visitors who want to understand the intellectual culture that made this region famous. Japantown, one of only three remaining Japantowns in the United States, occupies a compact stretch of north San Jose and offers a genuinely distinct atmosphere, with independent shops and restaurants that have served the community for generations.