Things to do in San Jose / San Francisco?
 

Hey guys, just checking to see if anyone has any tips for my upcoming US Vacay.

The family and I (Myself, wife, and 5 year old) will be flying to San Jose from November 18 to November 30. Will also be spending our very first American Thanksgiving with my relatives (almost everyone in my family emigrated to the States in the 1980s).

Does anyone have a good idea of fun places to bring my son around the Bay Area? We will not have time to visit my relatives in Los Angeles, so Disneyland / Universal is out of the picture.

We are thinking about Six Flags Great America, and we see that it'll be open the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

San Francisco:

I don't know how fun these things are, but the self-guided tour to Alcatraz is awesome.

Fisherman's Wharf is alright, last I was there it's a bit overrun with street performers and beggars.

Taking a boat around and under Golden Gate Bridge if you can find a good boat captain that is not one of the seemingly hundreds of gypsy type "boats" that try to get people on board.

Taking the trolley. It's fun in theory, but slow and painful to actually be on. People were walking faster than us.

Just driving anywhere or being driven is an experience with the sharp hills. I recommend to let the taxis do it for you.

Best thing to do in San Jose is to go to San Francisco.

Santa Cruz is a fun city IMO. They have a small boardwalk and amusement park on the beach.

Agreed that San Jose doesn't have a lot to do.

Having lived all my life in San Jose, there are at least a few things I know of to do.

Stuff To Do:

• Great America is great for a young kid; unfortunately I think you're going to be too early for their winter holiday bash, which is exceptional.
• The Tech Museum in downtown San Jose is pretty awesome.
• The Children's Discovery Museum is right around the corner from the Tech and has a ton of interactive stuff for your kid to play with.
• The Winchester Mystery House is interesting as hell and worth a stop.
• Happy Hollow Park & Zoo is another fun stop for young children; right next door (literally on the same grounds) is the Japanese Friendship Gardens and Koi Pond which has less in the way of activities, but is a fun and relaxing walk through.
• If you're into history, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is small but awesome. It's also right around the corner from the Municipal Rose Garden as well.
• The San Jose Sharks are at home against the Oilers (20th), and the Canucks (23rd) while you're here, and SAP is a pretty great place to catch a hockey game.
• It looks like the California Theater has the Opera Pagliacci while you're in town.
• Surely topping your list of things to do, 98 Degrees has a Christmas show at the City National Civic on the 20th.
• There are tons of hiking trails in the area out in the hills of varying length/difficulty; hiking might be a tough activity for a 5 year old, but there are plenty of options depending upon how long they may last.

Now to my favorite part...food to eat. There are a ton of great food options here, and many people skip most of them because let's face it - San Francisco is just up the road and they blow us away in terms of quantity of food joints. That being said, there are several here that are well worth your time, and one that I will insist you stop by if you can fit it in:

• Willow Glen's La Villa Delicatessen is one of my favorite places in the world. You walk in, take a ticket, and order at the counter; there are tables outside. The ravioli here are the best I've ever eaten, but everything is amazing. Tell them you know me and they may even hook you up (no promises) - my family has been going here for 60+ years and they know us all by sight. Side benefit - Willow Glen is an extremely charming neighborhood, and Lincoln Avenue is a fun commercial district that is super easily walkable with some cool stores and a ton of great restaurants all around it. This is the one place I would recommend you absolutely hit up before you leave. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays, however, so be warned!
• If you're into Sushi, there are three places I would recommend: Yuki Sushi in Willow Glen (a bit overpriced, but very good), Sushi Okawa (over in the Blossom Valley neighborhood; don't let the not-super-great strip mall it's in overshadow it), or Sushi Zono in Campbell. Zono and Okawa are more hole-in-the-wall and not quite as overpriced as Yuki, but all three have great quality sushi. At Okawa, don't miss the thin-sliced Hirame appetizer and their Yakimeshi (fried rice) is extremely good as well. If you go to Zono, they have the best Tuna Tataki I've ever had.
• If Mexican food is more your jam, I have three recommendations as well. Taqueria Tlaquepaque in Willow Glen (noticing a theme yet?) is very good and has excellent Chavelas. Tu Mero Mole in Cambrian is an amazing hole-in-the-wall place that is somewhat hard to find, and finally Chavez Market is a Mexican supermarket with a taqueria attached; I love their shrimp burritos.
• For upscale dining, I can think of four really good options: Black Sheep Brasserie in Willow Glen is excellent French Food that is pricey but won't break the bank ($20-30 a plate). Naschmarkt in Campbell is phenomenal Austrian cuisine; I love the hell out of their Kraut Rouladen, and the bartender there makes an incredible Whiskey Smash. The Wine Cellar in Los Gatos has absurdly good scallops. And finally, if you want to really open your wallet, La Foret down in New Almaden is exceptional in every way...but it is priced as such. The tasting menus are silly (the cheapest option is $95 per person), but I took my wife there a few months back and we splurged...and it was the best meal I've ever eaten.

I could go on, but this is a good start. Feel free to let me know if you want to know more - another great thing about San Jose is it is close to a lot of other cool places. As mentioned earlier, Santa Cruz is not far, Cupertino and Palo Alto have their own great scenes to check out, and obviously San Francisco is just up the peninsula.

I have a 5 year old, she has 7 cousins between 4-10 that come here to SF for thanksgivings.

1. Fisherman’s warf, gotta do it. Kids love the old ships on Hyde street pier. You can explore them at your leisure.
2. Bay cruise. Alcatraz is boring for a 5 year old and tickets are probably already sold out. However, you can do a blue and gold fleet bay tour anytime, every hour I think. It’s great, nice tour, goes under the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s also a rocket boat in the bay, high speed fun.
3. Great America is not that 5 year old friendly, especially with the water park closed. Your best bet is either Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo which has lots of great rides plus animal shows or Santa Cruz boardwalk.
4. Downtown San Jose Christmas in the Park. Really fun night time walk around thing, some carnival rides too.

As far as food, two family friendly ones I can recommend are:
Pedro’s in Los Gatos
Mezcal in downtown SJ

If the weather is rainy I will post some indoor recs

Only had a day and a half in San Francisco after TwitchCon, and didn't really plan in advance.

Hawk Hill (California - Wikipedia)

There are three viewpoints on the drive up the hill that offer great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We were spending a lot of money on an Uber driver so we just went straight to the top one. From there, its a short walk to the top of the hill which offered one of the prettiest sunset views that I've ever seen.

We also walked through Golden Gate Park and found that very nice, and did an Alcatraz tour.

Thank you for the tips, guys!

Haven't been to San Jose, but my two favourite things in San Fran were the self-guided walking tour of Alcatraz, and hiring bikes and riding across the Golden Gate Bridge and over to Sausalito, then catching the ferry back.

I would echo these both, but I walked across the bridge instead (and explored the museum there). Also Golden Gate Park (which is not near Golden Gate Bridge mind) is pretty cool and has some interesting museums.

visit a bath house

I rather liked Jasper's.