Day Trips from San Jose
The best excursions and trips you can do in a day
Full-Day Trips
Worth dedicating a whole day to explore.
Big Basin Redwoods State Park
$10 parking + $40 gasCalifornia's oldest state park hands you a primeval forest so dense you'll forget cities were ever invented. Redwoods older than empires block out the sky while fern-choked canyons hide waterfalls that shatter the hush.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
$15 parking + $30-50 for rides and foodVintage seaside amusement where wooden coasters groan against salt spray and caramel corn drifts on ocean wind. Think Coney Island with flawless weather.
Monterey Bay Aquarium & Cannery Row
$50 aquarium + $20 parking + $30 foodBehind the aquarium's glass, a kelp forest sways like slow-motion lightning, then Cannery Row develops in Steinbeck's footsteps, sea lions bark from weathered docks and grilled calamari rides the breeze.
Napa Valley Wine Country
$25-50 tastings per winery + $40 gasVineyards roll like green carpet across the valley. Tasting rooms pour gutsy cabernets inside repurposed barns and bubbly inside castle-mimicking châteaux.
Half Moon Bay
$10-15 parking + $25-40 mealsFog drapes the coast while pumpkin patches sprawl toward the surf and fishermen haul crab straight onto plates within sight of the boats.
Columbia State Historic Park
$15-20 activities + $40 gasGold Rush history stands untouched: stagecoaches clatter past swinging-door saloons, blacksmiths hammer horseshoes, and an 1850s bakery still pumps out sourdough.
Pinnacles National Park
$30 park entrance + $40 gasVolcanic spires knife up from chaparral while condors wheel overhead and caves demand headlamps and a willingness to duck.
Half-Day Options
Shorter excursions when time is limited.
Filoli Historic House & Garden
$25-30Downton Abbey relocated to California: clipped English hedges frame a Georgian mansion once favored by the Stanford family.
Shoreline Lake Boating
$15-20A lake you didn't expect hides in Mountain View, rent a pedal boat, watch windsurfers carve, and follow the scent of bratwurst from roaming food trucks.
Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz
$8Gravity flips roadside, balls roll uphill, people stretch and shrink, pure carnival confusion running strong since 1941.
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
$9-12Real mummies and Egyptian relics squat inside a faux-Cairo building dropped into San Jose's Rose Garden district.
Day Trip Tips
Make the most of your excursions.
- ✓ Traffic dictates plans, Highway 17 to Santa Cruz clogs by 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and northbound 101 turns ugly after 3 p.m. Time your escape like a local.
- ✓ Layer like your life depends on it, San Jose's 75°F dawn can slide to 55°F coastal mist by dusk. I keep a fleece in the back seat year-round.
- ✓ Big Basin and many Napa wineries now demand weekend parking reservations. Lock them in online even if you feel lucky.
- ✓ Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz can run twenty degrees cooler than San Jose, check the forecast before you roll.
- ✓ Carry cash for Columbia's mom-and-pop stores, plenty skip plastic, and vintage meters still hunger for quarters.
- ✓ Download offline maps before you aim for Big Basin or Pinnacles, cell bars vanish in the mountains and GPS stumbles on switchbacks.
- ✓ Hit wine country Monday through Friday, staff have time to talk and many drop tasting fees when you buy a bottle on slow days.
Book These Day Trips
Top-rated excursions you can book now.
The Escape Game at Great Mall in Milpitas
The Escape Game Milpitas features 6 original games including Cosmic Crisis, our newest escape room, and Timeliner: Train Through Time which challenges players to zigzag across the past, present, and f
Yosemite National Park and Giant Sequoias Tour from San Jose
This is the only Yosemite group tour that departs from San Jose, making it a convenient option for Bay Area travelers. You'll explore well-known sights like El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall,
4 Hour Livermore Valley Wine Tour
The Trolley is the most fun, popular, and scenic way to travel to our exceptional wineries in the Livermore Valley Wine Country, taste great wine, and see the vineyards on our beautiful rolling hills.
San Jose Ghost Tour: The Scythe, Sacrifice, & Silhouette
Start a spine-chilling journey through San Jose's eerie streets with our walking ghost tour, where history and hauntings collide! Led by an expert local guide, you'll explore haunted and historic loc
Big Sur Monterey California Coast from San Jose 1 - 12 people
This is a 8 hour private charter excursion by local driver guide using full size SUV up to 6 people and Mercedes Sprinter for 7 to 12 people. This is unique way of visiting one of the most scenic area
Redwood Forest, Santa Cruz Harbor 1-Day Trip from San Francisco
Escape the city for a full day of redwoods and ocean views on this round-trip tour from San Francisco. Start in the historic frontier setting of Roaring Camp before boarding a vintage steam train for
Need a base for your day trips?
Our accommodation guide helps you pick the best area to stay in San Jose.
Where to Stay →Explore Activities in San Jose
Didn't see anything interesting yet?
Browse Viator's full catalog of tours, day trips, food experiences, and private guides in San Jose.
See All San Jose Tours on Viator