Places to visit in the San Jose – San Francisco Bay Area.

For travel distances, all locations are centered on Saratoga, CA. For those of you familiar with the Bay Area, you know that distances are less important than travel time, which can be quite nonlinear. For estimating driving times, Google Maps is your friend.

My perspective on the best of the best

♦ Recommended

♦♦ Highly recommended 

Wine

The Bay Area is known for its fantastic wine.

• ♦ Napa Valley (105 miles)
• ♦ Sonoma (135 miles)
• Carmel Valley (85 miles)
• Pasa Robles (160 miles)
• and many other great wineries that are somewhat closer, e.g.,
  • Thomas Fogarty (20 miles)
• K&L wine merchants

Art

• Art galleries in Carmel by the Sea (70 to 80 miles)
• Gallery 24 in Los Gatos (5 miles)
• Stanford (17 miles)
• DeYoung Museum

For Kids

• Mystery Spot (25 miles)
• Exploratorium (50 miles)
• California Academy of Science (50 miles)
• Winchester Mystery House

Museums

• Legion of Honor Museum ( miles)
• The Contemporary Jewish Museum (50 miles)
• ♦ Alcatraz (50 miles)
• ♦♦ Monterey Aquarium (75 miles)
• DeYoung Museum ( miles)
• Cable Car Museum ( miles)
• ♦♦ Computer History Museum (12 miles)
• Intel Museum (15 miles)
• Winchester Mystery House (7 miles)