Questions I get asked about visiting Silicon Valley
Is Silicon Valley worth visiting?
Yes, but I would not come solely for a tech-company pilgrimage. Most corporate campuses are workplaces, not tourist attractions, and looking at an office building from across the street loses some of its magic surprisingly quickly. Silicon Valley works much better as a trip through several California towns with good food, interesting history and a few tech landmarks mixed in.
Where exactly is Silicon Valley?
Silicon Valley is centered in the Santa Clara Valley at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. San Jose is its largest city, while places such as Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino and Palo Alto form the corridor most visitors associate with the tech industry. Morgan Hill and the southern Santa Clara Valley feel considerably more rural, which is part of why I like including them in a trip.
Can you tour Google or Apple?
You cannot simply walk into the working areas of either company’s headquarters. Apple has a public Visitor Center in Cupertino with a store, cafe, rooftop terrace and views toward Apple Park. Google runs the Google Visitor Experience in Mountain View, with a store, a cafe and art installations, so you can get a taste of the campus without attempting to wander through someone’s workplace carrying a camera and a great deal of optimism.
How many days do you need in Silicon Valley?
Three days gives you a good introduction. I would spend one day around San Jose, another split between Mountain View and Palo Alto, and the third in whichever of Los Gatos, Alviso, Cupertino or Morgan Hill sounds most like you. Add a fourth day if you want a winery afternoon or prefer not to conduct your vacation with the efficiency of a quarterly earnings call.
Is Silicon Valley good for solo travel?
I travel and eat alone throughout this area and find the individual downtowns easy to explore on my own, although I use the same common-sense precautions here that I would anywhere else. Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Mountain View and downtown San Jose all give you places where you can walk between restaurants and attractions instead of spending the entire day in a car. My broader approach is in my solo female travel safety tips.
If you only do one thing
Drive out to Alviso in the late afternoon and walk far enough along the slough to see the salt ponds change color, then have dinner at Vahl’s. You will be only a short drive from the headquarters of companies you read about every day, but the view in front of you will be water, old cannery buildings and one of the strangest little corners of the Bay Area.
That is the Silicon Valley I find more interesting. Yes, Apple and Google are here. But so are pink salt ponds, old movie palaces, vineyards, player pianos, a 1941 supper club and a hotel that apparently decided a Volkswagen belonged in the lobby. The tech companies made Silicon Valley famous. They are not necessarily the most interesting things to see once you get here.
If you want to keep exploring, you can find more places in my California travel guide, and if the small-town part of this trip appeals to you most, start with my guide to charming California small towns to explore solo.
