San Jose, California Packing List for Women: Downtown, Silicon Valley and the Santa Clara Valley

Photograph: Panoramic Downtown San Jose by XAtsukex, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

San Jose is the most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, spread across the Santa Clara Valley at the southern end of the bay in Northern California. The Tamien people, part of the Ohlone, lived here long before the Spanish, and on 29 November 1777 the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe was founded as the first city in the Californias. When California became a state, San Jose was its first capital. The growth of the technology industry turned an agricultural centre into an urban one, and since 1988 the city's motto has been Capital of Silicon Valley. Packing for San Jose means packing for a dry, warm summer, a cool and wet winter, and a city that is compact at its centre and very spread out everywhere else.

This guide is about San Jose in California. If you are going to San José, the capital of Costa Rica, read our San Jose, Costa Rica packing list instead: the two cities share a name and almost nothing else, and several other places around the Spanish-speaking world are called San José too. Check which one is on your ticket before you pack.

The photograph above looks down over downtown San Jose on a clear day: a green park with palm trees at the lower left, a domed church behind it, a cluster of hotel and office towers of modest height in the centre, and the flat, built-up valley running away to brown hills. The park is the Plaza de César Chávez and the domed church is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph. It is a view from above, and it shows only a few blocks of a very large city. Street level, Japantown, the Winchester Mystery House, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, the rose garden, the Guadalupe River trail, Alum Rock Park and Mount Hamilton are all outside the frame.

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What Is Here

San Jose grew outward from the plaza in the photograph. Wikivoyage records that the pueblo was moved there in 1797, to what is now the Plaza de César Chávez, and the city grew around it. Today the plaza is a small downtown park that hosts outdoor concerts and the Christmas in the Park display. On its edge stands the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph. The first church on the site, built in 1803, was the first parish in California built for settlers rather than for a mission; the present church was dedicated in 1877, its dome was finished in 1885, and Pope John Paul II made it a minor basilica in 1997.

The downtown towers are lower than you might expect for a city of this size, and the reason is in the sky: downtown sits under the flight path into San Jose Mineta International Airport, so building heights are capped. Wikivoyage lists the Tech Interactive and the San Jose Museum of Art among the downtown sights, and the Guadalupe River runs north through the city to the bay at Alviso, with the Guadalupe River Trail, a path for walkers and cyclists, along it.

Beyond Downtown

Wikivoyage lists several sights outside downtown. At the Winchester Mystery House, the legend, as Wikivoyage tells it, is that Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune, feared the ghosts of people killed by Winchester guns and believed that as long as building continued they would stay away; building went on for 38 years and left a house of mazes and stairs that go nowhere. The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum has a replica Egyptian tomb and a collection of mummies and artefacts, and the Municipal Rose Garden, once a prune orchard, holds more than 4,000 rose bushes.

Japantown, around Fifth and Jackson streets about a mile from downtown, has restaurants, shops and cultural venues, festivals several times a year and a seasonal farmers' market on Sundays. East of the city, Alum Rock Park follows a canyon cut by Penitencia Creek, lined with sulphurous mineral springs and small waterfalls. Above it rises Mount Hamilton, with Lick Observatory on its summit. Wikivoyage notes that the observatory sometimes gets snow in winter and on a cloudy day sits above the clouds.

When to Go

San Jose has a Mediterranean climate, with warm to hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The city lies inland, surrounded on three sides by mountains, and does not face the Pacific the way San Francisco does, which leaves it more sheltered from rain. The monthly average temperature runs from around 50 degrees Fahrenheit in December and January to around 70 degrees in July and August, and the city sees about sixteen afternoons a year at 90 degrees or above.

Almost all of the rain falls in winter, roughly from November to March, and July and August are close to dry. In our view that makes spring and autumn comfortable months for walking, but the city works in any season if you pack for it. Wikivoyage notes that the Pacific is typically cold, so a day trip to the coast calls for a warmer layer than the valley does. If wildfire smoke is reported in the region, check the AirNow air quality map before a day outdoors.

Getting There

San Jose Mineta International Airport is about four miles north-west of downtown, and Wikivoyage notes that the VTA route 60 bus is free if you board it at the airport and connects to the light rail into the centre. The airport's own site lists airlines and ground transport. San Francisco and Oakland airports are the next nearest. Diridon Station, near downtown, is San Jose's central rail station, and Caltrain runs from there to San Francisco, while BART trains to San Francisco stop at Berryessa/North San José station in the north of the city.

Getting around depends on where you are. Wikivoyage describes downtown as compact and easy to walk, on a grid of streets, but says that outside downtown the city is spread out and a car is the most convenient way to get around. VTA, the valley's transit authority, runs the buses and the light rail, which Wikivoyage says gives quick service to and around downtown and Diridon Station. If you drive, the FCDO advises leaving nothing on display in your car, using well-lit car parks, and never leaving your passport in a rental car.

Earthquake Country

San Jose lies between the San Andreas Fault and the Calaveras Fault, and the city is shaken by moderate earthquakes on average once or twice a year. The FCDO lists California among the parts of the United States at higher risk of earthquakes, which can happen without warning. The FCDO points visitors to the advice of FEMA, the federal emergency agency, on what to do before, during and after an earthquake, and it is worth reading before you arrive rather than after the ground moves.

The FCDO also warns that wildfires are a danger in dry areas, particularly in canyons, hills and forests, and that high winds can make them spread fast. If you plan to walk in the hills around the valley in summer or autumn, check the CAL FIRE site, which the FCDO names for information about wildfires in California, and the National Weather Service forecast before you go.

Is San Jose Safe for Women Travelers

The FCDO names no area of the United States it advises against, and says violent crime and gun crime rarely affect tourists. It does ask visitors to take care in unfamiliar areas and to avoid walking through quieter areas alone, especially at night. Wikivoyage describes downtown as a mix of offices, shops, hotels and restaurants, compact enough to walk, while the rest of the city is spread out, so our advice is to stay downtown and to plan how you will get back to your hotel after an evening out rather than walking long, quiet stretches.

The FCDO's national warnings apply here as everywhere in the country. It says terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in the US, and that attacks could be indiscriminate, including at crowded places, transport networks and sporting and cultural events. It notes that protests are common and can become violent, so move away if a gathering turns tense. Illegal drugs, including cannabis, carry severe penalties, and the legal age for buying and drinking alcohol is 21. Always carry a passport showing your permission to be in the US.

The San Jose Packing List

Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the first thing we would pack for San Jose. It is light enough for a warm valley afternoon, warm enough for a cool evening or a winter day, and it stays fresh through several days of museums and walking without a wash.

For the Seasons

For winter, when nearly all the year's rain falls, pack a packable shell such as the Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket. For cool evenings at any time of year, and for a day trip to the colder coast or up Mount Hamilton, add a mid layer like the Columbia Fast Trek II fleece jacket. In summer, a wide brim sun hat helps on hot afternoons in the valley. Our register carries no sunscreen and no eyewear, so those are unlinked; bring both.

For Walking and Day Trips

Downtown sits on the flat valley floor and is easy to walk, but the parks and hills around the valley need proper shoes. The Salomon X Ultra 4 hiking shoes work on city pavement and on the trails at Alum Rock, with merino hiking socks. Carry water on hot days: the RAYMYLO insulated water bottle keeps it cold through an afternoon in the hills. That is our sixth affiliate link, our limit per post, so we have not linked a daypack or a towel. If you head to the coast, Wikivoyage warns that Half Moon Bay has a very rough current and that the water is often closed to swimmers in summer because of rip tides and big waves, so a beach day there is for walking rather than swimming.

Recommended Tours and Experiences

Essential Resources for Women in San Jose

Emergency number: 911 for ambulance, fire and police, according to the FCDO's getting help page; its health page says to dial 911 and ask for an ambulance.

Medical care: Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in West San Jose, is the county's public hospital and the anchor of the Santa Clara County Health System, with a Level I adult trauma centre. The FCDO says medical treatment in the US is expensive, that there are no special arrangements for British visitors, that some hospitals ask non-residents for a deposit on admission, and that UK prescriptions are not valid in the US.

Transport and local information: VTA for buses and light rail, Caltrain and BART for trains to San Francisco, and Visit San Jose, the city's official visitor guide.

US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.

UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors, for vaccine and disease guidance.

Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.

Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body, covers the whole country; for San Jose itself, use Visit San Jose above.

Solo women safety assessment: our assessment is that San Jose is a comfortable city for a woman travelling alone, provided she plans her transport. Base yourself downtown, where things are close together, and take a ride or public transport rather than walking long, quiet stretches at night. Keep nothing on show in a car and never leave your passport in one. Know what to do in an earthquake, check fire and smoke reports before a day in the hills, and call 911 in an emergency.

Takeaways

San Jose is the old pueblo of the Californias and the capital of Silicon Valley, with a walkable downtown and a great deal spread out around it. Pack layers for warm days and cool evenings, a rain shell for the winter, and walking shoes for the parks and hills. Plan your transport, learn the earthquake drill, and check the weather and air quality before you head for the hills or the coast.

Reading On

For the namesake capital in Central America, read the San Jose, Costa Rica packing list. Up the bay are the San Francisco packing list, the Oakland packing list and the Sausalito packing list, and over the Santa Cruz Mountains the Santa Cruz, California packing list and the Monterey packing list. Further afield in California are the Sacramento packing list and the Yosemite packing list. The USA travel guide for women covers the whole country. For why one wool layer works from a hot valley afternoon to a foggy coast, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women, and every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women. The base layers themselves are in the Roman Trail collection.

If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.