Introduction
Santa Clara is a city in California’s Silicon Valley. The city has a rich history and is home to many tourist attractions, including Great America Theme Park & Water Park, San Jose Flea Market, Levi’s Stadium, and Intel Museum. If you’re looking for things to do while visiting Santa Clara, here are 21 of the best:
California’s Great America
California’s Great America is a theme park located in Santa Clara. This popular attraction features more than 70 rides, shows, and attractions.
The history of California’s Great America began in 1976 when the Marriott Corporation bought a plot of land in Santa Clara. The company then built Marriott’s Great America park, which opened on April 29th, 1976.
California’s Great America has been recognized as one of the top 20 parks in North America by Amusement Today magazine since 1997. In addition to its award-winning rides, California’s Great America also offers innovative waterpark attractions like Hurricane Harbor Bay Area’s first WaveWorks surf pool and Blast Water Slide Complex featuring four slides that have been voted among “The Best Water Slides” by USA Today readership surveys every year since 2010!
Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
Happy Hollow Park is a great place to spend a day with your family. The park has something for just about everyone, including an outdoor swimming pool and water slide, two playgrounds, a dog park, and even a woodland stroller trail! There are also several indoor activities like the Royal Bengal Tiger exhibit (which is open year-round) and the Reptile Room (which is open seasonally).
There are so many fun things for kids to do at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. One of our favorites is the farm animals that you can feed during certain hours of the day. Another favorite activity is taking pictures with alligators!
San Jose Flea Market
The San Jose Flea Market is the largest indoor swap meet in Northern California. It is open seven days a week, so you can visit at any time during its hours of operation. More than 1,000 vendors are selling an assortment of goods including apparel and accessories, home decor items, jewelry, electronics, and more.
Like many flea markets around the world, this one also features food vendors to keep you fueled while shopping! You can sample some of their specialty dishes such as pancakes topped with sliced bananas or bacon strips and eggs; burritos stuffed with scrambled eggs; French toast made with cinnamon-flavored bread dipped in flavored syrup (pancake batter); sandwiches filled with grilled chicken breast or roast pork tenderloin; chorizo sausage served on a hot dog bun topped with melted cheese; tamales doused in mole sauce—the list goes on forever! If none of those sound appealing I recommend trying soyrizo tacos instead 😉
If you’re looking for something else fun to do while visiting Santa Clara then check out what else there is around town:
Mission Santa Clara de Asis
Mission Santa Clara de Asis, located on the campus of Santa Clara University and founded in 1777, is an excellent place to learn about California’s early history. The mission church has been reconstructed and is open for tours, as are the cemetery and museum. If you’re looking to learn more about 18th-century Spanish settlement in California, this is a great place to start!
De Saisset Museum
The De Saisset Museum is located in a historic building donated to the city by the De Saisset family, who started their fortune with textiles and mining. The museum has a collection of European paintings, Asian sculptures and art, Native American art, and other interesting pieces.
San Jose Municipal Rose Garden
The San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, which opened in 1963, is a peaceful place to spend an afternoon. More than 500 varieties of roses grow there, along with plants that feature other colors and textures. The garden itself has been called the most beautiful rose garden in Northern California—and it’s easy to see why!
The gardens are open year-round from 9 a.m.–5 p.m., but they’re closed on New Year’s Day and Thanksgiving Day; otherwise, they’re open every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (which are both federal holidays). They offer plenty of benches where you can sit down for a while and enjoy your surroundings or take pictures—and if you want something more active than just sitting there, you can also rent out paddleboats or bicycles!
Winchester Mystery House
Wellington was a man of many talents. In addition to being able to hold his own in a battle with the Devil, he was also an accomplished gun manufacturer who went by the name John Moses Browning. His wife Sarah “Sally” Treadwell Winchester (yes, she changed her last name) inherited his considerable fortune upon his death in 1901 and took it upon herself to build him a house in which she could live forever—or at least until 2023 when she was scheduled for resurrection on Judgement Day according to some Mormon prophecies.
Wellington’s construction began in 1886 and continued until her death in 1922, just six days shy of her 81st birthday. Her only request during this time was that no two rooms be connected by any kind of door or opening other than windows; everything else was fair game as far as building materials were concerned: staircases went nowhere; doors appeared out of nowhere; there are 90 rooms but only one closet! This labyrinthine mansion has been open for tours since 1923 (with occasional breaks), making it California’s most popular haunted attraction after Disneyland itself—which makes sense considering how much thought went into designing it!
Levi’s Stadium
Levi’s Stadium is located in Santa Clara, California, and is home to both the San Francisco 49ers and the San Jose Earthquakes. The stadium opened in 2014 with a capacity of 68,500 fans; however, due to recent renovations that have been completed since then—including adding extra seats for the Super Bowl 50 halftime show on February 7th, 2016—Levi’s Stadium can now hold up to 70,000 people at one time. In addition to being a sports venue, it hosts concerts and other events as well.
The stadium itself has been designed as part of an effort to revitalize Silicon Valley through environmentally friendly technology such as solar panels on its roof that provide power for most of its operations during daylight hours; a recycling program where water used during games gets purified through an extensive filtration system before being reused again; and energy efficient lighting throughout the facility (including LED spotlights).
Intel Museum
The Intel Museum is located on the Intel Corporation campus in Santa Clara. The museum opened to the public in 1989 and has more than 100 artifacts from Intel’s history, including some of the first silicon wafers from its early days and a replica of one of its first microprocessors. Admission is free, though there is an admission fee for some exhibits. The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm daily; it closes one hour early on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day (December 25). Visitors can also enjoy a gift shop and cafe at the museum, which offers snacks like ice cream and chips as well as hot beverages such as coffee or tea.
San Jose Museum of Art
The San Jose Museum of Art is located in the heart of downtown Santa Clara. The museum boasts 24,000 pieces in its collection and hosts over 100 exhibitions each year. Its architecture and design also make it a prime attraction for visitors to Santa Clara. The building itself was designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, who also designed the Louvre Pyramid in Paris and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.
The museum has been around since 1927, but didn’t move into its current location until 2002 when it underwent major renovations and expansions that increased its size from 23,000 square feet to more than 100,000 square feet today!
Triton Museum of Art
Address: 45 Lida St., Santa Clara, CA
Hours of operation: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What to expect when you go: At the museum, you’ll see pieces by modern and contemporary artists including Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Pablo Picasso. The pieces are displayed inside rotating exhibits so there’s always something new to see—it’s up to you whether or not you want to come back again and again! The museum also hosts special events such as art classes for kids on Saturdays at 11:30 a.m., where they can learn about different types of art while having fun with their friends (hint hint). Tickets cost $12 for adults and $5 for children under 12 years old; if you plan on visiting both days during your trip then it might be worth getting an annual membership which costs $50 but gives you discounts on tickets at participating museums across California (and sometimes beyond!).
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium is a museum of Egyptian antiquities and artifacts. It houses over 4,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts, including the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts outside Cairo.
Located in San Jose, California, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum was founded by Dr. Max Toth. The museum’s collection contains many rare and historic items such as papyrus scrolls from 3200 BC and mummies dating back to 2000 BC. Some of these priceless treasures include a mummy hand from 1700 BC (the only complete mummy hand on display in North America), an 18th Dynasty wooden sarcophagus from 1570 BC that belonged to Horemheb (one of Egypt’s last pharaohs), a First Dynasty wooden statue from 2900 BC made during Egypt’s Neolithic period (the oldest statue ever found in America), 12 large granite statues weighing over 8 tons each belonging to Ramses II who ruled during the 19th dynasty (1279–1213 B.C.).
Coleman Avenue Historic District
Located in the city of San Jose, Coleman Avenue is a historic district that comprises the western half of Coleman Avenue between Park Avenue and Interstate 280. The area is named after James D. Coleman who was an attorney, judge, and mayor of San Jose, California. From 1851-1860 he served as a California State Senator representing Santa Clara County. He also served as President pro tempore under Governor John Bigler between 1853-1854 and later became the 3rd Lieutenant Governor before being elected governor himself in 1856.
Urquiza Adobe Park
Urquiza Adobe Park is a park in Santa Clara that’s perfect for kids. The playground has swings, slides, and climbing equipment, so you can let your little ones run around and burn off some energy. There are also picnic tables if you want to bring lunch or coffee with you. If you’re looking for more outdoor activities, the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden is located nearby and offers plenty of space for picnicking or relaxing with friends or family.
Urquiza Adobe Park is open from sunrise to sunset every day of the week except Wednesdays when it’s closed from 9:00 am – 11:00 am for maintenance work.
Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose
The Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose is a fun way to learn about science, and it’s a great place to take children. The museum has many exhibits that teach kids about everything from the human body to outer space. It also has an exhibit about milk and cheese production by the Cow Parade. You can visit the museum every day except Christmas Day.
The admission price at this venue is free, so you won’t have to spend any money while your family enjoys learning together!
Cocoanut Grove Memorial Park & Beach Resort Building Ruins in Santa Clara, California
- Where to find the Ruins.
The Cocoanut Grove Memorial Park & Beach Resort Building is located at 500 San Jose Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95050. You can get there by taking Highway 880 or Highway 17 and exiting at Great Mall Drive. The park is located just past Mervyn’s store on your right-hand side as you enter Santa Clara from Milpitas.*
- What to Expect When You Get There:
The Cocoanut Grove Memorial Park & Beach Resort building was destroyed in a fire in 1942, but its ruins remain intact today (although a few trees have been planted here since then). The ruins are surrounded by a fence with an entrance gate on one side; beyond this gate, paths lead through various landscaped areas where flowers grow and benches have been placed for visitors to sit and enjoy nature’s beauty around them.*
- How To Get There:
The park can be accessed via car or through public transportation; if driving yourself then simply follow the directions above starting from Step 3 onward.*When To Go: Although the park itself has no official hours of operation (or admission fee), most people visit during summertime when temperatures are cooler than in other seasons so that they can enjoy all it has to offer without having their fun spoiled by heat exhaustion! However, if you love spending time outdoors regardless of weather conditions then the fall season might be best for when trees lose their leaves which provide better shade!
The Tech Interactive
If you have kids and they’re interested in technology, Tech Interactive is a great place to go. Located in the Tech Museum of Innovation, this museum features hands-on exhibits that teach children about how things work. It’s also free and open to the public!
Tech Interactive consists of a series of interactive stations where kids can learn about computer programming, robotics, and more. The museum also has an array of educational games for kids to play on their own or with friends (and parents).
Conclusion
Santa Clara, California offers visitors and residents alike a wide variety of attractions that are sure to please. From historical sites such as Mission Santa Clara de Asis and the Winchester Mystery House to modern museums like The Tech Interactive, there’s something for everyone in this bustling city. Whether you’re looking for an educational activity with your family or want to spend some time enjoying nature at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, San Jose Flea Market, or Coleman Avenue Historic District, there are plenty of options available!
