San Jose offers plenty of entertainment options for families with kids, including Paramount’s Great America, Winchester Mystery House, Japanese Friendship Garden, Children’s Discovery Museum, Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, and Emma Prusch Farm Park. San Francisco and Santa Cruz are also nearby for additional activities.
If you’re traveling to San Jose with kids, there are plenty of ways to keep the kids entertained. Just an hour south of San Francisco, San Jose, California boasts many features worth visiting. Some of these are a bit expensive, but others offer free or low cost fun for the whole family.
Near San Jose is Santa Clara, where you can find Paramount’s Great America, a large amusement park with many rides for children of all ages. This is one of the most expensive forms of entertainment. A family of four will pay approximately $160-200 US Dollars (USD) for park admission. Food inside the park can also come with a steep price tag. People planning to visit San Jose with children should note that the park is only open from late March through October.
Another popular attraction if you’re visiting San Jose with kids is the Winchester Mystery House. The explanation for the house might be a little scary for small children. Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune, built the house. Sarah believed that the ghosts of those killed by Winchester guns haunted her. To ward off evil spirits, Sarah has built a house with a variety of confusing features: dead ends, doors that won’t open, and stairs that lead nowhere. Even without the story, kids might enjoy one of the strangest houses ever built. Admission is free for children under 5 and costs less than $15 USD for children ages 6 to 12 and less than $20 USD for those 13 and older.
If you’re looking for an affordable alternative while in San Jose with kids, consider the beautiful Japanese Friendship Garden, with no admission price. The garden is a replica of the one built in Okayama, Japan, with beautiful and peaceful bridges, large ponds with koi carp, and winding paths. Specially designed for visiting San Jose with kids is the Children’s Discovery Museum, less than $40 USD for a family of four and offering two floors of exhibits and exploration opportunities for kids.
Visiting San Jose with young children should definitely mean a trip to the San Jose Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. While the zoo is relatively small compared to the larger San Francisco Zoo, it is remarkably affordable at less than $30 USD admission price for a family of four. There are some rides for children and an extensive petting zoo.
When in San Jose with animal-loving kids, consider a visit to the 47-acre Emma Prusch Farm Park. This is another free way to spend some time with family. The farm offers tours, lots of interactions with a variety of farm animals, including different breeds of rabbits, and traditional attractions like haymaking and tractor rides.
Because San Jose was designed for families, you’ll find a host of other activities, from children’s theater productions to a huge number of parks and a few museums. It would be nearly impossible to run out of things to do in San Jose with kids. However, if you want to add more style to your trip, consider at least a day trip to San Francisco, where you can visit zoos, museums, parks and aquariums, or take an hour trip south to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, or two hours south of San Jose to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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