Eight Free Activities in Silicon Valley

San Jose/Silicon Valley is expensive! Luckily, there are tons of free things to do in the bay area.

For even more free stuff to do outside of this post check out our 39 Scenic Bay Area Hikes Post. We also have a post covering some parks and gardens around San Jose. See: Parks and Gardens. Sometimes paying for parking is required but usually, it isn’t too much (relative) or there is the option to park farther and walk longer, as we often did. All of these activities are located in the Silicon Valley area.

San Jose First Friday Art Walks

Also known as South First Fridays Art Walk, this can be a fun free activity to do. As the name suggests, this event happens during the first Friday of every month. When I first wrote this post we had only been once, but now we have been several times.

Possibly important to note is that this event is way more happening in the summer. They sometimes have outdoor booths and music and things of that sort in the summer, but not so much in the winter. In the summer, we saw someone charging to write a personal poem on their typewriter, various musical performances, and more.

No matter when you go, various art galleries and other businesses are open with information and/or displays. The San Jose Museum of Quilt and Textiles is open for free (they still accept donations). The displays there change every so often can be pretty interesting.

The Lick Observatory

Lick is an astronomical outpost on top of a mountain. The drive up is really windy, but this is a great place to visit. Previous to visiting, we had seen Lick on the mountain but only realized it was the observatory after we made plans to visit. If you are interested in astronomy, history (surprisingly) or even just some nice views it is a good place to check out. There are also great views from up there! Just be aware it’s a windy drive up.

New Almaden Mercury and Mining Museum

The New Almaden Mercury and Mining Museum is a small museum which provides both some history on the area and information about mercury mining. The large home where it’s contained also has some rooms with antique furniture. If you are in this area you can also go hike the mountain here. At the head of some of the trails, there is more information and equipment to check out. We have hiked New Almaden Quite a few times.

San Jose Museum of Art

This museum is not always free but has a lot of free days throughout the year, usually around holidays and holiday weekends. We went a couple of times for free (National Museum Day and Dia de Los Muertos.) The museum is not huge, but like many others, the exhibits change throughout the year.

Intel Museum

It is Silicon Valley! At this museum, you can learn about the history and technology of Intel and have fun with some interactive exhibits.

NASA’s Ames Research Center

The Visitor Center center is a building just outside of the base and is the area you can explore for free. There is Information about past, current, and future research/missions, life as an astronaut, and a few neat exhibits. We watched a pretty interesting video there which was filmed in space.

Wine Tasting at Coterie Cellars.

Coterie Cellars is a smaller winery but that is part of its draw. The owners are very involved and talk to everyone who comes. They have wine free tastings once or twice a month which also include cheese. I think it may be the only place to offer free wine tastings in San Jose. We went once and liked every wine we tasted.

Lawn Bowling in Palo Alto.

We did this once and it was pretty fun! The lawn bowling club in Palo Alto allows drop-ins on Sunday afternoons for free. They show you what to do and give you equipment to use. I wasn’t very good but improved by the end. Kyle was better at it, as were the British couple with whom we played.

Shopping.

Not a free activity if you buy anything, but there are some nice areas to stroll through and window shop here. We lived within walking distance of Santana Row and it is a really classy and pretty area to walk around. Events at Santana Row are pretty common as well. Though it can often be difficult to find parking, the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose is a great mall too. One time we participated in a free cooking class at Williams-Sonoma but it was not as interactive as we hoped.

~B~