The 2026 Super Bowl is already set to be one of the buzziest NFL championships ever, with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the New England Patriots, plus Green Day playing the opening ceremony and Bad Bunny dazzling the crowd at halftime. And in the background is the true shining star: the San Francisco 49ers’ home venue, Levi’s Stadium, hosting the big game on February 8, having first done the honors a decade ago for Super Bowl 50.
As the league’s choice for the momentous anniversary game, the official Super Bowl LX logo honors its host city, featuring silhouettes of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline. The hiccup? The stadium is actually located in Santa Clara, 43 miles south of the city—a good 90-minute journey on public transportation, as well as by car in typical Bay Area traffic.
But there’s no reason to drive headfirst into congestion on the 101 or 280, especially with the South Bay itself being a diversely robust destination. Arguably best known for the tech savviness of Silicon Valley, it’s also home to the nation’s 12th biggest city, San Jose—bigger even than San Francisco, which sits in 17th place. Not only is San Jose Mineta International Airport just a 15-minute drive from the stadium, it’s also California’s top airport for on-time departures. Plus, the city has snagged number one spots as America’s greenest city and safest major city in the last year. In short: traveling here is all about worry-free simplicity.
That ease means that Levi’s Stadium isn’t just hosting 2026’s biggest football game, it’ll also welcome six FIFA World Cup matches in June and July, plus two of this year’s most anticipated concerts, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran. (Fun fact: Sheeran’s 2023 concert broke an all-time venue attendance record of nearly 80,000.) The 12-year-old stadium even has an impressive 6,500-square-foot green roof with a vegetable and herb garden, plus an interactive 49ers Museum, open on select dates.
While the world may just be discovering the charms of the South Bay, I grew up there, volunteering at the Children’s Discovery Museum, singing with a school choir at Santa Clara University, frequenting Great America theme park with my season pass, enjoying one of the country’s first mixed-use community Santana Row before it turned into an industry standard, and dining through the area’s growing number of delectable Asian eats. (All-time favorite: family-run Khanh’s Garden in Campbell for Vietnamese, and recent discovery Ju Sang Jang in Santa Clara for Korean BBQ.)
Over time, I’ve watched the South Bay transform from San Francisco’s sidekick into its own leading destination. Here are nine of my favorite spots that make visiting my hometown so unique.
Winchester Mystery House
525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose
Reeling from the loss of her infant daughter and husband, Winchester Repeating Arms widow Sarah Winchester bought an eight-room farmhouse and started building onto it frantically in 1886. Still a work-in-progress at the time of her passing in 1922, she left behind a 24,000-square-foot mansion with 160 rooms, 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 52 skylights, and 47 stairways. While massive in scale, the bizarre labyrinth has led visitors to wonder if she was instructed to keep building by a psychic or ghosts—after all, some staircases lead to nowhere. For a spookier take, flashlight tours are offered on select February dates—including on Friday the 13th.
Computer History Museum
1401 North Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View
With the headquarters of Apple, Google, eBay, and Netflix all in the area, Silicon Valley is filled with low-key tech landmarks that boast major influence. There are the garages where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple in Los Altos and Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded HP in Palo Alto, as well as the Intel Museum in Santa Clara and the interactive all-ages Tech Interactive in San Jose. But no place pulls together this history quite like the Computer History Museum. Documenting the first 2,000 years of computing in its 25,000-square-foot marquee exhibit, the journey goes from abacus to smartphone through 19 galleries and 1,100 items.
Japantown
Between East Taylor and East Empire Streets from 1st and 9th Streets, San Jose
As one of the country’s three remaining Japantowns, or Nihonmachis, this historic San Jose neighborhood is the ultimate tale of resilience. Starting as an immigration Asian enclave in the 1890s, the area thrived until the dark chapter of American history when anyone with Japanese heritage was sent to internment camps. Despite the deep scars, the strength of the community rose again and is now preserved here—in particular at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and through San Jose Taiko, both of which are based here. Other highlights include boutique shops Nichi Bei Bussan, Kogura Company, and Nikkei Traditions, as well as restaurants Gombei, Minato, and my family’s favorite, Sushi Maru.
Mission Santa Clara de Asis
500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
As every fourth grader in California learns, there were 21 Franciscan missions established by Junipero Serra in the state along a trail from Sonoma to San Diego. The eighth was founded in Santa Clara in 1777 by the Guadalupe River, and was notable for being the first named after a woman, St. Claire of Assisi. Relocated five times, the church found its way to its current location in 1822, before the missions were secularized in the 1830s. Two decades later, it made history again, becoming the first higher learning institution in California in 1851. Today, it remains the Spanish colonial-style chapel on the stunning campus of Santa Clara University.
Stanford Dish Area
400 Reservoir Road, Stanford
Commissioned as a Cold War radio telescope when it was completed in 1961, this 150-foot-diameter dish atop the foothills has had various lives as a NASA research tool and satellite calibrator. Referred to by locals as simply The Dish, the out-of-this-world transmitter is now best known for the 3.7-mile hiking trail around it, on a natural reserve that’s technically part of Stanford University’s grounds. Open from sunrise to sunset year-round, the gentle slopes draw visitors of all ages for the sweeping Bay Area views.
Tâm Từ Metta Buddhist Heritage Garden Meditation Cetner
610 Fisher Avenue, Morgan Hill
A Buddhist temple so stunning that it’s become an influencer hotspot! Set in the agricultural community of Morgan Hill among favorites like Andy’s Orchard and Mohi Farm, Tâm Từ Metta was originally founded in 2010, but officially had its grand opening in 2024, with the Vietnamese temple sitting among Buddha statues that stretch into the sky and a dramatic bridge crossing a manmade river with lanterns and rowboats flowing below. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with no admission cost, the welcoming staff encourages visitors to take time to explore every corner of the grounds.
Montalvo Arts Center
15400 Montavalo Road, Saratoga
While the hillside haven of Filoli Gardens is further up the Peninsula in Woodside, the South Bay’s Montalvo Arts Center is a tucked-away gem of its own on 175 acres of the Santa Cruz Mountains. With its centerpiece Villa Montalvo dating back to 1912, the grounds also play host to artist residences, performance spaces, gardens, and hiking paths through California Redwoods. A favorite activity here: Picnicking on the Great Lawn.
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
1660 Park Avenue, San Jose
The South Bay is, surprisingly, home to the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in western North America, with more than 4,000 items housed in the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, including Cleopatra and Sekhmet statues and mummies of cats and birds. An immersive underground tomb tour traces the funerary traditions, while the alchemy exhibit follows the seven-step process. The surrounding park features a labyrinth, Alchemy Garden, Peace Garden, temple, and planetarium.