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Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#111

Post by kzisme »

rco8786 wrote: post #76
kzisme wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious what made you move out. As someone who haven't made it out to SF I've always wanted to see if it lived up to the hype. (if even for nicer weather)

> if even for nicer weather Ahh the legend lives, I see. Unless you live somewhere with unbearable winters it's doubtful that the weather is actually "nicer" in SF. ~60 nearly every day, ~50 nearly every night. Just cold enough to make you wear jeans and a hoodie (what, we just thought that getup looked cool?) and rarely warm enough to take advantage of a pool.

Ohio winters aren't super fun 50-60F daily sounds like a dream, and it's also wonderful sleeping weather!

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#112

Post by jrmg »

To understand Silicon Valley, you really need to see the peninsula and the South Bay.

I’d spend a day, start with breakfast at Hobees in Sunnyvale or Cupertino, check out 1 Infinite Loop, drive around the Google campus area, _maybe_ stop at the NASA Ames visitor center.

Drive down to San Jose to see that peculiar city, and have lunch at yeh newish San Pedro Square Market or SoFA market - or the classics like Henry’s Hi-Life or Original Joe’s.

Maybe check out the old-school tech beomoths like Intel.

Spend some time at the Computer History Museum (and the food trucks there on Friday evenings!). That could be a day trip in itself.

Skip the Tech Museum in San Jose (it’s a great museum, but its not something unmissable if you’re short on time).

End your day with a trip to one of the peninsula city centers and have a meal at a place with good Yelp reviews. I’d recommend Dish Dash in Sunnyvale.

That’s not the most touristy or startup-focused of trips, but you’ll see the Silicon Valley that’s really lived in by the people that make their homes here.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#113

Post by kzisme »

ghaff wrote: post #100
kzisme wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would a week or a week and a half be long enough to visit and see a good amount of stuff?

Certainly not everything--especially if you're talking the whole region from Pt. Reyes through Sonoma/Napa to San Francisco, the South Bay, and Santa Cruz/Santa Cruz mountains/Monterey. But 1-2 weeks is enough to give you a nice flavor of the area. I'd probably pick SF and maybe a couple select things to see/do in the Valley and then spend some time either north or south from there.

I just have a lot of vacation days to burn still and I've ALWAYS wanted to visit SF (other than the airport).

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#114

Post by jrmg »

jrmg wrote: post #112

To understand Silicon Valley, you really need to see the peninsula and the South Bay. I’d spend a day, start with breakfast at Hobees in Sunnyvale or Cupertino, check out 1 Infinite Loop, drive around the Google campus area, _maybe_ stop at the NASA Ames visitor center. Drive down to San Jose to see that peculiar city, and have lunch at yeh newish San Pedro Square Market or SoFA market - or the classics like Henry’s…

Oh, and if you’re interested in pre-SV history, check out a local museum, like the Sunnyvale Heritage Park (I’d recommend this to anyone who lives here and doesn’t know how we got to where we are too).

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#115

Post by jakegarelick »

indescions_2017 wrote: post #109
_w7am wrote: post #29

Good lord, so much snark in this thread, so here's some actual suggestions if you want to enjoy yourself (note: I moved out 3.5 years ago). Get coffee at Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, Blue Bottle, Philz Get tacos in the Missions at Taqueria Vallarta, Taqueria Cancun Go to Noisebridge, Sudo Room, Hacker Dojo Hike at Hawk Hill, Skeggs, Muir Woods, Mt. Tam Look up local concerts at funcheapsf.com. There's so many fan…

While the experts are chiming in: any recommendations for A). Sushi and B). Healthy Vegetarian / Wellness / Vegan / Juice Bar / Poke Bowl type spots? Thanks in advance!

Sushi - Not a huge sushi fan but have good things about Shizen and Cha-Ya

Healthy - Project Juice, Gracias Madre, Mixt (have heard good things), Nourish Cafe

Also Ike's, it's not very healthy but they make great sandwiches.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#117

Post by ghaff »

kzisme wrote: post #113
ghaff wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly not everything--especially if you're talking the whole region from Pt. Reyes through Sonoma/Napa to San Francisco, the South Bay, and Santa Cruz/Santa Cruz mountains/Monterey. But 1-2 weeks is enough to give you a nice flavor of the area. I'd probably pick SF and maybe a couple select things to see/do in the Valley and then spend some time either north or south from there.

I just have a lot of vacation days to burn still and I've ALWAYS wanted to visit SF (other than the airport).

SF is one of my favorite cities (to visit :-)). And there's tons of other great stuff to do within driving distance from 1-2 hours on up. (You can reach the Sierras but I probably wouldn't recommend that for a first time visit of limited duration.) IMO, great choice for a vacation of just about any length.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#118

Post by selectodude »

adjkant wrote: post #106
DaniloDias wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Midwestern pride (and Minneapolitan pride in particular) is far stronger than most areas. To me, it presents itself as a kind of Stockholm syndrome. It develops because your brain is aware of the fact that the weather there is capable of killing you 3 months out of the year and it has to find a way to justify the fact that you're not leaving. Obviously there must be something really great about this place when it's n…

Don't forget about Chicago, which is worst of all in the brainwashing department. I can't find the source sadly, but there's a crazy statistic about girls who grow up in Chicago being somewhere around 10x more likely to return to their hometown compared to their counterparts anywhere else in the US.

Well that's because Chicago is the best city in the world.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#120

Post by kzisme »

samcodes wrote: post #103
ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good list. I'd add the Rodins at Stanford (which is also a nice campus to walk around) and, for hiking, the Santa Cruz mountains (Big Basin, etc.) Also free guided walking tours in SF and the boat trip to Alcatraz (touristy but worthwhile--book ahead). While the Computer History Museum in [EDIT: Mountain View] is great, if I were visiting the Bay area from halfway around the world, I really wouldn't spend much time i…

I hope OP listens to this. Spend 80% of your time in SF/Oakland/Berkeley and 20% at most in SV. The former is one of the most interesting, beautiful metropolitan areas in the world.; The later is a fairly mundane suburb. When I'm visiting the Bay Area I like to go to coworking spaces as well.

What do you do at co-working spaces (aside from work?) Is it to meet people or what exactly? (I've been been)
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