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Technology hub in California, United States
Photo: BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Silicon Valley lies in the South Bay and the southern Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. Once best known for its prune orchards, the area underwent explosive growth with the creation of the high-tech industry in the 1960s. Although much of the area suffers from the suburban sprawl typical of much of the western United States, it still has some remarkable charm. The nearby Santa Cruz mountains make for a welcome respite from bustling 21st-century cyberliving.
org. Taxis also serve the airport and can transport you to Sunnyvale for around $25 one way, for example.
Read in the guideIt's quite possible to see Santa Clara and San Jose by public transport and walking.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
San Jose · International · SJC
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Campbell is a town of 44,000 people (2020) south and west of San Jose.
Cupertino is a city in Silicon Valley at the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay. It is home to Apple Inc.
Los Altos is in Santa Clara County, in the South Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The city means "The Heights" or "Foothills" in Spanish.
Los Gatos is a town of 30,000 people (2019) in Santa Clara County, near San Jose, California in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. Downtown Los Gatos has retained and restored many of its Victorian-era homes and commercial buildings.
Menlo Park is a suburban, tree-lined community in San Mateo County midway between the major cities of San Francisco and San Jose. Menlo Park offers visitors easy access to Stanford, Palo Alto and Silicon Valley.
Milpitas is in the South Bay region of the Bay Area of California. It’s between San Jose and Fremont and is home to a rapidly-growing population.
Mountain View in California is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Mountain View is one of the major cities that make up Silicon Valley, and has many notable Silicon Valley companies either headquartered there or with a large presence.
Palo Alto is a bustling suburb in Santa Clara County south of the city of San Francisco. It is adjacent to Stanford University and home to hundreds of Silicon Valley technology companies, ranging from VMware and Hewlett-Packard to tiny startups operating in garages.
Often called "the capital of Silicon Valley", San Jose is the largest city in the Bay Area, 3rd largest in California, and the 12th largest city in the United States, with a population of over 997,000 residents as of 2024. It was named the 6th safest big city in the U.S. in 2015.
There's more than one place called San Mateo:
Santa Clara is a town in the South Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California.
Saratoga is a city in Silicon Valley at the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay.
Sunnyvale is a city in the South Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California. Sunnyvale was ranked the 5th safest city in the United States in its size category for 2004.
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