San Jose

San Jose

San Jose is Silicon Valley's anchor city, much bigger than San Francisco by population, and culturally underrated because everyone drives through it on the way somewhere else. The Vietnamese food scene (especially in Little Saigon) is one of the best in the country. The weather is impossibly mild, the Santa Cruz Mountains rise to the west, and the tech money funds a genuinely excellent restaurant scene.

San Antonio

San Antonio wraps the River Walk through downtown like a Venetian canal trail (much shorter, but lined with mariachi and margaritas). The Alamo sits in the middle of it all, the five Spanish missions are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the puffy tacos are unlike Tex-Mex anywhere else. Fiesta in April is essentially a 10-day citywide block party. It's bigger and prouder than outsiders expect.