The Best Cheap Date Ideas in San Jose

Pack a picnic for the Municipal Rose Garden, a 5.5-acre park in the Rose Garden neighborhood with more than 180 varieties of roses and a central fountain. It is free to explore, with plenty of space to walk around together before or after you eat.

Spring and early summer are the best times to go. Parking is on the street nearby.

Drive up Mount Hamilton for views of the Santa Clara Valley from over 4,000 feet up, then walk to the Shane dome to see the 120-inch reflector from the visitors gallery. Admission and parking are both free.

The East Grounds and Shane Gallery are open daily until 5pm, while the main building and West Peak are closed after storm damage. Allow at least an hour from San Jose for the winding road, and pack a lunch, since vending machines are on site.

Spend a few hours exploring Alum Rock Park, a 720-acre canyon park on San Jose’s east side with about 13 miles of hiking trails. For an easier route, the four-mile Creek Trail takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Picnic areas near the historic mineral baths and grottos give you a good place to stop afterward.

History Park spreads across 14 acres at the south end of Kelley Park, with paved streets to wander, trolleys on the move, and an ice parlor from another era. The park is free to enter, and the weekend trolley ride around the grounds costs nothing.

The park is open daily 9am to 4pm, while the historic houses and museums open Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 3:45pm. O'Brien's Ice Cream Parlor serves Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 3:30pm. Hours can change, so confirm before you go.

Spend an afternoon at JAMsj in Japantown, where permanent and rotating exhibits trace more than a century of Japanese American history, from immigration and agriculture to wartime incarceration. The museum is open Thursday through Sunday from 12pm to 4pm.

Parking at the museum is limited, but there is metered and non-metered street parking nearby, and the Japantown/Ayer VTA light rail stop is close by.

Pair a falafel pita with a fresh banana shake at Falafel's Drive-In in West San Jose, then eat at the picnic tables outside.

The menu also covers cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and onion rings, and the drive-in has been open since 1966. Parking is a small lot plus street parking nearby.

Try Central Vietnamese specialties at Hue, a spacious strip-mall cafe in East San Jose with fast service. We'd start with the bánh bèo and bánh bột lọc rice cakes, or the spicy bún bò huế.

Just walk in.

Hike through more than 4,000 acres at Almaden Quicksilver County Park in South San Jose, where mining-era relics are scattered along the trails. In spring, wildflowers add even more to see along the way.

Guided tours are available, and parking in the lot is free.

Follow the river trails of Guadalupe River Park, a three-mile greenway through downtown San Jose with 2.6 miles of walkable trails. The Heritage Rose Garden, a stop with thousands of rose varieties and a footprint the size of a city block, costs nothing to visit, daily from sunrise to sunset.

The park also holds a 3.3-acre Historic Orchard.

Stop by Zona Rosa for Fiesta Hour from 3 to 5pm Tuesday through Friday, when margaritas and other specials make for an easy, affordable date. The hacienda-inspired space has patios in both the front and back, with Mexican dishes like blue corn enchiladas and crab ceviche.

The restaurant is closed Mondays.