I am a firm believer in the idea of adding fun to a business trip. It’s not always easy to find free time when you’re traveling all over the place representing your company or brand, but business travelers should carve out time to enjoy themselves whenever possible. Fortunately, a perk for being a YesVideo ambassador was traveling to their headquarters in Silicon Valley. This brand knows how to work hard and play hard. The digital revolution transformed Santa Clara County, California, into the home of some of the world’s biggest technology companies. So, if you are here on business visiting one of these companies, here’s is what I would recommend for you in Silicon Valley.

Local Charming Hotel
Looking for a quality hotel in the Silicon Valley that has more local charm than big name behind it? Try The Plaza Suites in Santa Clara, California. It is a great value for the money with a ritzy-looking front lobby and comfortable suites. Located near the 101 freeway, it’s a great place to stay for business trips, a university visit or a weekend getaway.

Amazing, Comfort Restaurant
Pedro’s Restaurant offers a varied and unique selection of authentic Mexican creations. Share their delicious Pedro’s Sampler Platter, which comes with mini beef chimichangas, sopes, taquitos and cheese quesadilla, served with with jalapeno cream cheese and guacamole. Their Sweet Corn Tamales are also a perfect way to start out your meal. Indulge in their Carnitas Tacos or Enchiladas Las Hadas for the seafood lover, which comes with snow crab and bay shrimp in two flour tortillas with salsa del mar and a sliced avocado.

Stan’s Donut Shop is a local favorite and a staple in the community since 1959. This bakery has got all your favorites and some more fun flavors for the adventurers. 😉

Getting There
Silicon Valley is well served with scheduled flights to San Jose International Airport from Southwest, American Airlines, jetBlue, United and Delta.

Getting to Silicon Valley
There are lots of different options. Local light rail is connected by a free airport shuttle bus, or you can get one of the scheduled bus services that service the airport as well. San Jose Airport connects to Caltrain by VTA bus line 10, a free shuttle between the airport and the Santa Clara Caltrain station and transit center. Various other local VTA bus lines also leave from this transit center. Taxis also serve the airport and can transport you to Sunnyvale for around $25 one way, for example. Limo transfers and Uber are also available from outside the airport terminal.

Must-See Sights
Silicon Valley is home to the company that basically powers the entire computer industry: Intel Corporation. You can learn all about the history and operations of this groundbreaking tech company at its sleek, ultra-cool museum with fun and interactive exhibits for all ages. It has big touch screens, a fun Name Machine to create letters in the binary code of 0s and 1s, and a kiosk where you can send digital composite photo postcards to friends. Although these are largely closed tech campuses, outside Google’s campus at Building 44, 1635 Charleston Road, you can do selfies with a big green Android, or a colorful Jellybean, Cupcake, Frozen Yogurt, Gingerbread Man and more sculptures of the company’s mobile operating systems. Still saving up for that race car? Get your fast and furious fix at K1 Speed, an indoor go kart racing track. And be warned: These aren’t your mother’s go-karts. They can get up to 45 miles an hour!

NextSpace for Getting Things Done
Traveling on business and need a place to work? It’s the sharing economy to the rescue! Coworking could be just the answer you’ve been looking for, and I HIGHLY recommend checking out NextSpace, a creative hub of economic activity, bringing together entrepreneurs and freelancers. Located in the Historic Lion Building on the corner of Second and San Fernando Streets, NextSpace provides a cafe, workstation, office and conference space for you while you are on business travel.