San Diego, Hawaii, San Jose? Top cities for babymooning

San Jose is home to many tourist attractions—whether it’s strolling through the famous rose garden or playing with gadgets at the Tech Interactive — but a new study has named the city as one of the best places to squeeze in a last vacation for soon-to-be parents.

San Jose ranks No. 11 in top places to “babymoon,” a time when expecting parents take a vacation before they have a child, according to SIXT, a rental car company that ranked more than 40 road-trip spots for babymooning.

Kelly Johnson, senior vice president of marketing at North America SIXT, said  babymoons are important for parents to relax and spend quality time together before the arrival of a child.

“A babymoon is a special time to pamper yourself, take a well-deserved break and create memories you will cherish forever—while celebrating the newest family addition,” Johnson told San José Spotlight.

SIXT ranked cities according to happiness, safety, relaxing activities, scenic views and food by looking at a happiness report from Wallethub, FBI crime statistics and TripAdvisor rankings. San Jose scored nine out of 10 in happiness, seven out of 10 in safety and a six out of 10 when it came to dining. The city had an overall score of 58 out of 100. First place went to San Diego which had a 88 score.

San Jose is one of four California cities ranked in the top 20 as a babymoon destination. Others in addition to San Diego include Los Angeles, which ranked fourth with a score of 67. Hollywood ranked 12th but tied with San Jose for an overall score of 58. San Francisco took the 16th spot with an overall score of 56.

The city’s babymoon ranking comes as the tourism and hotel industry in San Jose has struggled to bounce back from the pandemic. The 805-room Fairmont abruptly closed in March 2021 after declaring bankruptcy and was purchased by Hilton Worldwide Holdings. The hotel rebranded as a Signia by Hilton San Jose, which was renovated and reopened last year.

According to Team San Jose’s annual report for fiscal year 2021-22, 2 million hotel rooms were used by guests in that year,  up from the 1.4 million in 2020-21. The report  also said leisure travel bounced back at a much higher rate than business, event and group travelers in San Jose.

Frances Wong, spokesperson for Team San Jose, said the tourism organization is thrilled that San Jose has been chosen as a top babymoon destination since it offers parents-to-be many options for leisure travel.

“San Jose’s close proximity to activities such as wine tasting, the beach and Silicon Valley wellness retreats makes our city a great hotel home base for all Northern California road trips,”  Wong told San José Spotlight. “What a great way to explore San Jose before returning for our family-friendly attractions in the coming years.”

Contact Julia Forrest at [email protected] or follow @juliaforrest35 on Twitter.