Do you know the way to San Jose?

You should! The nations eleventh largest city has a lot to offer visitors. In addition to being the safest big city according to FBI crime statistics, San Jose is the oldest civil settlement in California. From the historic Kelley Park, with 25-acres of turn-of-the-century buildings, to the Tech Museum of Innovation, honoring the so-called "Capital of Silicon Valley," San Jose is a dream for those who like to learn while they have fun.

Of course there is plenty more in San Jose to attract the daytripper - Paramount's Great America, Raging Waters, Bonfante Gardens and plenty of sports, theatre and arts venues. Shoppers might take in the open-air, 200-acre flea market Santana Row or the outlet stores at the Great Mall of the Bay Area. In fact, San Jose has so much to offer, it's best to decide what to visit before you go.

Following are three of the best places to have an educational experience.

Tech Museum of Innovation

With four major galleries in 132,000 square feet of space, an IMAX Dome Theater and an educational center for workshops and labs, the Tech Museum is the playground of choice for those interested in the latest technologies.

New to the museum is a fantastic program that allows visitors to interact with the exhibits on an individual basis using a bar code wristband called a Tech Tag. Visitors can not only interact with the exhibits, but can save information on a personal Web page they design at the museum. In January, visitors could record and save several exhibits in the Life Tech and Net Planet galleries on the Web page they build in Net Pl@net. Repeat visitors can bring their tag and add to their Web page at each visit, then log on to my.thetech.org, input their number and see what they saved. Visitors can also find and collect virtual cards using their Tech Tag in the Life Tech gallery and view them online.

Upstairs is the Innovations gallery, which focuses on Silicon Valley's contributions to our ever-changing lifestyles. Don't miss the interactive Silicon Workshop, where you can program Mr. Potato Head to talk, turn on a light, recline in a chair or turn on the TV using command sequences.

Also located on the upper level is the Life Tech gallery. Life science and genetics are explored in this gallery, where visitors can explore technology in the medical and sports fields, genetics and ethics. Check out the virtual bobsled, race a friend in a wheelchair, head to the genetics lab or address the virtual senate on ethics.

Downstairs, visitors can explore space, land and deep-sea efforts in the Exploration gallery. Here, visitors can experience what it's like to be in a real earthquake, feel the pressure of the ocean depths or maneuver a recreation of a Manned Maneuvering Unit.

Also downstairs is Net Pl@net, a gallery dedicated to the Internet. This is where visitors can build their own Web page to interact with the Tech Tag. Visitors can also arm wrestle via a mechanical arm with someone across the nation using similar mechanisms in museums in other states or play Whack-a-spam.

Located at 201 South Market St. in downtown San Jose, the Tech Museum of Innovation is open Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Mondays during the summer months. Tickets range from $7-22, depending on age and what you want to see (galleries and/or IMAX features) For more information, call 408-294-8324 or visit www.thetech.org.

Children's Discovery Museum

For nearly fifteen years this large, purple building has invited children to experience the world around them in a unique, hands-on way. Geared more toward pre-school and young elementary-aged children, there plenty to discover.

The newest permanent exhibit, Waterways, invites young visitors (and the young at heart) to interact with water as they toss colorful plastic balls into running water. Through creative engineering, the balls shoot up, gush around and follow the flow of water in the display. There is also a special area for visitors age four and under.

Speaking of preschoolers, the Children's Discovery Museum is currently hard at work on a space exclusively for babies and toddlers. Designed as an early childhood learning space, with puppets, dress-up, books and general exploration, The Wonder Cabinet will open this spring.

Elementary (and even Junior High) aged kids will have fun exploring the ZOOMzone. Based on the PBS series, kids can explore science, math, technology and literacy, as well as creative problem solving.

Older and younger kids alike enjoy creating their own cornhusk dolls. Also popular at the museum are the Pizza Please Kitchen, Step into the Past and Bubbalogna (exploration of bubbles). A full size fire engine and ambulance are also very popular with the kids.

The Children's Discovery Museum is located at 180 Woz Way in downtown San Jose and admission is $7 per person. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. For more information call 408-298-5437 or visit www.cdm.org.

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

The largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in the western U.S. is housed on the unique grounds of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

If you are at all interested in the history of Egypt, this museum is not to be missed on your trip to San Jose. The knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guides and interesting displays add so much to the experience.

Of particular interest is the tomb tour, which is definitely worth signing up for. Though it does not cost extra, due to space limitations, guides take limited groups of people through, explaining the features of the full-scale, composite replica of a noble's rock-cut tomb. In addition to this exhibit, the museum features an extensive collection of human and animal mummies, canopic jars, detailed funerary boats and models, bronze-age tools, jewelry and pre-dynasty pottery.

The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is located at 1342 Naglee, near San Jose State University. Hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $9, though kids and seniors get $2-4 off (depending on age). For more information, visit egyptianmuseum.org.

There are plenty more museums in San Jose to reach almost any special interest, including San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, History Park at Kelley Park and and Blackhawk Museum. Most of the museums have cafes in or near them, but there are plenty of restaurants in and around the downtown area - from McDonald's to Johnny Rockets to La Penita - there's something for every palate. For more information on San Jose, visit www.sanjose.org.