Sacramento [1] is the state capital of California in the United States.

Understand

You will find the people of Sacramento are what you may not have expected. They tend to be warm and friendly.

Get in

By plane

Sacramento International Airport (SMF) [2] is the main airport for Sacramento, located 15 minutes north of downtown along Interstate 5 at the Airport Boulevard exit. Air service is available to Hawaii, Mexico and all regions of the United States. Taxis from the airport to downtown are estimated at $27 one-way.

By train

Amtrak runs two long distance trains and two regional trains through Sacramento.

• The Coast Starlight [3] runs from Seattle and Portland through Sacramento to San Francisco (via Emeryville), Oakland, San Jose, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles.

• The California Zephyr [4] runs from San Francisco (via Emeryville) through Sacramento to Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Omaha, and Chicago.

• The Capitol Corridor [5] is a regional train that runs from the Bay Area to Sacramento making major stops in Martinez, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, Fremont, and San Jose. Carefully consult the schedule when buying tickets for this since some of the daily runs are by bus instead of train.

• The San Joaquins [6] is a regional train that runs from Sacramento south into the San Joaquin Valley making major stops in Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield.

By car

Sacramento is conveniently located at the intersection of Interstate 5 (a north-south route) and Interstate 80 (an east-west route). It is also located at the western terminus of US Route 50.

• From the San Francisco Bay Area, take Interstate 80 east.
• From Reno and North Lake Tahoe, take Interstate 80 west.
• From South Lake Tahoe, take US Route 50 west.
• From Redding and the Pacific Northwest, take Interstate 5 south.
• From the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, take Interstate 5 north.

By bus

• Greyhound has A major hub downtown and numerous satellite stations throughout the Sacramento area.

Get around

By foot

Historic Old Sacramento, the Riverfront, and the California State Railroad Museum are all within an easy five minute walk of the train station.

The Capitol is a half-hour walk from Old Sacramento.

By car

For nearly all other getting around, you will want a car.

Light-rail

Sacramento, and the surrounding communities, has invested in a light-rail system. However, because of the spread-out nature of SacTown the usefulness may be limited to specific scenarios.

See

Old Sacramento

Once a thriving riverfront pioneer town, Old Sacramento now primarily exists as a tourist attraction. The boardwalk style sidewalks and horse-drawn stagecoaches give the small section of town a unique flavor. Old Sacramento contains several museums, restaurants, and the usual assortment of tacky souvenir shops all within walking distance of each other. Best of all, it's a five minute walk from the Amtrak station.

• The California State Railroad Museum, 111 "I" Street, (916) 323-9280, [7]. A huge museum of railroad history with a large collection of old yet well-preserved trains and equipment. If possible, take Amtrak to the Sacramento station to get into a trainy mood for it. $8 adults, $3 ages 6-17, 5 and under free.

• Steam train rides, Central Pacific Railroad Freight Depot (just south of the Railroad Museum). Hourly April through September. Operated by the Railroad Museum, these forty minute excursions are pulled by an historic steam locomotive along the nearby levees. $8 adults, $3 ages 6-17, 5 and under free.

Do

• The Traditional Jazz Festival An annual affair over the Memorial Day weekend. Bands come from all over the world to play this gig. You can hear everything from Billie Holiday to Scott Joplin to Paco Gatsby in venues set up throughout the Sacramento area.
• The American River Cycling Trail is a world class pleasant ride through lush parkland, along the river and past lake Natoma, 44 miles (70 km) of automobile-free pavement from Folsom, Ca to Downtown Sacto, where old town provides plenty of refreshment with bars and restaurants. Lock your bike outside Fanny Anne's and have a big sandwich and a cold beer before riding back. Plenty of picnic-spotted parks offer water and shade, convenient parking, and you may spot the occasional deer or wild turkey. Be alert in the area of the bridges near downtown after dusk. There are walkers and joggers all along the trail so it's bad manners to ride too fast.
• If you are visiting in August or early September, you cannot stop in Sacramento without stopping by the California State Fair! The Cal Expo fairgrounds come alive every summer as the State Fair becomes a "city within a city" that hosts nearly one million visitors. Folks come from near and far for the memorable delights of this 152-year-old extravaganza that includes exciting exhibits, amazing attractions, live entertainment, and the Magnificent Midway. Visit http://www.bigfun.org for the daily schedule of exhibits, attractions, races and more

Learn

Work

Buy

Eat

Budget

Mid-range

• Crepeville.
• La Bou.
• Panera Bread.

Splurge

• Lomo Argentine Grill 1107 Front St., (916) 442-5666.
• Biba Ristorante Italiano 2801 Capitol Avenue, (916) 455-2422. Started by Biba Caggiano, the famous chef, author, and television host. It has been selected as the best restaurant in Sacramento on multiple occasions. Reservations are strongly reccomended for this fine dining establishment.
• Morton's Steakhouse 521 L St., (916) 442-5091, [8]. High-scale restaurant that is perfect for taking that special someone or take the whole family to celebrate any occasion. They pride themselves on cooking the most tender steak, but don't count out their seafood portion of the menu! Delicious food with excellent dessert! Fun fact: they don't use menus...the waiter brings out a tray of all the raw meat and fish (even crab that is still alive) and explains in detail what the meat or fish is and what the dish comes with.
• P.F. Chang's China Bistro, 1530 J St., (916) 288-0970, [9]. Delicious chinese food that has a welcoming upscale atmosphere. Personal favorite are the lettuce wraps!!! The atmosphere is a louder family restaurant that combines with high class food. There is also an exceptional bar area that is a great place to meet friends.

Drink

Night Life

Nite life in Sacramento can be non-existant at times, however the city is trying to change that. They've been adding more street lights, redoing sidewalks, and encouraging businesses to stay open later.

Old-town sac can be a fun place, but watch out for cruisers in low-rider cars. Best time to visit old sac is in late afternoon, early evening. Parking can be scarce, so be sure to utilize the reasonably priced parking structures in the K street mall. There's a nice, short, safe walkway between K street mall and old town.

A popular place for young people to hang is at the the Country Club Lanes bowling alley (don't laugh). They have a cover charge on weekends, but they give you a coupon for the same amount to be used towards bowling.

Gay bars/Dance

• Depot - Gay video bar, two coin-op pool tables, covered smoking area. Corner of K and 20th downtown.
• Faces - Formally a gay bar, but has been taken over by lesbians and straight people. Now considered a gay friendly bar. Two dance floors, four bars (they claim more but one is the width of a door). Play R&B on video floor, techno with (train wrecks) on other dance floor. Genearlly plays better diva dance tunes earlier in the night before it changes to heavy techno with the occasional bad mix. Corner of K and 20th, across from Depot.
• The Merc - Usually the place to go to get your night started - cheap, big, strong drinks! Recently remodeled and is now considered a destination bar which competes with the Depot. Down two blocks from the Depot on 20th & L street.
• Club 21 - 18+ wedneday nights, which happens to be the only gay male night. Same owner as Faces, however generally plays upbeat, dance tunes that you can sing too. Beware of the trolls fishing for young men on Wednesdays. Other nights are predominatly lesbian nights. On 21st, between K and L streets.

Sleep

• Best Western Expo Inn, 1413 Howe Avenue, (916) 922-9833, Toll-free: (800) 643-4422, Fax: (916) 922-3384, [10].
• Best Western John Jay Inn, 15 Massie Ct, (916) 689-4425, Fax: (916) 689-8045, [11].
• Best Western Sandman Motel, 236 Jibboom Street, (916) 443-6515, Fax: (916) 443-8346, [12].
• Best Western Sutter House, 1100 H Street, (916) 441-1314, Fax: (916) 441-5961, [13].
• Courtyard Sacramento Airport Natomas, 2101 River Plaza Drive, (916) 922-1120, Fax: (916) 922-1872, [14].
• Courtyard Sacramento Midtown, 4422 Y Street, (916) 455-6800, Fax: (916) 669-1031, [15].
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Sacramento Airport Natomas, 2730 El Centro Road, (916) 923-7472, Fax: (916) 923-7482, [16].
• Hawthorn Suites Sacramento, 321 Bercut Drive, Tel: (916) 441-1200. [17].
• Holiday Inn, 300 J Street, (916) 446-0100, [18].
• Holiday Inn, 5321 Date Ave, (916) 338-5800, [19].
• Holiday Inn Express, 728 Sixteenth Street, (916) 444-4436, [20].
• Lions Gate Hotel and Conference Center, [21].
• Motel 6 Sacamento South, 7407 Elsie Avenue, (916) 689-6555, Fax: (916) 689-6495, [22].
• Motel 6 Sacramento Central, 7850 College Town Drive, (916) 383-8110, Fax: (916) 386-0971, [23].
• Motel 6 Sacramento Downtown, 1415 30th Street, (916) 457-0777, Fax: (916) 454-9814, [24].
• Motel 6 Sacramento North, 5110 Interstate Avenue, (916) 331-8100, Fax: (916) 339-2241, [25].
• Motel 6 Sacramento Southwest, 7780 Stockton Boulevard, (916) 689-9141, Fax: (916) 689-7340, [26].
• Motel 6 Sacramento-Old Sacramento North, 227 Jibboom Street, (916) 441-0733, Fax: (916) 446-5941, [27].
• Residence Inn Sacramento Airport Natomas, 2410 West El Camino Avenue, (916) 649-1300, Fax: (916) 649-1395, [28].
• Residence Inn Sacramento Cal Expo, 1530 Howe Avenue, (916) 920-9111, Fax: (916) 921-5664, [29].
• SpringHill Suites Sacramento Airport Natomas, 2555 Venture Oaks Way, (916) 925-2280, Fax: (916) 925-2290, [30].

Contact

Stay safe

Downtown has a lot of one-way streets which are confusing, not always well marked. (Hint: Look at the direction in which cars are parked!)

Cope

Get out

Part of the beauty of Sacramento is its central location. Within 90 minutes by car: Napa Valley, San Francisco and bay area, Lake Tahoe, Reno. So, you wanna hang out on the beach? Quick drive to the coast. Need some powder (of the snow variety)? Head up the hill.