offwegooo.com
Travel guide
Sacramento
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to June, September to October
offwegooo.comPrint it, fold it, take it with you
Welcome
Sacramento, in a few days
California's capital was born of the 1848 Gold Rush, at the confluence of two rivers, and keeps on its waterfront a district of brick facades, wooden boardwalks and steam locomotives. Around the white-domed Capitol, streets shaded by elms and plane trees lead to the tables of a city that calls itself America's farm-to-fork capital.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 3 things
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Old Sacramento Waterfront free · 2 to 3 hThe Gold Rush district on the river, more than 50 brick and timber buildings from the 1850s to 1870s, where the Pony Express stopped and the first transcontinental railroad began, now with saloons and restaurants.
- Afternoon · California State Railroad Museum · 2 to 3 hOne of North America's largest railroad museums, on the site where the Central Pacific set off in 1863, with some twenty restored locomotives and cars, including a gently rocking 1920s sleeper.
- Late afternoon · Crocker Art Museum · about 2 hThe oldest public art museum in the western United States, in an Italianate mansion and a modern wing, with one of the richest collections of California painting, including Wayne Thiebaud's cakes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Delta King Hotel ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€150 a night
D2
Day 2
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Leland Stanford Mansion free · about 1 hThe home of railroad baron and governor Leland Stanford, later an orphanage for nearly a century, restored with its chandeliers and Victorian drapes and visited only on free guided tours.
- Afternoon · California State Capitol free · about 1 h 30A neoclassical capitol completed in 1874, its 64-metre dome inspired by Washington's, with restored early 20th-century offices, a marble rotunda and a 16-hectare park of trees from every continent.
- Late afternoon · Sutter's Fort · about 1 h 30The adobe fort founded in 1839 by the Swiss Johann August Sutter, the seed of Sacramento, with a forge, bakery, cooperage and rooms furnished as in 1846, and links to the Donner Party.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Delta King Hotel ↗€150 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · American River Parkway free · half a dayA green corridor following the American River for 37 km, with a continuous 51 km cycle path to Folsom Lake, herons, deer, an autumn salmon run and summer rafting.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Delta King Hotel ↗€150 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Coloma and the Gold Rush · a full dayThe village where James Marshall found gold in 1848, now a historic park with a replica of Sutter's sawmill, period buildings, gold panning in the river and some of California's busiest rafting.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €155 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to June, September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/sacramento
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.