Sacramento CA California
Frequently Asked Questions
At the L Street landing, right on the edge of Old Sacramento. You step ashore straight into the historic district, with no shuttle or taxi needed.
Yes. Old Sacramento begins at the foot of the gangway and the California State Railroad Museum stands at the north corner of the district. The California State Capitol is about 1.5 km away, a fifteen-minute walk over a footbridge that crosses the freeway.
Allow a good two hours for the California State Railroad Museum, wander the cobbled streets of Old Sacramento and walk the riverfront past the Delta King. With extra time, continue to the Capitol, whose interior can be toured freely on weekdays.
A national historic district of more than ten hectares, preserved as it stood during the gold rush: 1850s brick and timber buildings, wooden sidewalks, galleried storefronts and horse-drawn carriages on the cobbles. This is where prospectors arrived from San Francisco by river.
Because after the 19th-century floods the young city was raised by several metres, burying an entire level of shops. Guided tours now walk those original foundations by lantern light.
More than forty restored locomotives and cars under glass roofs, from the steam giants of the transcontinental line to sleeping cars you can walk through in the half-dark. The first rail of the transcontinental railroad headed east from this very spot, in a venture launched by four local merchants.
A 1920s paddle steamer moored permanently at the waterfront, now a hotel and restaurant. It once ran the overnight service to San Francisco, and its white and red silhouette, with Tower Bridge just upstream, is the visual signature of the riverfront.
Yes, and the railroad museum is the main reason: full-size locomotives, cars you can walk through, and careful staging. Old Sacramento adds old-fashioned candy shops and carriage rides, and everything is within walking distance.
The US dollar and English. Credit cards are accepted everywhere and restaurant tipping runs 15 to 20 percent.
Spring and autumn. Summers here are very hot and dry: bring water and a hat, and take advantage of the shade under the historic district’s arcades and the downtown tree canopy, one of the densest in the country.
