Sacramento Travel Guide — Best Time, Things to Do & Where to Stay

Why Sacramento

Sacramento serves as the capital city of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Situated in the Sacramento Valley at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, it is one of Northern California's primary urban centers, anchoring a metropolitan area of roughly two and a half million residents. The city is widely recognized as the political heart of the state, serving as the official seat for both the California Legislature and the governor.

A major destination that hosts millions of visitors annually, Sacramento features a deep concentration of historic and cultural landmarks. Notable attractions include Old Sacramento State Historic Park, which highlights the city's 19th-century waterfront past, and the California State Capitol Museum, housed within a Classical Revival-style structure completed in 1874. Additional cultural institutions across the city include the Crocker Art Museum, the California Museum, the California State Railroad Museum, and the Sacramento Convention Center Complex.

Long before European settlement, indigenous groups including the Nisenan, Maidu, Modoc, and Plains Miwok inhabited the valley, relying on native oak acorns, river salmon, and regional game. Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga surveyed and named the area in 1808. Decades later, in 1839, Swiss-born John Sutter established Sutter's Fort under a Mexican land grant. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 sparked a massive influx of prospectors, prompting the city to be laid out later that year and officially incorporated in 1850 as California's first incorporated city.

Designated as the state capital in 1854, Sacramento rapidly developed into a crucial commercial and transport hub, acting as the western terminus for the Pony Express and a starting point for the First Transcontinental Railroad. To survive severe early hardship—including fires, epidemic disease, and major river flooding—the city constructed protective levees and elevated its downtown street network during the 1860s and 1870s, creating subterranean spaces still known as the Sacramento Underground.

In addition to its civic heritage, modern Sacramento has developed into a prominent center for the regional healthcare sector, housing major institutions such as Sutter Health, the UC Davis Medical Center, and the UC Davis School of Medicine. Driven by economic evolution and regional migration, the city continues to maintain its dual identity as a dynamic modern government hub and a historic river valley settlement.