Sacramento Travel Guide

90 miles E of San Francisco; 383 miles N of Los Angeles

Sacramento, with a metro-area population of nearly 1.8 million, is one of the state's fastest-growing areas. It's far from being a tourist town, but it does have its share of touristy activities. Visitors and locals alike enjoy a day spent walking through Old Sacramento, floating down the American River, or biking the shady paths along the Sacramento and American rivers. In addition to being the state capital, it's a thriving shipping and processing center for the fruit, vegetables, rice, wheat, and dairy goods produced in the Central Valley. Within the past decade it's also become a receptacle of high-tech spillover from Silicon Valley, and more recently, a suburb for Bay Area workers seeking affordable homes. As such, the quantity and quality of downtown restaurants -- such as the Esquire Grill and The Waterboy -- have greatly improved.

Visitors are often surprised and how pretty the River City's downtown area is, with its tree-shaded streets lined with some impressive Victorians and well-crafted bungalows. And at its heart sits the majestic capitol building -- Sacramento's most visible attraction -- situated within a large park replete with flower gardens, memorial statuary, and curious squirrels. Inside the capitol, visitors strain to get a glimpse of California's movie star governor, Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger.