I don’t know why, but I still like to think I understand cities before I visit them…and that’s dumb 🙂 . I’ve been proven wrong again and again and yet…here I am thinking the same thing. Hubris. I had never visited the California capital of Sacramento before, and I expected it to be like the suburbs of San Fran, where I’d visited during my childhood, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Sacramento is a gorgeous city and I’m shocked that no one has told me this before. It’s completely walkable and there are colorful flowers and giant trees on every block. Not only is it beautiful, but it also includes a wild amount of breweries and an abundance of delicious food.
So once again I ask: WHY DID NONE OF Y’ALL TELL ME ABOUT THIS?! The only possible negative I have against the city isn’t even their fault. It is understandably expensive because it is California, but even though my rent was at a premium, the cost of all my other goods weren’t.
The city was quiet, beautiful and filled with things to do. I thought I would be struggling to fill my two weeks there, but instead, I left several things I wanted to experience on the table. So let’s see what I got up to!
Walkability
Sacramento is wildly walkable. In fact, I planned to use their public transit buses and trains but never did because I found walking so easy and enjoyable. This is not at all what I expected after seeing it’s walk score:
I did stay downtown, which obviously helped, but walking around, I wouldn’t know this was the capital of California. The residential side streets downtown are quiet, cute and beautiful.
However, this is a large city and some people did drive like they were being chased, so despite the abundance of sidewalks and crosswalks, be aware of your surroundings like you would in any big city if you visit. Don’t let the gorgeous flower filled streets lull you into a false sense of small town security 🙂 !
Another thing I want to note about the streets is that the sidewalks were apparently recently redone and are wonderfully WIDE! I also noticed that at least in the residential areas, there was a surprising lack of street lights, so feel free to plan accordingly for that.
One other reason I enjoyed walking around Sacramento is because it has some of the most beautiful and abundant street art I’ve seen in a city. It took my breath away. A reader mentioned that the awesome website Find Masa catalogs street art and tells you the artist and city location of each one! I found it super helpful in Sacramento and it looks like the same site is available for other major US cities – sweet!
Transit
I was planning to use public transit to get all over Sacramento, but in the end, ended up walking because it was easy, enjoyable and a great way to see the city. We took a Lyft from the airport and other than Lyfts to get to the airport and train station, I walked everywhere.
I could get from end to end in the main city in an hour walking, and as a result, didn’t see a reason to hop on a bus or tram, but they are available! Sacramento has several bus lines and train lines that go throughout the city. I also saw signs advertising free public transit on Tuesdays, which sounds awesome.
Inclusivity
I was very impressed with the people in Sacramento. I don’t know if I had low expectations, but they were blown out of the water. Everyone I met was SO nice it freaked me out a little 🙂 . I never had less than stellar service in restaurants, strangers were kind, and people in general seemed wonderful and willing to help if needed.
I also saw an abundance of rainbow banners, queer flags, a rainbow crosswalk and most shocking of all, a church with a queer flag and pro-choice banner that included talking about equality and access to contraception – WOW. I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised.
Overall, walking around alone in Sacramento as a black woman was comfortable. I did get catcalled twice, but that’s a very low ratio over two weeks of walking around alone in my experience. Throughout my exploration, I saw a lot of black and brown people, way more than I expected. Overall I’m giving Sacramento’s diversity and inclusivity a high score.
Nature
I am still FREAKING OUT about how green Sacramento is. I’ve driven through most of California including the California State Route 1 that goes along the coast and my main takeaway from that was: California is a desert that tries to pretend it isn’t 🙂 .
So for that reason I was surprised to see how green Sacramento was. There were plants, trees and flowers everywhere. Not at all a dessert landscape. I heard from locals that they had recently gotten some rain so they’re no longer in a drought, which is great, but still I was surprised. It seemed like every yard had orange and lemon trees just…hanging out there. Is this normal?!
Climate
I was told by several locals that I’d chosen the best time to visit Sacramento. I didn’t want to let them know it was accidental 😉 .
April is apparently a wonderful month to visit because it’s not very rainy and not very hot either. My weeks in Sacramento included sunshine almost every day and I never saw a raindrop. I also never felt like I was sweating through my shirt so wins all around!
Food
As you’ll see when I recap my costs below, I ate everything in sight in Sacramento 🙂 . I had no idea they were such a foodie city!
Cost
As always, I like to compare a new city we’re visiting to our old home of Seattle. Most places are much cheaper, which is fun to see since expensive cities like Seattle and NYC are my mental baseline after living there all of my adulthood. So how does Sacramento stack up to Seattle?
I wasn’t sure what to expect since Sacramento is in California, a notoriously expensive state, but prices there are lower than Seattle with the exception of groceries being mostly on par. Fascinating!
Lodging
Cost: $862.83 per person for 2 weeks
Food
Grocery Cost: $44.92
Not a lot of groceries were bought on this trip understandably. Just a little bit for some breakfasts and snacks basically because most of my money was spent going out on the town!
Eating Out Cost: $306.41
…Yep 🙂 . That sounds about right. I had a lovely time eating everything I could in Sacramento and I still didn’t get through all the restaurants people recommended to me. Next time!
Alcohol Cost: $238.80
This is also not surprising given the number of breweries I tried out. A delicious and deserving cost 🙂 .
Transit
Cost: $75.86
This includes Lyft rides to and from and airport as well as to the train station to embark on our next adventure. It also encompasses gas for our rental car, but not the actual rental car cost since I paid for those with Chase points and had this interesting experience:
Conclusion
And that’s what I thought of Sacramento! Once again, a city I hadn’t really thought about and ended up loving. Why are there so many cities like that 🙂 ? I’m excited to see what city surprises me next. Until next time!
What’s the prettiest place you’ve been lately?
If you’re interested in my other Slow Travel Reviews, they’re all here:
International
- Slow Travel Review: Phuket, Thailand – The Land Of Sea & Food
- Slow Travel Review: Mérida, México – The Land Of Color & Nature
- Slow Travel Review: Montréal, Canada – The Land Of Poutine, Bagels & Acrobatics
- Slow Travel Review: Puerto Vallarta, México – The Land Of Beaches And Birds
- Slow Travel Review: Buenos Aires, Argentina – The Land Of Nature and Architecture
USA
- Slow Travel Review: Portland, Maine, USA – The Land Of Deliciousness
- Slow Travel Review: Catskill, New York, USA – The Land Of Mountains
- Slow Travel Review: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA – The Land Of Chili Peppers
- Slow Travel Review: Decatur, Georgia, USA – The Land Of Flowers And Food
- Slow Travel Review: Seattle, WA, USA – The Land Of Flowers, Sea And Mountains
- Slow Travel Review: Chicago, IL, USA: The Land Of Pizza & Waterways
- Slow Travel Review: Troy, NY – The Land Of Small City Charm
I remain, as always, looking forward to your Denver visit…whenever that’s going to be.
We also have flowers, sunshine, food, breweries, halfway decent transportation, occasionally decent drivers, etc. And also mountain views.
Sounds like you had a great time there, though! Keep writing about your travels…some of us have to live vicariously through you!
We actually just talked about that and tentatively are coming next spring! And thank you – I’ll keep writing 🙂 .
I’m surprised I haven’t been to Sacramento yet after being in San Jose for the past 13 years. Your write-up may be the thing that gets me there this year!
As for the weather and the green surroundings, that’s the beauty of Spring in California. Now that the rains have stopped, things turn to yellows and browns. It’s still pretty, but everyone usually looks forward to the winter rains for the color change.
And yes, fruit trees (especially citrus) can be found in every yard. We have 10 different fruits in our yard.
Looking forward to hearing about your next location!
You’re so close – definitely pop over if you can! Good to know about the weather and color change – I was confused based on my previous assumptions 🙂 . TEN fruit trees?! Wow – that’s amazing. And thank you!
Thanks so much for the review! I love living vicariously through the blog, anyways, but it’s a special kind of thrill to see your town through someone else’s eyes. And so happy that I have new recommendations for food and libations. Thanks for all the work and effort you put in, Purple! Please do come back sometime soon!
I hope I did the city justice 🙂 . I really loved it. I will be back soon – thank you!
Thanks for the tip about Find Masa! That’s a cool resource, I’m going to use it to find interesting street art in my city too.
I can’t take credit since a reader told me about that site, but I’m so glad you found it helpful!
Sacramento has been my favorite city in California (so far), and I felt exactly the same as you—why did no one tell me how amazing it is?!? I did ask someone who lives there, and the answer I got was, “It’s too damn HOT here.” I guess the summers are wicked, and since it was 110° the day I asked her that question with no signs of cooling off til autumn, I could understand why 4 months of brutal heat (ofter with poor air quality) might lead people to have a less positive opinion of the area, especially when the coastal weather can be so pleasant, and it’s just a couple hours away.
That’s awesome! And yeah that makes sense. I’m curious to compare their summer weather to Atlanta (where I was born and raised) – it’s brutal as well.
Your slow travel approach to Sacramento resonates with me! Taking time to savor the city’s ambiance rather than rushing through the sights makes all the difference. I enjoyed strolling through the Capitol Park and admiring the diverse plant species. 🌳 Did you visit any of the local farmers’ markets? The produce is unbelievably fresh! Also, B Street Theatre offers some intimate and engaging performances—such a great cultural spot. What’s your take on the best off-the-beaten-path activities in Sacramento? I’m looking for more leisurely experiences to enjoy on my next trip.
I’m so happy to hear that 🙂 . And yeah Sacramento surprised me based on what I had heard about it. I love it so much 🙂 . I did visit the farmers’ markets and I passed B Street Theatre, but didn’t stop in. Next time!
I’m not sure I’m an expert enough to know off-the-beaten-path activities there. I’m still working my way through the standard activities 😉 . However, I didn’t realize my first visit how close it is to gorgeous nature spots like Lake Tahoe, Muir Woods and Yosemite so I had fun exploring those with Sacramento as a home base.
What a great blog post about all the great aspects of Sacramento! As a Sacramento Interior Designer I truly appreciate all the murals we have here, great design in the architeture and so many fun things to do. Glad you had a good time and got to explore our great city!