A Sacramento Honeymoon from The World's Greatest Honeymoons

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The Gold Still Glitters

More than 150 years ago, a pea-sized nugget found near Sacramento set off California’s world-famous Gold Rush and changed the nation's fate.

Today's visitor can still discover gold in this cosmopolitan capital of the country's largest state. Sacramento’s 21^st century gold can be found in the city’s many treasures: its beautiful parks and gardens, enchanting Old Town, excellent museums, cultural life, fine restaurants, and top-notch hotels. It’s in the wealth of the surrounding area: soaring mountains, meandering rivers, charming 19^th century mining towns, and in the "liquid gold" of the region’s world-class wineries. Not least, it’s also found in the money you’ll save if you base your honeymoon in this bargain-priced getaway.

Why honeymoon here? Sacramento offers excellent restaurants, museums, shopping, and many activities. Centrally-located, you can use it as a base for daytrips to the Gold Country, San Francisco, and the premier wine country of Napa and Sonoma. You'll find much better hotel rates here than in SF or the wine country, too. Cons: Don't expect this city to be hip or glamorous.

Sacramento Honeymoon Ideas

Old Sacramento: Smack dab on the banks of the Sacramento River—where the city was founded in 1839—28-acre Old Sacramento State Historic Park consists of 50 authentic Gold Rush buildings, wooden sidewalks, clip-clopping horse-drawn buggies, and costumed docents. Explore on tandem bikes, stopping off to visit an old-fashioned candy shop, take in a play at the 1849 Eagle Theater, or snap photos beside the bronze statue of a Pony Express rider. Don't miss the Delta King; once one of the finest riverboats afloat, it’s now a permanently-docked floating hotel and restaurant. With a free podcast tour, you can tour Old Sac at your own rate, listening to stories about the discovery of gold, the building of the transcontinental railroad, the pony express, and more.

Capitol Park: Popular with locals and visitors alike is lushly-landscaped Capitol Park, whose 40 acres are jammed with over 100 species of native California plants, a splendid rose garden, a bamboo forest, and trees ranging from Himalayan deodar cedars to Australian bunya-bunyas. The Gardens have always been popular, as evident in the photo, left, from a mid-20th century postcard. ~ While you're here, take the popular tour of the California State Capitol Museum (it's free). You'll get to see the 1860 building's art collection, including a large 1937 WPA mural that tells the story behind California's name; twelve 1915 murals by famed California Impressionist Arthur Mathews; antique furnishings, California-inspired art, and much more. Tours run hourly, 7 days a week.

Crocker Art Museum: Established in 1885, the Crocker Art Museum is the longest continually operating art museum in the West. The Crocker holds one of the state's finest collections of California art, dating from the Gold Rush to the present day (or from Charles Christian Nahl's Sunday Morning in the Mines to Joan Brown's Wolf in Studio). Crocker also boasts a notable collection of Master Drawings (including works by Rembrandt and Dürer), and is growing increasingly strong in the areas of Asian art and International Ceramics. ~ Nearby is the new California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts; among its many treasures is a permanent California Hall of Fame. Inductees, added each year, cover a wide waterfront: early naturalist John Muir, comedian Milton Berle, tennis great Billie Jean King, novelist Alice Walker, president and governor Ronald Reagan, and two aviators (Amelia Earhart and Sally Ride).

California State Railroad Museum: If you’re not a train buff when you enter this amazing place, you will be by the time you leave. Considered the nation’s finest such collection, the California State Railroad Museum holds entire trains, 19 historically important locomotives dating from 1862 to 1944, a 7,000-piece toy train worth $1 million, and a recreated 1876 Central Pacific Passenger Depot. From April through September, you can take a 6-mile, 40-minute excursion on a steam-powered train atop levees of the Sacramento River, sitting either in an enclosed coach with comfy seats or on an open-air gondola.

The Waterfront’s Discovery Park: Spread a picnic on one of the peaceful, sandy beaches at 160-acre Discovery Park. Poised at the junction of two great rivers (the Sacramento and American), it’s a longtime favorite with fishers, boaters, bikers, walkers—and those who just want to hold hands and watch the water drift by. Later, hop onto a narrated river tour that takes you past the city’s historic landmarks on a replica paddle-wheeler, check out original gold mining artifacts at the Discovery Museum, or just relax with a snack or glass of wine at one of the many casual waterfront cafes.

Sutter’s Fort: After gold was discovered in 1848 on land owned by John Sutter along the American River, his land and the settlement he'd built became the most sought-after destination in the world. Gold-seekers poured into the area from every corner of the planet. Most didn't have much luck, and some fared even worse: in the first year, 10,000 49ers died from lack of shelter, poor food, the dearth of medical supplies, and some were murdered over claims. Most of those who did grow rich from the discovery of gold were involved in outfitting, supplying, or transporting the miners. ~ Sutter ultimately lost his land, except for what he signed over to his eldest son. The younger Sutter later established a new city on his father's land and named it Sacramento. ~ Sutter's settlement, now known as Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, has been restored with careful authenticity to its pre-Gold Rush appearance. Visit the cooperage, bakery, and jail, take in the demos by docents dressed as vaqueros and blacksmiths, salute when the cannon is fired, and enjoy the self-guided audio tour.

Auburn: Curious about the Gold Country? A mere 30 miles northeast of Sacramento is historic Auburn. Established in 1848 atop a river bluff, it’s one of the era’s most perfectly preserved and picturesque towns—little-changed since its Gold rush heyday. Highlights include the beautiful 1894 courthouse, Commercial Street with its fine buildings of fired brick, the 1891 firehouse with its steeply pitched roof and bell tower, and the 1848 post office—the west’s oldest post office in continuous operation. Activities nearby include rafting and kayaking on the American River, hiking & biking galore, wine tasting (see below) and five golf courses. ~ If you like Auburn, keep traveling. Many similar towns were founded during the Gold Rush, and 317-mile long Highway 49—sometimes called the Golden Chain Highway—is home to many of them (e.g., Nevada City, Placerville, Coloma, Jackson, Grass Valley, and Sonora). The route winds through river canyons and forests, and over steep hills with great views, all the while offering up excursions to tiny museums and old mines, opportunities to pan for gold or explore caverns, antique shops, and the like. A lot of rough frontier history went down here, and despite the comforts of today's beautiful surroundings, good restaurants, and boutique hotels, it's still easy to picture what it all might have been like.

Gold Country Wineries: Wineries have thrived in the nearby Sierra Nevada foothills for more than 150 years. Most are the kind of small, family-owned places where wine tasting is relaxed and friendly, and where you stand a good chance of having your glass poured by the person who actually made the wine. You'll sample zesty zins, sumptuous syrahs, and a wide range of other varietals you know well (and some you don't). An added treat is that, while meandering, you'll be following in the footsteps of those gold-seeking 49ers. The small towns hereabouts are dense with history, antique shops, colorful old hotels, and up-to-date restaurants. The diverse but uniformly worthwhile wine regions to explore in "them thar" hills include Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Placer County, Nevada County, and Lodi. And if you'll be sampling wines, be sure to read WGH's wine tasting tips.

More Info: Sacramento CVB

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All written material ©WGH ~ Photos: Robert Holmes/Cal Tour (Sutter's Fort, Auburn, Train Museum, Sutter's Creek); John Poimiroo/CalTour (Sacramento skyline at night); Philip H. Coblentz/CalTour (Old Sacramento); Wikipedia (Tower Bridge)