3 days in Sacramento
Written September 2026
Sacramento gets skipped. People drive straight through it on the way to Tahoe, which is a shame, because for little kids it’s kind of perfect. Everything is flat, the good stuff is packed into a few neighborhoods, and the big three (the zoo, Fairytale Town and the railroad museum) are all made for exactly the ages that wear you out.
So this plan takes one neighborhood a day. Day one is Land Park, where the zoo, Fairytale Town and a tiny amusement park sit across the street from each other. Day two is Old Sacramento and the river, for the trains. Day three is a drive out to Folsom for a small zoo, a miniature train and a castle playground.
It’s built for kids from about two to ten (we flag the stops for older kids as they come up).
Where to stay
Stay downtown, by Old Sacramento or the Capitol, and days one and two are short drives or walks. There’s no real need to move for day three: Folsom is half an hour out, and there’s a quiet option out that way if you’d rather be close to it.
Summer is hot enough that a pool is worth having, and most of these have one.
Embassy Suites by Hilton Sacramento Riverfront Promenade
The easy pick for Old Sacramento: every room has its own bedroom door (bedtime solved), and the boardwalks are across the street.
Cribs available · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool · Free breakfast
Delta King Hotel
The one to tell people about: a 1927 paddlewheel riverboat moored in Old Sacramento. Staterooms are small and most sleep two, so it works best with one kid.
Residence Inn Sacramento Downtown at Capitol Park
Suites with kitchens on the edge of Capitol Park, for the nights when dinner is mac and cheese in the room.
Pool · Free breakfast
Hyatt Regency Sacramento
Right across from the Capitol and its lawns, with a saltwater pool. Handy for a downtown weekend on foot.
Pool
Home2 Suites by Hilton West Sacramento
Kitchen suites just across the river from Old Sacramento, near the River Cats’ ballpark.
Pool · Free breakfast
Residence Inn Sacramento Rancho Cordova
Out on Highway 50 toward Folsom, a few minutes’ walk from the Sacramento Children’s Museum. The pick if you have a toddler and want day three to start close.
Pool · Free breakfast
Some booking links here pay Play Day a commission. It does not change which hotels are named or the order they are in.
At a glance
- Walking
- Light. Day one is three places across the street from each other, day two is a flat mile or so around Old Sacramento, and day three is short hops by car with a walk down Sutter Street.
- Ages
- Two to ten is the sweet spot. Fairytale Town and Funderland are really for under-eights, and the railroad museum and the science museum work for everyone.
- Season
- Spring and fall are the best of it. Summer gets properly hot, so do the outdoor stops in the morning and save the museums for the afternoon. Funderland closes for the winter, and Fairytale Town closes when it rains.
Getting around
Bring a car, or rent one. Land Park, Old Sacramento and Midtown are each easy on foot once you’re there, but they’re a few miles apart, and Folsom is about half an hour east on Highway 50.
If you’d rather skip the car on day three, the Gold Line light rail runs from downtown out to Historic Folsom, a block from Sutter Street. The zoo and the mini train are a short walk from there. Castle Park is the one stop you’d need a ride for.
Land Park: the zoo, Fairytale Town and the rides
Three of Sacramento’s best kid places sit in one old park, across the street from each other. Park the car once, do the zoo while it’s cool, then Fairytale Town, then rides.
MorningGive it about two and a half hoursSacramento Zoo
A small, walkable zoo under big old trees, with a giraffe deck where you can feed them and a carousel your kid will ask to ride twice. It’s sized for little legs: you can see all of it before anyone melts down.
There’s no zoo parking lot. Park on the streets around Land Park and walk in, and get there early on a summer weekend.
- Entry
- Paid
- Wheelchair accessible
- Yes
- Restrooms
- Yes
Late morningGive it about two hours · 0.2 mi from the last stopFairytale Town
Right across the street: a storybook park where the nursery rhymes are things to climb, crawl through and slide down, with farm animals and a little theater for kids’ shows. Grown-ups only get in with a kid (as it should be).
You can bring your own food, so a picnic lunch here saves you a stop.
- Entry
- Paid
- Restrooms
- Yes
- LunchGive it about an hour · 0.8 mi from the last stop
Vic's Ice Cream
A Land Park soda fountain from 1947, reopened in 2026 by new local owners with the old recipes. Order a sandwich first (there’s PB&J) and you can honestly call the sundae lunch.
AfternoonGive it about an hour and a half · 0.9 mi from the last stopFunderland Amusement Park
A tiny amusement park that has been on the edge of Land Park since 1946, with a train, teacups and a carousel sized for toddlers. A two-year-old can ride most of it, which is pretty rare.
Funderland closes for the winter. If it’s shut, spend the afternoon in William Land Park itself: the duck ponds, the rock garden and the big play area, plus a wading pool in summer.
- Entry
- Paid
Also here: William Land Regional Park
- DinnerGive it about an hour and a half · 1.5 mi from the last stop
Masullo
A neighborhood pizzeria on Riverside Boulevard, just up from the park. Go early, grab a table, and finish with the ice cream sandwich made with Gunther’s vanilla.
Closed · opens Tue 3:00 pm
Still going? Gunther’s Ice Cream, Sacramento’s oldest parlor, is a few minutes east. Look up at the neon Jugglin’ Joe on the roof: if he ever drops the scoop, it’s free.
Old Sacramento and the river: trains and science
Today is trains. The railroad museum is the one thing in Sacramento every train kid needs to see, and it sits at the top of Old Sacramento’s boardwalks, so the rest of the morning is a wander. The afternoon goes a mile up the river to the science museum.
- MorningGive it about two and a half hours
California State Railroad Museum
Giant restored locomotives you can walk right up to, and some you can climb into, including a sleeping car that rocks like it’s moving. Train kids lose their minds here. Everyone else gets pulled along anyway.
On weekends a real excursion train runs along the river from the station nearby. It’s a separate ticket, and it’s worth it.
- Entry
- Paid
- Wheelchair accessible
- Yes
- Nearest food on this plan
- Bear & Crown, 0.2 mi
Late morningGive it about an hour · 0.1 mi from the last stopOld Sacramento Waterfront
Gold Rush streets on the river, with wooden boardwalks, old-fashioned candy shops and the Delta King riverboat tied up at the dock. Just wander.
For school-age kids, the Underground Tours from the Sacramento History Museum take you down to the streets the city buried when it raised itself above the floods. It’s the thing they’ll tell their friends about.
- Restrooms
- Yes
- Nearest food on this plan
- Bear & Crown, next door
Also here: Sacramento History Museum
- LunchGive it about an hour
Bear & Crown
A British pub right in Old Sacramento, for fish and chips at an actual table after a morning on your feet. The kids’ menu has a single banger and mash, which is somehow very funny to a five-year-old.
- Kids' menu
- Yes
- AfternoonGive it about two and a half hours · 0.7 mi from the last stop
SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity
A hands-on science museum in an old power station on the river, about a mile north of Old Sacramento (a short drive, or a flat walk). Everyone calls it MOSAC. There’s a planetarium upstairs for kids four and up.
Littler kids, or a quieter afternoon? The Crocker Art Museum, just south of Old Sacramento, has Tot Land downstairs for play and books, and loaner strollers at the door.
- Entry
- Paid
- Restrooms
- Yes
- Changing table
- Yes
Also here: Crocker Art Museum
- DinnerGive it about an hour · 2.1 mi from the last stop
Pizzasaurus Rex
Square-slice pizza in Midtown with a T. rex for a mascot, which is really all a dinosaur kid needs to hear.
Rick’s Dessert Diner is a block away, a 1950s diner with glass cases full of cakes and pies. Good luck getting them to pick just one.
Also here: Rick's Dessert Diner
Staying downtown? The Capitol lights up at night, and the lawns of Capitol Park are a nice last lap before bed.
Folsom: a small zoo, a mini train and a castle
A half-hour drive east, Folsom has a lot packed into one park: a zoo for rescued animals and a miniature steam train that loops right around it. Lunch and a slow walk down Sutter Street, then a castle playground to finish.
MorningGive it about an hour and a halfFolsom City Zoo Sanctuary
A small zoo for animals that were rescued and can’t go back to the wild, which makes for a nice conversation with a kid who asks why the bear lives here. It’s an easy hour or two, not a big day.
It keeps short weeks, so check the listing before you plan the day around it.
- Entry
- Paid
- Late morningGive it about 30 minutes · 0.1 mi from the last stop
Folsom Valley Railway
A miniature steam train that has been looping through City Lions Park, right around the zoo, since 1970. Ten minutes of pure joy for a train kid, and you’ll probably go twice.
The library is right next door, with a picture book room and drop-in story time for little ones, if you need a cool, quiet half hour.
Also here: Folsom Public Library
- LunchGive it about an hour · 0.8 mi from the last stop
Karen's Bakery Cafe
A bakery café a block from Sutter Street. Order at the counter, grab a table on the big patio, and they bring it out to you. The cake case is the whole point.
- Takes reservations
- No
AfternoonGive it about an hour · 0.1 mi from the last stopFolsom History Museum
Folsom’s Gold Rush history, in a museum small enough for short attention spans, right on Sutter Street. Walk the old street after, where the light rail ends and the shops are mostly the fun kind.
- Entry
- Paid
- Nearest food on this plan
- Karen's Bakery Cafe, 0.1 mi
- Late afternoonGive it about an hour · 2.8 mi from the last stop
Castle Park
Folsom’s beloved castle playground, rebuilt and reopened in 2026 with the turrets and the dragon slide back. There’s a toddler side and a big-kid side, plus swings built for kids of all abilities. Let them run it out before the drive home.
- DinnerGive it about an hour and a half · 3.2 mi from the last stop
Skipolini's Folsom
Pizza and pasta with big tables for groups, and the Junior Chef, where kids build their own pizza at the table (a very serious job).
- Kids' menu
- Yes
Back to Sacramento on Highway 50, about half an hour, or stay out in Folsom and skip the drive.
If it rains
Day two is already mostly indoors. Swap Fairytale Town and Funderland, which close in the rain, for the Crocker’s Tot Land and the Sacramento Children’s Museum. For burning off energy, there’s Sky Zone and Rebounderz for trampolines, and Skatetown in Roseville for ice skating.
With a toddler
Keep day one exactly as it is: it’s made for them. On day two, trade the science museum for the Crocker’s Tot Land. On day three, start at the Sacramento Children’s Museum in Rancho Cordova, a play museum built for kids up to about eight, on the way out to Folsom, and finish at Castle Park’s toddler side.
With big kids
Add the Underground Tours in Old Sacramento and the Aerospace Museum of California, a hangar full of real aircraft with flight simulators. Freedom Park, right next door to it, has a spaceship playground built for climbers. In Rocklin, Quarry Park Adventures has zip lines and ropes courses in an old granite quarry.
If it’s 105 degrees
It happens. Do the zoo right at opening and move the afternoon indoors. For water, Golfland Sunsplash in Roseville is a proper water park in summer, and the splash pads at Southside Park, Freedom Park and North Natomas Regional Park are free.
What to skip
Swimming in the rivers, especially where the American meets the Sacramento. The currents are strong, and people have drowned there. Use a pool or a splash pad instead. And the Capitol tour is weekdays only, so don’t plan a Saturday around it.
Questions
Is Sacramento good for kids?
Really good, especially under ten. The zoo, Fairytale Town and Funderland sit across the street from each other in Land Park, the railroad museum is one of the best train museums anywhere, and there’s a hands-on science museum on the river. It’s flat, easy to drive and much cheaper to stay in than the Bay Area.
How many days do you need in Sacramento with kids?
Two for the city: one for Land Park and one for Old Sacramento and the railroad museum. Add a third for Folsom, or for the Sacramento Children’s Museum if you have a toddler.
What is there to do in Sacramento with toddlers?
Fairytale Town and Funderland in Land Park, both sized for under-eights, the Sacramento Children’s Museum in Rancho Cordova, Tot Land at the Crocker Art Museum and the indoor playgrounds like Enchanted in Natomas. The Folsom mini train is ten minutes of heaven for a two-year-old.
Is the California State Railroad Museum worth it with kids?
Yes. It’s the must-do in Sacramento for kids of almost any age: huge real locomotives you can walk up to and climb into. Give it two to three hours, and add the weekend excursion train if you can.
Where should a family stay in Sacramento?
Downtown, near Old Sacramento or the Capitol, so days one and two are short hops. Embassy Suites gives everyone a door to close, and the Delta King is a riverboat. With a toddler, the Residence Inn in Rancho Cordova is next to the children’s museum. Six picks are under Where to stay.
Photos
California State Railroad Museum: Allie_Caulfield (CC BY 2.0) · Sacramento Zoo: Creative Captures Photography (CC BY 2.0) · Fairytale Town: DestinationFearFan (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Old Sacramento Waterfront: Allie_Caulfield (CC BY 2.0) · Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary: UncleVinny (CC BY 3.0) · Folsom History Museum: UncleVinny (CC BY 3.0) · Delta King Hotel: Quintin Soloviev (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Hyatt Regency Sacramento: Xnatedawgx (CC BY-SA 4.0)
3 days in San Francisco