A weekend in Sonoma County
Written September 2026
Sonoma County is the quieter half of wine country, and it is kinder to children. The plaza in the town of Sonoma has a playground inside it and cheese shops and ice cream ringing the square. Santa Rosa has the museum for anyone who reads Peanuts. Healdsburg has a river you can swim in.
This plan gives the south a day and the north a day: Sonoma and Glen Ellen first, then Santa Rosa and Healdsburg. It does not need a tasting room, and where a winery is worth a stop with children it says so.
It is a driving trip, but the drives are short and each day is ordered along the road.
At a glance
- Walking
- 1 to 2 miles a day at a plaza’s pace. This is a car trip with a stop worth getting out of the car for at each end.
- Ages
- From a stroller up. Day one is built for the under-eights, with a quarter-scale train; day two has more for the older ones.
- Season
- Year round. Summer is the season for the river at Healdsburg, and harvest in autumn is the busiest and the prettiest.
Getting around
You need a car. Sonoma is about an hour from San Francisco, and it is another 35 minutes from Sonoma to Santa Rosa and 25 from Santa Rosa to Healdsburg. Highway 12 links Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Santa Rosa, and Highway 101 runs up to Healdsburg.
The plan stays in the south for day one and drives north once for day two, so nobody is in the car for more than about 35 minutes at a stretch. The distance from each stop to the last is on the map under the day.
Sonoma and Glen Ellen: the plaza, the train and the woods
Start on the plaza in the town of Sonoma, where the playground, lunch and the shops are all around one square. Then the train south of town, and the woods a short drive north in Glen Ellen, and back to the plaza for dinner.
MorningGive it about an hourSonoma Plaza Playground
The playground inside Sonoma’s historic plaza, with two structures split by age, a sand pit for castle-building, a duck pond and huge shade trees. Cheese shops, bakeries and ice cream ring the square, so the parents are catered for as well.
LunchGive it about an hour and a halfMary’s Pizza Shack (Sonoma Plaza)
The original Mary’s, born on Sonoma Plaza: children make their own pizzas, with the dough, sauce, cheese and toppings delivered to the table. A Sonoma County family rite of passage, and lunch is the activity.
AfternoonGive it about an hour and a half · 1.1 mi from the last stopSonoma TrainTown Railroad
A quarter-scale steam train that takes 20 minutes to loop through tunnels and over bridges, plus a small petting zoo and a few fairground rides. It is built for the under-eights and it is the stop that gets the smallest child talking all the way home.
- Late afternoonGive it about an hour and a half · 6.9 mi from the last stop
Jack London State Historic Park
Miles of connecting woodland trails, and a small museum on Jack London’s life, in Glen Ellen, a short drive north of Sonoma. Pick a trail by how much the youngest can walk, and let the museum be the turnaround.
Closed · opens Mon 9:00 am 
DinnerGive it about an hour and a half · 6.3 mi from the last stopThe Red Grape
Thin-crust New Haven-style pizza half a block off the plaza, fast and patio-seated: the easy Sonoma dinner with kids.
Bloom Carneros is the swap for a family that wants a glass: an outdoor wine garden with a kids’ menu and an open lawn to roam on.
Also here: Bloom Carneros
The plaza after dinner is the place for ice cream, and the hotels in town are a few minutes away.
Santa Rosa and Healdsburg: Peanuts, a playground and the river
Day two is the drive north, with two stops in Santa Rosa and the rest of the day in Healdsburg. Peanuts in the morning, a destination playground in the afternoon, and the river and the plaza at the end.
- MorningGive it about two hours
Charles M. Schulz Museum & Snoopy’s Home Ice
Peanuts headquarters: comic-strip exhibits and hands-on cartooning, then across the street to Snoopy’s Home Ice for public skating in the rink Charles Schulz built. The Santa Rosa pilgrimage for Peanuts children, and easy for anyone who has read a single strip.
- LunchGive it about an hour and a half · 2.2 mi from the last stop
Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar
Santa Rosa’s family pizza legend: children get a ball of raw pizza dough to play with at the table, then watch their own creation come out of the wood oven. Dinner is the activity, and lunch works just as well.
AfternoonGive it about an hour and a half · 2.0 mi from the last stopHowarth Park (Land of Imagination)
Sonoma County’s destination playground: an Old West town and a Native American village that children climb through, with ramps, rubber surfacing and sensory panels for all abilities. There is a second playground, a miniature train, a carousel and a lake as well.
Late afternoonGive it about an hour and a half · 15 mi from the last stopHealdsburg Veterans Memorial Beach
The Russian River swim beach, where in summer a seasonal dam makes a calm, lifeguarded lagoon right in town. Generations of local children learned to swim here, and it is the stop to save for the warmest hour of the day.
DinnerGive it about an hour and a half · 0.8 mi from the last stopHealdsburg Bar & Grill
Healdsburg’s hometown grill on the plaza, with burgers, shakes and a come-as-you-are room. It is the easy end to a long day, and the plaza itself is the place to walk afterwards.
Healdsburg Plaza has no play structure, but a leafy lawn for cartwheels, benches for a bakery picnic and the town’s shops and ice cream on all four sides.
Also here: Healdsburg Plaza
Healdsburg is the end of the road for the weekend; the way home is Highway 101 south, about an hour and a half to San Francisco.
Where to stay
Sleep where the second day starts or ends. Sonoma puts day one at the door and is the closest to San Francisco; Santa Rosa is central; Healdsburg puts the river and the plaza at the end of day two.
Two nights in Sonoma is the calm answer, at the cost of a long drive back from Healdsburg. Moving north for the second night saves it.
El Pueblo Inn
A family-run adobe-style inn with a garden pool and lawns children can run on, ten minutes’ walk from the plaza. The sweet-spot value option in Sonoma.
Cribs available · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool · Free breakfast
The Lodge at Sonoma
A resort-style lodge a mile from the plaza, with cabanas, lawn games and fire-pit s’mores, and walking distance to TrainTown.
Cribs available · Connecting rooms · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa
Sonoma’s grand hot-springs resort, with geothermal pools, big lawns and a concierge that runs family adventures: the special-occasion stay that genuinely welcomes kids.
Cribs available · Connecting rooms · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool
Flamingo Resort & Spa
Santa Rosa’s retro-icon resort, with a huge heated pool, lawn games, family suites and Snoopy’s Home Ice next door. The classic wine-country family base, close to day two’s mornings.
Cribs available · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool
h2hotel
An eco-modern hotel a block off the plaza, with loaner bikes and roomy studios: the walkable pick for families who want downtown Healdsburg.
Cribs available · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool · Free breakfast
Montage Healdsburg
Healdsburg’s luxury family resort, with a dedicated family pool, the Paintbox kids program and vineyard-edge bungalows: the up-valley splurge built for children.
Cribs available · Suite with separate bedroom · Pool
If it rains
The Children’s Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa has indoor science and art exhibits, and Mary’s Garden outside for the days that clear. The Schulz Museum is already the morning of day two. Sam’s for Play Cafe in Santa Rosa is a breakfast-and-lunch restaurant with a supervised play area built in.
With a toddler
Day one is right for a toddler as it stands: the plaza playground’s sand pit and the train are the whole plan. On day two, keep to the museum, the playground and the plaza in Healdsburg, and leave the river for a child who is happy in the water.
With big kids
Safari West is a 400-acre wildlife preserve in the hills above Santa Rosa, with open-jeep safaris past giraffes, rhinos and zebras, and safari tents to sleep in. Riverfront Regional Park has a redwood-ringed lake with a seasonal swim area, and Spring Lake in Santa Rosa has a paved loop for bikes and scooters and a swimming lagoon in summer.
On a hot day
Morton’s Warm Springs in Glen Ellen has mineral-spring pools including a small kiddie pool, a creek and a big lawn with picnic tables; day visits need a reservation. In Healdsburg, the river beach is the first choice, and Riverfront Regional Park is the second.
What to skip
Trying to see the whole county in a weekend: it is about 45 miles from Sonoma to Healdsburg, and the plan works because it does one half a day. And a winery visit at nap time with no booking: many need a reservation, and some do not welcome children, so ask first.
Questions
Is Sonoma County good for kids?
Yes, and more so than most wine country. The plaza in Sonoma has a playground and a pizza restaurant where children make their own, a quarter-scale steam train is a few minutes away, Santa Rosa has the Schulz museum and a destination playground, and Healdsburg has a river with a lifeguarded swim beach in summer.
How far is Sonoma County from San Francisco?
Sonoma is about an hour by car, Santa Rosa about an hour and a quarter, and Healdsburg about an hour and a half. Between the towns it is about 35 minutes from Sonoma to Santa Rosa and 25 minutes on to Healdsburg.
What is there to do in Sonoma with kids?
A playground with a sand pit and a duck pond in the plaza, a quarter-scale steam train and a petting zoo at TrainTown, woodland trails at Jack London State Historic Park, and pizza the children make themselves at Mary’s.
What is there to do in Santa Rosa with kids?
The Charles M. Schulz Museum with Snoopy’s Home Ice across the street, Howarth Park’s Land of Imagination playground, the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, and Safari West in the hills above.
Where should a family stay in Sonoma County?
In Sonoma for the plaza and the train, Santa Rosa for the museums and the middle of the county, and Healdsburg for the river and the plaza. Six places set up for families are under Where to stay.
Photos
Charles M. Schulz Museum & Snoopy's Home Ice: RadioKirk (Public domain) · Sonoma Plaza Playground: Missvain (CC BY 4.0) · Mary's Pizza Shack (Sonoma Plaza): Missvain (CC BY 4.0) · Sonoma TrainTown Railroad: ChesPal (Debra Heaphy) (CC BY-SA 3.0) · The Red Grape: Missvain (CC BY 4.0) · Howarth Park (Land of Imagination): Stepheng3 (Public domain) · Healdsburg Veterans Memorial Beach: Frank Schulenburg (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Healdsburg Bar & Grill: Mark Hogan from San Francisco, USA (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa: Missvain (CC BY 4.0) · Flamingo Resort & Spa: MindShift HS (CC0)
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