Sacramento History Museum

Huge restored locomotives you can walk right up to (and into), in Old Sacramento. Train-obsessed kids lose their minds here, and on weekends a real excursion train runs along the river.

Gold Rush streets on the river with wooden boardwalks and old-fashioned candy shops, a block from the railroad and history museums. Start at the visitor center on 2nd Street and just wander.

A British pub in Old Sacramento for fish and chips a short walk from the Railroad Museum, with a kids' menu that includes a single banger and mash.

Sleep on a 1927 paddlewheel riverboat in Old Sacramento, a short walk from the Railroad Museum. Staterooms are small and most sleep two, so it works best with one kid (book one of the queen-plus-twin rooms).

At the Old Sacramento end of downtown, a few minutes' walk from the Railroad Museum, with a rooftop pool and skyline views.

A café in a garden yard under old fruit trees, with picnic tables, Adirondack chairs and room for kids to wander. It's a short walk over the Tower Bridge from Old Sacramento.