Day Trippin' › California › From Sacramento › Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The drive from Sacramento to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk takes about 2 hr 26 min (south of Sacramento), by real roads from ZIP 95814. Along the way we found 91 stops within a short detour: 21 coffee shops, 3 bakeries, 19 ice cream and treats and 24 places to eat.
The list below is the best few of each kind, in driving order, with how far into the drive you reach each one (counted from Sacramento) and the detour it adds. Stops marked Our pick are chosen by us; the rest come from OpenStreetMap listings, so confirm hours before you count on them.
Photo: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0
Theme park
Classic seaside amusement park with a wooden coaster, arcade and a wide beach next door.
Heads-up: Weekend parking fills fast in summer. Check the calendar before you go.
First third Middle third Last third Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
About 2 hr 26 min by road, heading south from the middle of ZIP 95814. Traffic and weather change that.
Good ones to start with: Causeways Rocks (Webster), Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (Swingle), Tomo Tea House (Davis), Volt Coffee (Davis) and Baskin-Robbins (Dixon). The page lists 27 in all, in driving order.
Tomo Tea House in Davis, Volt Coffee in Davis, Starbucks in Dixon and Dutch Bros. Coffee in Dixon. Check hours first; they come from OpenStreetMap listings.
Mary's Pizza Shack in Dixon, Pizza Guys in Dixon, Que Onda Tacobar in Vacaville and Noodle or Rice in Vacaville.
Causeways Rocks in Webster, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area in Swingle, Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon and Pena Adobe Park in Vacaville.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP <class 'zip'> (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Stops come from our own picks and OpenStreetMap listings; hours and detours change, so check before you go. We do not store anyone's location.