About Davis
With sunny skies and two bikes for every car, Davis is a progressive college town that will win your heart with its ubiquitous bike paths and local prohibition on big stores.
Families gather in Davis for outdoor fun and often use the centrally located community as a jumping-off point for visits to more urban Sacramento or the metropolis of San Francisco. But Davis has gardens, theater and a grand university in its own right.
Family Fun
The university is the heart and soul of Davis. Aside from the 5,300 acres of land it occupies, the campus facilities and youthful energy enrich the town's cultural, artistic and athletic opportunities. Explore the vast park-like campus on bike or on foot, take in first-class music or theater at the Mondavi Center, or delight in the variety of plants at the University Arboretum, which runs like a riverwalk along a central canal. Shop at area farmers’ markets, spend an afternoon playing golf, or adventure into some cool stuff at the Explorit Science Center and the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Hot Summers, Cool Winters
Davis enjoys the Mediterranean climate typical of towns in California's Central Valley, with hot summer days and cool, rainy winters with heavy, low-lying fog. If you like hot weather, you'll love exploring this vibrant community in the summertime, when the highs rise into the 90s. Heavy-duty sports are perfect to practice in wintertime, when the overnight lows still stay above freezing. Spring and autumn are particularly pleasant for family vacations.
Davis's Financial Engine
As you walk or bike through the beautiful UC Davis campus, you're likely thinking more about its great outdoor sculptures or superb entertainment venues rather than its economic significance to the city. But to say that UC Davis dominates the local economy is a gross understatement. The university employs more than 28,000 people. The Joint Unified School District is the second-largest employer, with nearly 1,000 workers. The City of Davis comes in a distant third.
Bikers Rule in Davis
You won't be far from Davis if you fly into the Sacramento International Airport, and shuttles or cabs can whisk your family to your hotel. If you’d like to explore the city, forget about renting a car. Parking is hard to find and expensive, so opt for getting about on foot or bike. Given the myriad bike lanes, exploring downtown and the university by two wheels is your best bet. If you're thinking of outings to the Bay Area or the coast, a car will come in handy, although you can get to Sacramento or San Francisco via Amtrak trains.
Ready to travel? Find hotels in Davis.
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