Davis (California) - city in Yolo County, California, USA

Davis is in Yolo County in the Sacramento Valley of California. Davis is best known for the university located there, the University of California Davis.

Get in

By car

Davis is on Interstate 80, which runs between the Bay Area and Sacramento and beyond. Headed west from the Bay Area you will want to take Highway 80 heading East to Sacramento. From Sacramento or the Lake Tahoe area take 80 West towards San Francisco. Take the UC Davis Exit to get to campus and the Mondavi Center, or Richards Blvd or Olive Drive to go downtown.

By train

Amtrak serves the town with two daily long-distance trains, the California Zephyr, running between Chicago and San Francisco Bay area, and the Coast Starlight route between Los Angeles and Seattle. Additionally, regional Capitol Corridor trains run several times per day between Sacramento, San Francisco Bay area and San Jose. Tickets from the Bay Area cost approximately $30 round trip.

If you are flying into San Francisco, Amtrak is the best way to get to Davis. From SFO airport, take the BART subway to Richmond. Exit BART and then take the stairs or elevator up to the Amtrak platform. The Richmond station is unstaffed so Amtrak tickets can be purchased on board the train for no additional fee.

The historic Davis station 📍, built in 1914, is on 840 Second Street, within walking distance from campus and downtown.

By plane

Although UC Davis has its own (small) airport, it is really only possible to reach Davis by plane through commercial airports. The closest option is Sacramento International Airport (IATA: SMF), from which one can then take a shuttle or taxi to Davis. A cheaper alternative is to take Yolobus. For $1.50 the #42 bus will take you to downtown Davis. You can then either utilize Unitrans, the local bus service or take a taxi to your destination. The airport is approximately a 30-minute drive from Davis.

The Oakland (IATA: OAK) and San Francisco (IATA: SFO) airports are also options for people who wish to visit the Bay Area as well as Davis. If your trip itinerary does not include the Bay Area, however, then SMF is the best option for commercial air travel to Davis. Amtrak trains are available from Oakland and San Francisco.

The Davis Airporter is another option for people flying in commercially. While it provides service to your front door and is available at all hours of the day and night, it is considerably more expensive than public transportation. See also the Yolo Airporter (dead link: January 2023).

By bus

Davis is not served by long-distance buses, but nearby Sacramento is a hub for Greyhound. There are daily buses from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Reno and even Vancouver, in Canada. If travelling from nearby cities, Yolobus runs hourly buses from Sacramento and also multiple daily buses from Vacaville and Woodland.

Get around

Davis has the highest per capita number of bikes of any city in the U.S. It's the preferred method of transportation for most students and locals due to the prevalence of bike paths and the relative flatness of the area. Downtown is also very pedestrian friendly. The UC Davis campus and the heart of the downtown area run alongside one another and it's easy to stroll through both in a couple of hours.

Unitrans, the local municipal bus system, also runs quite frequently. For undergraduate students riding is free, for everybody else (including graduate students) a single journey costs $1. Probably the worst way to experience Davis is by car. The huge numbers of bikers and pedestrians make driving slow and tedious at many times throughout the day.

See

• Davis Wiki: for more information about what to do and see in Davis, including event listings and reviews of local restaurants.

• Bohart Museum of Entomology, 1124 Academic Surge, 38.535300°, -121.752420°.

• UC Davis California Raptor Center. An educational centre that rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds of prey found in the surrounding counties. Large displays are present at the facility that allow visitors to see many of the birds up close.

• UC Davis Arboretum, 38.533936°, -121.753254°, arboretum@ucdavis.edu. A 100-acre tract of land running along the banks of the Old North Channel of Putah Creek, on the UC Davis Campus. The arboretum is home to plant species that range from Mediterranean to South African and even includes somewhat smaller examples of California's North Coast Redwoods. It is the main source of horticultural information for inland California. The arboretum is a popular place for Davis students for walk, jog, bike, study, or just relax in the sun.

• Public art. Can be found all over town. It is difficult to go anywhere or do anything without encountering sculptures, mosaics, paintings, or stenciled designs. An art enthusiast could be kept busy for days.

• Toad Tunnel. A nationally infamous example of civil engineering gone horribly wrong. Located in southeast Davis near the Post Office and the Sudwerk brewery, the Toad Tunnel was designed to assist the local population of toads cross an I-80 overpass. Arguably, it has caused more problems for the toads than it solved. If you have any friends pursuing degrees in town planning, ask them about Davis' Toad Tunnel.

• US Bicycling Hall of Fame, 303 3rd St, 38.5441°, -121.745°. W 4PM-6PM, Sa 10AM-2PM. Opened in Davis in 2010, the US Bicycling Hall of Fame is a privately-run organization dedicated to promoting cycling. The museum includes historic bicycles, memorabilia from famous cyclists, topical exhibits, and Hall of Fame inductee information.

Do

• Become a student. Davis is ranked as the second most educated city in the United States according to CNN Money Magazine and it shows. The downtown area is very youthful and is peppered with bars, coffee shops, and restaurants that are popular among the college crowd. The city of Davis is very conducive to college and graduate school lifestyles.

• Mondavi Center. On campus. A wide variety of performances can be seen year round, ranging from music to theatre to puppetry.

• Farmers Market. Open twice a week on Saturdays and Wednesdays, the Davis Farmers Market takes place in Central Park and offers fresh, locally grown foods. Much of the produce is grown organically. From March through September, the Wednesday evening Farmers Market becomes the Picnic in the Park, offering several restaurant stands, live music, and various other events geared towards a wide variety of ages.

• Picnic Day. If you want to experience the single largest student-run event in the United States, visit Davis in late April and revel in Picnic Day. The day consists of over 150 free events, most of which take part on campus, including dog races, food tastings, exotic animal shows, the notorious Battle of the Bands, and an exciting fashion show displaying unique student work. As one might expect, a good amount of drinking takes place throughout the day and by late afternoon there tends to be intoxicated people everywhere, but the mood of the event is very positive, and arrests are very few relative to the meeting than 50,000 attendees.

• Whole Earth Festival. Whole Earth is an annual celebration of counterculture, art, politics, sustainability, and music, taking place over a three-day period on Mother's Day Weekend. Tens of thousands of hippies, punks, and miscellaneous weirdos descend on Davis for this event, taking place on the UC Davis quad.

Buy

Eat

One thing Davis is not short on is restaurants. Whatever your taste, Davis has a means to at least attempt to satisfy your hunger.

Most restaurants are in the downtown area, with the majority being within a few square blocks. Fast food restaurants are clustered near the Mace Blvd and Richard Blvd exits off of the freeway. There are also several restaurants in the shopping centers that ring the town. Other notable restaurants that are not in downtown include Osteria Fasulo, a fancy Italian restaurant located in the Village Homes neighborhood.

Mexican

• Dos Coyotes Border Cafe, 1411 W. Covell Blvd (At The Marketplace shopping mall), 38.562440°, -121.765683°, +1 530 753-0922. A very popular and excellent cafe serving up delicious south-western style cuisine, with inventive specials like corn quesadillas and monstrous salads. Started here in Davis, it now has several locations in the Sacramento area. A second location in Davis at Oakshade Town Center, 2191 Cowell Blvd.

• Tres Hermanes, 805 2nd St (Across from the train station), 38.543925°, -121.738501°, +1 530 756-8737. Mexican food and margaritas.

Asian

• Thai Canteen, 117 E St, 38.542490°, -121.741083°, +1 530 231-5465. Popular Thai restaurant serving authentic dishes; order at the counter.

Indian

• Preethi Indian, 712 2nd St, 38.543713°, -121.739357°, +1 530-759-2040. Indian restaurant serving south Indian specialties; comprehensive lunchtime buffet on weekdays and weekends.

Farm stands

Davis is right in the middle of farm country and has access, as you might expect, to a variety of farm stands.

• Ikeda's Markets, 26295 Mace Blvd (Off the Mace Blvd exit), 38.556173°, -121.693693°. Open all year round and is a source of fresh vegetables, pies and tamales.

Drink

Sleep

There are multiple hotel options in Davis. There are several hotels in downtown, a cluster of hotels off the Richards Blvd exit, a cluster of hotels near the Mace Blvd exit (on Chiles road), and one hotel actually on campus (the Hyatt), which is directly across from the Mondavi Center. All of the hotels in downtown are within walking distance of campus.

Downtown Davis

• Best Western Palm Court Hotel, 234 D St, 38.544162°, -121.742119°, +1 530 753-7100.

• Best Western University Lodge, 123 B St, 38.542170°, -121.744493°, +1 530 756-7890.

• Hilton Garden Inn Davis Downtown, 110 F St, 38.542950°, -121.739177°.

• Aggie Inn, 245 1st St, 38.541513°, -121.744342°, +1 530-756-0352.

Further out

• La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Davis, 1771 Research Park Dr, +1 530 758-2600.

• Motel 6 Davis - Sacramento Area, 4835 Chiles Rd, +1 530 753-3777.

• Hyatt Place UC Davis, 173 Old Davis Rd, +1 530 756-9500.

Go next

Davis is nearby to both the San Francisco Bay Area (particularly the East Bay and Berkeley) and Sacramento; the Amtrak line goes to both places. It is also situated roughly in the middle of California when driving north to south on Interstate 5, perhaps from Mount Shasta to Los Angeles. Davis is also only an hour away from Napa Valley, and only a few hours away by car (or by Amtrak) to Yosemite National Park. Davis is about 1.5 hours to Lake Tahoe and two hours from Reno.