California State Capitol Tours Guide

Situated in downtown Sacramento, California State Capitol is a registered California historical building landmark, housing the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor. It also serves as home not only to the state's working seat of government, but also to a museum.

Designed in the neoclassical style, the whole construction is modeled after the U.S. capitol building in Washington DC. If you want to learn about California history in a special way, pay a visit to the California State Capitol. When exploring the capitol, you can experience California's rich history, admire the architecture and art as well as witness the making of history through the modern lawmaking process.

For those who are planning a visit to the capitol, the hours of the building are from 8am to 5pm from Monday to Friday and from 9am to 5pm on weekends. Open 362 days a year, the building is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The best part of touring the Capitol is that the admission is free.

There is a Basement Theater in the capitol. Films are shown there daily. The hours of the theater are from 9am to 5pm, with free admission.

To enhance your Capitol experience, take part in a California State Capitol tour. The capitol provides visitors with various tours, including public tours and school / group tours.

- Public Tours

Public tours are conducted daily on the hour, from 10am to 4pm. If you want to learn more about tour information, contact Tour Office, which is located in basement Room B-27. The Tour Office is open from 9am to 5pm daily. The contact No. is (916) 324-0333.

- School / Group tours

School / group tours are available at California State Capitol. Best of all, there is no admission for these tours also. However, these free guided school and group tours are only available by reservation for groups from 10 to 35 persons. A ratio of one adult chaperone to ten students is recommended.

You can contact ReserveAmerica at (866) 240-4655 to make a reservation. If you have more questions about school or group tours, group rules, tour restriction and educational materials, contact Tour Office at (916) 324-0333.

All these tours are wheelchair accessible. Those who use wheelchairs can access the building from the north and south Annex entrances and elevators. There are also restrooms offered for them. As for assistive listening devices, they are available upon request at the Tour Office. For more info and details, contact the Tour Office.

Note: The State Capitol museum, building and grounds are a section of a working government facility and under the domination of the CHP - California Highway Patrol. So visitors entering the capitol building need to subject to security-control measures and checks which include, but are not limited to:

- Passing through a metal detector

- X-ray and visual examination of all packages

- Presentation of positive identification

You can find more info about visitor security on this page:

Visitor Security for California State Capitol

http://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/detail.aspx?content2=2296&content3=1576

Can't make it to Sacramento? Don't be dejected. There are also California State Capitol Museum virtual tours that give visitors a special opportunity to visit California's Capitol in Sacramento from any location in the world. To learn more about the virtual tours, check this page:

California State Capitol Museum Virtual Tours

http://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/VirtualTour.aspx?content1=1370&Content2=1368&Content3=218

When touring the capitol, you also have opportunities to buy souvenirs. California State Capitol boasts a gift shop serving unique gifts and items related to California and the State Capitol.

The shop can be found in the basement of the capitol. The hours of operation are from 9:30am to 4pm from Monday to Friday and from 10:30am to 4pm on weekends.

If you get hungry while touring the capitol, food service is also available to serve your needs at the building. You can find cafeteria-style restaurants in the basement and on the sixth floor. These restaurants are open from 7:30am to 4pm from Monday to Friday (closing on weekends).

In addition, there is also a Coffee Cart, situated in the basement. It is also open from 7:30am to 4pm from Monday to Friday (closing on weekends). For the sake of visitors' convenience, ATMs and Vending Machines are also available during operating hours. They can be found in the basement next to Cafeteria seating area.