48 Hours in Petaluma, California

Begin With a Yummy Breakfast

There are so many delicious choices when it comes to food and drink in Petaluma. Start your day at one of these favorite local eateries. 

Della Fattoria Café offers delicious, wholesome food for breakfast and lunch, beautifully prepared and presented in a charming circa-1860 building. This bakery and café made the Zagat Guide’s “Essential Sonoma County Restaurants,” and their delicious artisan bread is available in fine restaurants and grocery stores.

The line may be long to get into Hallie’s Diner, especially for Sunday brunch, but it’s worth it for their classic American food made with Sonoma County freshness. Local fan favorites include cornmeal pancakes, fluffy waffles, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Sax’s Joint is a ’50s-style diner renowned for its amazing homemade biscuits and many other delicious comfort food favorites on its breakfast and lunch menus. The decor is on-theme and a lot of fun.

Explore Downtown

Stretch your legs by strolling through the 15 city blocks of Petaluma’s charming and historic downtown. Built on bedrock, Petaluma was one of the few North Bay communities not damaged in the 1906 earthquake, so it’s still filled with Victorian-era homes and historic buildings, now home to special boutiques, antique shops, and exceptional eateries. 

Learn more about the town’s history at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum. Located in a former Carnegie library in 1904, the museum boasts Northern California’s largest free-standing gorgeous glass dome, as well as exhibits on the area’s poultry, dairy, and Miwok Indian history. On most Saturday mornings from May to October, a costumed docent leads a free walking tour of historic Petaluma. Check their website for details and tickets.

Stop by the Petaluma Visitors Center, inside a 1914 train depot on the platform now serving as the new SMART train station. Here, a friendly staff can answer questions and give you recommendations and tips. Next door is a historic train warehouse, where you’ll find the Petaluma Arts Center, which features art exhibits, workshops, concerts, and other interesting community events. 

Stroll downtown Petaluma with an eye to do a bit of antiquing. Petaluma boasts an amazing variety of antique stores and hosts lively antique fairs in the spring and fall. 

Check out Marisa’s Fantasia for a magical array of Christmas décor and floor-to-ceiling displays year-round.

Drop into Ethical Clothing to find cute, quality, mindfully manufactured fashion. Find more unique stores with this directory of downtown Petaluma shops. 

Take in the Petaluma River that runs through the downtown area. A good place to explore is Steamer Landing Park (6 Copeland St.), near the D Street drawbridge. Here, you can follow the riverfront trail and watch for birds and wildlife. A restored livery stable serves as the center for Friends of the Petaluma River, which has a fleet of rowboats, canoes, and kayaks often available for use. 

Grab a Tasty Lunch

The riverside Taps Restaurant & Tasting Room offers hearty pub food with a local twist, as well as dozens of ciders, ales, lagers, sours, and, on occasion, meads.

Tucked in the historic brick Great Petaluma Mill on the waterfront, Wild Goat Bistro uses fresh, local ingredients in their seasonally changing lunch and dinner menus, including specialty Neapolitan-style pizzas, salads, house-made desserts, and lots of gluten-free options. Decorated in mostly reclaimed materials, the 1856 building brims with charm.

Get lunch and a house-baked dessert at Petaluma Pie Company, where both savory and sweet pies are crafted with local, organic ingredients. The menu changes seasonally and can include savory pies like Chicken pot pie or curried cauliflower with chickpea. Delightful sweets may include Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly, strawberry cream, and triple berry pie.

Soak up the Great Outdoors

In the hills southeast of Petaluma, Tolay Lake Regional Park features a seasonal freshwater lake, a pretty creek, miles of trails, and views of San Pablo Bay and San Francisco. The 3,434-acre park was a spiritual center for the local Coast Miwok tribes as well as Native Americans throughout California.

One of the best places for viewing birds and other wildlife is the 165-acre Shollenberger Park, which has acres of trails, including a two-mile circular trail and a one-mile trail across an iron bridge spanning a creek and a marsh to the Petaluma Marina. The park is a haven for migrating birds, with more than 140 species recorded there.

Get on the Water

Take a thrilling three-hour kayak tour of the Petaluma Marsh with Clavey Paddlesports. You’ll start on the Petaluma River and make your way to the marsh, exploring the narrow sloughs. In a single or tandem touring-style kayak (appropriate for beginners), paddle through grasses with birdlife and waterfowl. 

You can also rent a paddleboard from Petaluma Stand Up Paddle. Launch right from the shop into the Petaluma River, where you’ll get a mini-lesson. They also offer fun, guided tours on paddleboards or kayaks, including a six-mile, 2.5-hour marsh exploration. 

Petaluma also has lots of cycling routes, from easy recreational biking to more challenging treks. Download a map of Petaluma Bicycle & Pedestrian Routes.

Discover Helen Putnam Regional Park, which is close to downtown but feels like the wilderness. Six miles of mostly gentle trails amid panoramic views make it perfect for mountain bikers, hiking, and bird watching.

Relax in Style

Check into excellent Petaluma lodging to relax before evening activities.  

Sheraton Sonoma Wine Country is perched on the banks of the Petaluma River. This pet-friendly, 183-room hotel offers a heated lap pool, a fitness facility, a daily social hour, and the delicious onsite Tolay Restaurant.

Check out the delightfully funky, French-inspired Metro Hotel & Café in a restored 140-year-old building downtown. The Metro offers charming rooms, two independent cottages, and a few designer Airstream trailers. The onsite French café for hotel guests serves fresh crepes and organic coffee. Book online and check yourself in at any time of the day or night using a phone and keyboard at the front door. 

Originally built in 1923 and recently remodeled, the historic five-story Art Deco Hotel Petaluma provides European-style lodging in more than 90 guest rooms, with upscale amenities, a grand lobby with a fountain courtyard, and elegant event space. 

North of town, in addition to tent and RV campsites and rustic Kamping Kabins, the 70-acre San Francisco North/Petaluma KOA Campground offers modern lodges that can sleep up to six people. They range from studio loft lodges to deluxe lodges offering a range of amenities like private bedrooms, kitchenettes, and flat-screen TVs with cable.

For more options, check the listing of Petaluma Hotels & Lodging.

Wine and Dine 

In the Hotel Petaluma, don’t miss the delicious fresh seafood onsite at The Shuckery. Signature dishes include oysters on the half shell, salmon two ways, Baja-style tacos, barbecued oysters, and calamari relleno. 

For authentic Italian cuisine, the renowned Cucina Paradiso Ristorante Italiano serves classics like homemade soft polenta with scattered mushrooms and Italian cheeses or pork tenderloin sautéed with porcini, prosciutto, brandy, and mustard.

Housed in a 1911 building in Petaluma’s downtown, McNear’s Saloon & Dining House has a full bar and innovative American cuisine, with dishes like Pork Lovers’ Mac n’ Cheese, barbecue tri-tip, and Moroccan-spiced brick chicken fettuccine.

For more ideas, read Where to Eat: Restaurants in Petaluma.

Enjoy the Nightlife

Located steps away from McNear’s restaurant, the Mystic Theater is a premier music venue with a full bar. Check out their eclectic music lineup of rock, funk, blues, roots, reggae, ska, swing, and more. 

Not far away, you’ll find The Big Easy, an “underground” venue with a full calendar of live shows. Sister restaurant Speakeasy serves delicious internationally inspired, tapas-style small plates late into the night.

Brewsters Beer Garden features a California interpretation of southern barbecue, more than 30 rotating craft brews on tap, local wines, and craft cocktails. There’s plenty of open-air seating, a bocce ball court, a fire pit, and live music on many nights.

Nearby, The Block Petaluma is an open-air food truck market and beer garden with fire pits, games, live music, an onsite pizzeria, dozens of beers on tap, and a rotating list of award-winning food trucks.

Refuel With Breakfast

Renowned for its pancakes, omelets, daily lunch, and Sunday brunch — the Tea Room Café also boasts an in-house bakery with seasonal and signature favorites.

The Water Street Bistro features inspired cuisine for breakfast and lunch. They serve quiche all day, every day. Check out the outdoor patio, which overlooks the Petaluma River.

Go a Little Country

Check out the local produce, food, and fun at Petaluma’s farmer’s markets:

• East Side Farmers’ Market — open year-round, rain or shine, Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 
• Walnut Park Farmers’ Market — Saturday afternoons from mid-May to Mid-November
• Petaluma Evening Market — June through August, Thursday afternoons. 

Achadinha Cheese Co. is a family-operated ranch offering 90-minute farm tours and cheese-making classes. Here they milk cows and goats and then make their own farmstead cheeses, along with raising pigs, sheep, horses, and chickens. 

Taste jams, honey, and more at LALA’s Jam Bar and Urban Farmstand. It’s half retail store and half gleaming commercial kitchen, where owner Leslie Goodrich creates her small batch jams, marmalades, and fruit butter. You may find unique creations like sriracha pear jam or lemon ginger marmalade and salami, chocolates, and sauces. 

Fascinating tours highlighting sustainable farming are offered by Tara Firma Farms, which produces grass-fed beef and pastured poultry and pork with a farm store open daily.

Tuck into Lunch

For classic Italian with rustic elegance, you’ll want to know that Risibisi earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for being a remarkable, affordable restaurant. 

Sugo Trattoria proudly serves generations of traditional family recipes from Northern Italy, blended with fresh, local Sonoma Wine Country ingredients.

Cruise into Fun

Picturesque Petaluma is one of many Sonoma County towns that served as a filming location for Hollywood movies. Discover the Sonoma County Movie Locations Tour Itinerary and learn about Petaluma’s classic car event in honor of the movie, “American Graffiti,” which was filmed right here.

If you’re up for a little cruise from Petaluma, the two-lane Bodega Avenue is a scenic drive west that connects to the Pacific Ocean coastline. You can put your toes in the sand with this guide to Great Pacific Coast Parks for Beach Walks.

Taste Wine or Sip Craft Brew

Adobe Road Winery is located in the Great Petaluma Mill, where you can sample their excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and other award-winning wines. This winery was founded by a performance racing team leader and named for the road where General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo planted grapes in the 1830s.

La Dolce Vita Wine Lounge gathers boutique wines from near and far, so you can sip and savor from the comfort of couches. There is also a rotating menu of Italian-inspired local cuisine, and classic films are screened each night.

With its tasting room in the Hotel Petaluma building, Barber Cellars is dedicated to small production, single vineyard wines from Sonoma County. The tasting room showcases cheeses from local producers, paintings from local artists, and nibbles on the menu.

Don’t miss Sonoma Portworks, the only Sonoma County winery (and one of a handful in California) specializing in ports and after-dinner dessert wines. In addition to port, they also make sherry, grappa, and their own balsamic vinegar. This tasting room is in the Foundry Wharf building along the Petaluma River.

Discover the complete list of Sonoma County Wineries.

Drop by the popular Lagunitas Brewing Company’s TapRoom and Beer Sanctuary, which offers free tours daily. The brewery’s IPAs, pale ales, pilsners, and other seasonal beers have put Petaluma on the map with beer aficionados at home and far afield. 

For more options, check out the Sonoma County Craft Beverage Map and our listings of Sonoma County Breweries, Distilleries & Cider Houses.

Savor a Scrumptious Dinner

At Central Market, everything is made from scratch, including the bread that comes out of the wood-fired oven fresh each morning. The menu features farm-to-table rustic California-Mediterranean cuisine with ingredients from the restaurant’s own farm.

Real Döner is a casual eatery serving premier Mediterranean and Turkish street food.

Savor hand-ground spices and passed-down recipes at Everest Indian Restaurant, showcasing both Indian cuisine and the owners’ Nepalese background.

For more dining, check out Where to Eat: Restaurants in Petaluma.