Richmond (California)

Richmond is in the northwest corner of Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

Not to be confused with the Richmond district in San Francisco, California.

Get in

Richmond is served by I-80 from San Francisco, Vallejo and Sacramento, I-580 from Berkeley, Marin County and Oakland and Richmond Parkway skirting most of town as a bypass. Public transportation is provided with an intermodal transit center comprising BART and Amtrak, with local buses run by AC Transit. But due to the horrible reputation of Richmond, it is best recommended to exit BART from one of the two stations in El Cerrito.

• Amtrak, 1700 Nevin Ave. Two Amtrak routes service Richmond, the Capitol Corridor and the San Joaquin. The station is co-located at the BART platform. There is no ticket service, no baggage checking, and no luggage assistance. 

Get around

See

• 🌍 Keller Beach.  
• 🌍 Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, ☎ [phone]. Consists of Rosie the Riveter Memorial in Marina Bay Park, visitor center in lobby of City Hall and the SS Red Oak Victory Ship. The park includes a museum and WWII shipyard, preserving and interpreting the stories and places of America's home front response to World War II.  
• 🌍 Point Richmond Historic District.  
• 🌍 Marina Bay.  

Do

• 🌍 S.S Red Oak Victory Ship (Dornan Drive at Ferry Point), ☎ [phone]. Launched in 1944, and commissioned as the USS Red Oak Victory ship, the Red Oak is the only vessel built by the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California that is being restored. This last remaining Boulder Class Victory saw service in the World War II, Korea and Vietnam has the distinction of being the only ship operated by both military and civilian personnel during career.  
• 🌍 Golden State Model Railroad Museum, ☎ [phone]. The Golden State Railroad Museum consists 10,000 square feet of O, HO, and N scale train tracks. In the museum, you will find 3 large railroad tracks, constructed and owned by the EBMES. It is open from April to December. It is located on Dornan Drive, past the Ferry Point Tunnel.  
• Maquers Playhouse, ☎ [phone]. The Masquers theater is located in Point Richmond on the eastshore of the San Francisco bay. The Masquers playhouse has been producing and showing plays for the last 50 years. There are 100 seats. They show 5 productions year round. 
• Point Richmond Music Festival. Many Jazz and music performances every Summer, every month June, July, August, and September. Live performances. The First Friday of every month. Starts at 5:30. 

Buy

Richmond is home to Hilltop Mall, a large enclosed shopping center anchored by Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, and Walmart. Outside of any shopping center, a local favorite is Annie's Annuals, a nursery that specializes in rare, exotic, and down-right interesting plants. Annie's is so extensive, leave yourself a few hours to browse the entire operation. Downtown Point Richmond has many shops and cafes.

Eat

• 🌍 Portumex, 721 23rd St, ☎ [phone]. Authentic Mexican restaurant. (updated Nov 2017)
• 🌍 Assemble Restaurant, 1414 Harbour Way South, ☎ [phone]. M–F 11:30AM–2PM, Sa Su 10AM–2:30PM. (updated Nov 2017)
• 🌍 Salute e Vita Ristorante, 1900 Esplanade, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. M–Sa 11AM–9:30PM, Su 10AM–9:30PM. Italian restaurant. (updated Nov 2017)

Drink

Sleep

• Oakland-Richmond/Berkeley - Courtyard Richmond Berkeley, 3150 Garrity Way, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. 
• 🌍 Hotel Mac, 50 Washington St, ☎ [phone]. The most elegant hotel in the Bay Area, built in 1910, was the second hotel built in Richmond, after the Critchett Hotel (closed in 1909). Features a first class restaurant and bar.  
• Quality Inn, 915 West Cutting Blvd, ☎ [phone]. 
• Extendedstay America, 3170 Garrity Way, ☎ [phone]. 

Stay safe

The safest parts of Richmond consist of Marina Bay and Point Richmond south of I-580, the Hilltop area north of San Pablo where Hilltop Mall is and much of East Richmond on the other side of I-80 or San Pablo Avenue at the most. Unfortunately, Downtown Richmond, most of the city, primarily the Iron Triangle and Central Richmond, is a whole different story. These regional segments of Richmond (75% of the city's area) are the reason behind its horrible reputation, ranking with Compton as the worst cities in California statiscally when it comes to crime rate. Travelers that must traverse these parts of town should know their way around and stay on the major thoroughfares through here, such as MacDonald Avenue, 23rd Street or Cutting Boulevard, without stopping here for anything or any reason. Do not enter North Richmond at any time for any reason, lest you be riddled with bullet holes.

Go next

Routes through Richmond

END ← Emeryville ←	W  E	→ Martinez → Sacramento
Sacramento ← Martinez ←	N  S	→ Berkeley → Emeryville
Bakersfield ← Martinez ←	N  S	→ Emeryville → Oakland
San Francisco ← El Cerrito ←	S  E	→ San Pablo → Sacramento
END ← San Rafael ←	NW  SE	→ El Cerrito → Oakland