The underworld

All of the best tourist destinations around the world sit atop ancient buried cities. Paris has its catacombs, Turkey has an entire network of cities in Cappadocia and Sacramento has an ancient city sitting beneath Old Sacramento. OK, so it’s not technically ancient, but 150 years is still old. Beginning in the 1860s, Sacramento began the process of raising the city streets in an effort to avert flooding, and those once-vibrant streets have since been buried beneath the city. Now, Old Sacramento Underground tours will offer visitors a chance to explore the old city streets with costumed tour guides. Tours last approximately one hour and feature disappearing windows and doors, dipping alleyways and hollow sidewalks. It’s time to move over, Cappadocia.

Old Sacramento Underground tours will depart every 30 minutes, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; and from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through October 31. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children; pre-registration encouraged. Tour check-in is at the Sacramento History Museum, 101 I Street in Old Sacramento; (916) 808-7059; www.historicoldsac.org.