A capital, silver-mine history, and the Biggest Little City.
9:30 AM – 1:30 PM· 4h
Carson City & Virginia CityState CapitolsAnchor
Nevada's small silver-domed capital, then up the grade to Virginia City — the Comstock Lode boomtown where Mark Twain got his start on the Territorial Enterprise, its boardwalks and saloons still standing along C Street.
101 N Carson St, Carson City, NV2:30 PM – 5:00 PM· 2h 30m
The National Automobile Museum, RenoMuseums & HistoryAnchor
What's left of Bill Harrah's collection — over two hundred cars staged along period street scenes, including the 1907 Thomas Flyer that won the New York to Paris race and the Mercury James Dean drove in Rebel Without a Cause. One of the best car museums in the country, in a town nobody expects it in.
1 Museum Dr, Reno, NV5:30 PM – 7:30 PM· 2h
The Reno Arch & the RiverwalkQuirky Americana & Roadside OdditiesWorth it
"The Biggest Little City in the World" has been strung across Virginia Street in neon since 1929, and it is worth waiting for dark to see it lit. Then walk the Truckee River Riverwalk a block south, where a whitewater park runs through the middle of downtown and people surf a standing wave between the casinos.
N Virginia St & Commercial Row, Reno, NV