Davis is a lovely town, with a walking-friendly downtown that has lots of restaurants, bars, and boutiques. The Davis Farmer's Market takes place on Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons, with live music and picnicing opportunities on Wednesdays during the summer.
Davis is "centrally isolated" - you can get to San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, a number of state and national parks (including Big Basin Redwood State Park and Lassen National Parks), and Napa Valley within 2-3 hours. Yosemite and the California coast, including Big Sur and Redwood National and State Parks, are 3-5 hours away. Moreover, many large cities on the West coast, including Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, LA, and San Diego, can be reached within a few hours by flight.
On-campus lodging is being arranged through Conference Housing Services.
Davis is located about 60 miles north of the Bay Area and 20 miles west of Sacramento.
Davis can be reached in about 30 minutes from the Sacramento International Airport (SMF), and is about an hour away from Oakland Airport (OAK?), and between 2 and 3 hours away from the San Francisco airport (SFO). There is frequent serious highway congestion between Davis and the Bay Area which should be accounted for in travel plans.
Public transportation from OAK and SFO is possible via BART (metro) and Amtrak, which arrives in downtown Davis. While much of downtown Davis is walkable, lodging is typically further and we recommend using ride sharing or taxi services.
The Davis Airporter and Supershuttle can be used for transportation to and from airports, but should be reserved well in advance. Ride sharing (e.g. Lyft) works well for local travel (to/from SMF).
A car is typically not needed in Davis, as the weather is almost always good. On campus housing is a short walk from drugstores and supermarkets, and a medium walk (~20 minutes) to downtown. Davis is very bike friendly and bike rentals are available on a daily or weekly basis (e.g. Ken's Bike and Ski).
The venue for the Summer Institute is the Valley Hall teaching facility, located on the Health Sciences side of UC Davis main campus. It should be no more than a 15 minute walk from any on-campus housing, and no more than a 25 minute bike ride from any locations in Davis. During the summer there is ample on-site parking for about $7/day. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be close to the workshop rooms and lodging.
Summers in Davis are almost uniformly sunny, dry, and hot, reaching temperatures of up to 110 deg F (38 deg C). We recommend bringing water bottles, hats, and sunscreen.
The workshops have no dress requirement and informal-wear (flip-flops and shorts!) are fine, although we do also have strong functioning air conditioning in the classrooms, so you might also bring some warm clothes.
Davis is very family friendly, and kids and partners are welcome at all social events. California is in general LGBTQ-friendly as well.
Please inquire if you want to stay on campus with a partner or your family. Note that there are some hotels that have family-suitable suites.
Any special requirements (whether dietary, transportation, or family related) should be communicated to dibsi.training@gmail.com. We will strive to accomodate your needs!
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the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center is close to the DIBSI lodging and teaching location.
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the UC Davis Rec Pool is also close to the DIBSI on-campus lodging and teaching location.
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the UC Davis Arboretum is an excellent several-mile-long park available for recreational purposes.
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Davis in general is extremely friendly for exercise biking and running, with long and short biking and running trails.
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The Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve is an excellent hiking area an hour away from Davis.
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The Yolo Bypass is a good birding and ottering area; visitors may even see a wild Jonathan Eisen on occasion.
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The City of Davis has many bookstores, bars, restaurants, and movie theaters within easy walking distance.
If you have questions, please contact us at via e-mail at dibsi.training@gmail.com.