Skip to content
East Bay Livin

Central Contra Costa · Contra Costa County

Martinez

Martinez is the Contra Costa county seat, set on the Carquinez Strait. A historic downtown, Amtrak, and the John Muir National Historic Site give it more identity than a courthouse town usually keeps.

Downtown Martinez has the slightly worn, slightly wonderful feel of a real main street. The marina and the strait are the open end of the view. Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor stops here, which matters if your life runs toward Sacramento or San Jose as much as San Francisco.

It is less polished than Lafayette and proud of that. Refinery neighbors are part of the geography. So are the hills toward Briones and the trail to Muir’s orchard.

Known for

  • Downtown Martinez
  • John Muir site
  • The marina
  • Amtrak

Getting around

Amtrak downtown. North Concord/Martinez BART is the nearest BART, not a downtown platform. The marina and main street are close to each other.

Around Martinez

Nearby