The largest plaza in California showcases everything Sonoma holds dear – food, community, art, history – flanked by indie restaurants, galleries and dozens of wine-tasting rooms. The Tuesday night markets are a tradition, May to November, with live music, food, produce and artisan's wares. Arrive early and bring a picnic for the free jazz concerts (sonomavalleyjazzsociety.org) from 6pm to 8:30pm every second Tuesday of the month from June to September. (To answer the obvious question here: drinking wine is allowed on Sonoma Plaza from 11:30am until sunset.)
Anchored by adobe Mission San Francisco Solano (sonomaparks.org), the plaza's sights allow you to time-travel across 200 years of California history. The 21st and final California mission was built in 1823 by Native American conscripts and lasted just 11 years. Mexico's Comandante of Northern California, General Vallejo, commissioned the other big adobe, Sonoma Barracks, to house his troops in 1834. Displays capture 19th-century life and describe how Sonoma's Bear Flag Republic started. The lobby of the 1886 Toscana Hotel is beautifully preserved – have a peek inside.
The Mission Revival–style city hall was inaugurated in 1908 with four identical facades, reportedly because plaza businesses all demanded City Hall face their direction. At the plaza’s northeast corner, the Bear Flag Monument commemorates Sonoma’s drunken independence movement. The weekly farmers market (5:30pm to 8pm Tuesdays, April to October) showcases Sonoma’s incredible produce.
The Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau on the plaza is open seven days a week to provide travel assistance and maps; check the website for special events in summer and during winter holidays, when the plaza twinkles with festive lights.