Historic Hotels & Inns in Virginia City & Gold Hill

The neighborhoods

Where to stay, by area

C Street

C Street is Virginia City’s main street: wooden boardwalks lined with saloons, museums and shops, where most events are staged. Pick up maps and attraction passes at the Visitor Center in the Crystal Bar, at C and Taylor streets. The Tourism Commission says the buildings north of Taylor generally date from the 1876 rebuilding after the Great Fire of October 26, 1875, and those south of Taylor generally from 1860–62. The Silver Queen Hotel (28 N. C St.) keeps its 1870s saloon and a wedding chapel, and the Tahoe House Hotel (162 S. C St.), south of Taylor, says it dates to 1859; five of its rooms have balconies over the boardwalk.

B Street and the blocks above C Street

Uphill from C Street, North B Street was the old ‘Millionaires Row’, where Comstock fortunes built Victorian houses such as the Graves (Castle) Mansion, finished in 1868. The 1876–77 Storey County Courthouse and Piper’s Opera House, rebuilt in 1885, stand on B Street. Both B&Bs are here, built in 1876 after the Great Fire: the Virginia City Bed & Breakfast (226 N. B St.), with a wrap-around porch facing the ‘100-mile view’, and the Cobb Mansion (18 S. A St.), a three-story Victorian half a block from Piper’s Opera House. The blocks are quiet and residential, on the slope of Mount Davidson above the main street.

Gold Hill

Gold Hill is the next town south, reached by following C Street over ‘the divide’, a short, twisty stretch of road; the Gold Hill Hotel calls it a short mile, Wikipedia about 1.5 miles. It lies in the same National Historic Landmark district and is the turnaround point of the V&T Railroad’s 35-minute round trip from Virginia City, at a depot completed in 1869. The Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon (1540 S. Main St.), whose stone core dates from 1861, runs the Crown Point Restaurant and the Gold Hill Bar, and the Yellow Jacket Mine, where an 1869 fire killed 37 miners, lies directly beneath it.

Before you book

Planning your stay

Getting there

Reno-Tahoe International Airport, with 10 airlines and more than 130 daily flights, is the gateway; the Tourism Commission calls Virginia City a 30-minute drive via US 395 South and State Route 341, the Geiger Grade, a mountain road with many turns that climbs to more than 6,700 feet before dropping into town. From Carson City, under 30 minutes away, take US 50 east toward Mound House, then SR 341 about 5 miles up to Gold Hill. Without a car, the V&T Railway runs weekend trains from May to October from Carson City’s Eastgate Depot (90 minutes each way, with 3.5 hours in town). In town, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad runs seven 35-minute round trips a day from its 1870 F Street depot to Gold Hill and back (adults $19, children 5–12 $10).

Parking

The V&T’s F Street depot has free parking, and the official town map lists public parking on B Street next to the Courthouse, between D and E streets, at the Comstock History Center, at Mill Street between C and D streets, at the Welcome Center and at the Fairgrounds; that map dates from 2018, and no official page publishes lot fees. For the 2026 Camel Races, the Tourism Commission sent drivers to the Fairgrounds & Arena lot and in-town parking, with a free golf cart from the Fairgrounds for those with limited mobility. Of the inns, only the Tahoe House states free parking, so ask the others before you arrive.

When to go

May through October is the main season: the V&T’s Gold Hill trains run daily from Memorial Day weekend through October, and summer days run from the upper 70s to the upper 90s. The 2026 calendar ran from the Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry in March and Chili on the Comstock in May to the Hot August Nights Kick-Off on C Street, the International Camel & Ostrich Races (September 11–13) and Hauntober all October; 2027 dates weren’t published when we checked. December brings Christmas on the Comstock, including the Grinch Made Me Do It Saloon Crawl on December 5, 2026; other 2026 holiday dates, including the V&T’s holiday trains, weren’t confirmed when we checked. The town stays open in winter, but at about 6,150 feet January averages 33°F and snowfall averages 56 inches, so check the Geiger Grade on NDOT’s 511 before driving up.

Accessibility

Virginia City sits at about 6,150 to 6,280 feet on the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, with B and A streets above C Street and wooden boardwalks for sidewalks, and some buildings, such as Piper’s Opera House, have no air conditioning. The Silver Queen has no elevator, and the Gold Hill Hotel’s original rooms have uneven floors and walls; the Cobb Mansion keeps one first-floor room for guests with disabilities, and the Tahoe House calls its Bonanza Room ‘accessible friendly’. The V&T Railway says its trains are wheelchair accessible with ramps at both depots, but its vintage Carson City cars have 26-inch aisles and take only some wheelchairs and small scooters, with notice.

Before you book

Book event weekends early: the Tourism Commission warns that lodging sells out, the town has about 227 rooms, and these inns are small (the Virginia City Bed & Breakfast has three rooms, the Cobb Mansion six). The Gold Hill Hotel takes a 50% non-refundable deposit at booking, needs 48 hours’ notice to cancel, sets a two-night minimum on its cabins and takes no same-day online bookings after 3 p.m. The Silver Queen has no air conditioning, TVs, coffee makers or ice machines. V&T Railway tickets are sold only at vtrailway.com or by phone; on the steam round trip, refunds are available up to 72 hours before departure, less a $25 fee.