I looked back over 3 months and didn't see any Napa threads so I'll start a new one. I just accepted an offer for a new job and will have some time off in May. I'm looking to take my gf on a short trip to the wine country and possibly a few days in San Fran (I was thinking 3 in WC/2 in SF). Anyway, I have absolutely zero experience and was looking for some good advice and experiences. Napa? Sonoma? Both? Where to stay? I'm looking for something nice, preferably with a decent balcony to relax on, not a large hotel but more like an inn. Could do B&B but we probably don't want a whole lot of interaction with other couples/guests. It needs to be romantic and have some enjoyable restaurants in the area - that's why we'd be going, not because we are wine aficionados (I don't think drinking way too much $10-15 wine puts us in that category). I realize that the Oakland airport is the closest so we'd probably fly in there and drive up - we can do weekdays as well if that makes any difference in anyone's experience. Anyway, I'm looking for anything and everything here, so feel free to just use this thread as a brain dump.
I've stayed at the Village In and Villagio in Yountville. They are not real small but not huge. Yountville is ideally located in the central valley for wine touring, biking, etc. Also has several great eateries including the mother of all etc French Laundry, plus Hurley's, Bistro Jaunty, and others. St. Helena is much more crowded, as is Calistoga. Don't do Napa proper. As a new angle, we stayed in Sausalito just this past weekend. Its 45 min from the Oakland airport, and 45-50 from central Napa Valley. Otherwise, its extraordinarily picturesque. You can combine the bay thing with the Napa thing, in one weekend. Take the ferry to SF. Solves the parking problem. Weekdays are much better, as its getting to the main season.
I would switch it around to 2 days in Napa and 3 days in SF. You might get bored in Napa for 3 days, and 2 days is not enough time to do all the sites in SF. While in Napa, you HAVE to eat/dine at Mustards (restaurant). It really is awesome. Flying into Oakland might only save you 15 - 30 minutes of driving vs flying into SFO. So fly to whichever airport you find better rates for.
Several SF discussions and one on Napa referenced here. Here's a Napa wedding thread that also has some info on the area. I mentioned this in a previous discussion but I highly recommend staying in Yountville if you go to Napa. The Lavender Inn offers a good amount of privacy and is very romantic; it's like a luxury B&B. Yountville may also have the highest concentration of Michelin star restaurants for such a small area: 3 at French Laundry, 1 at Bouchon and 1 at Redd. PM if you have questions. Have a great time! EDIT: That first SF discussion link seems to be broken, but the others are fine.
there are truly a ridiculous amount of fun things to do in that region just north of SF. a couple that have not been mentioned here: Muir Woods (park with redwoods) is spectacular the coastal drive along sonoma is very pretty. lots of parks, Point Reyes is the most famous, but I once stopped in at Fort Ross park with a reconstructed Russian Fort and really enjoyed it.
Think about staying in Sonoma, maybe Healdsburg. It is spectacularly beautiful and the wineries are more out of the way. You can drive to the coast and drive on Route 1. We stay in Guerneville as well and explore the Russian RIver area. It is very relaxing, compared to napa, which is often all about how many wineries you can visit in a day.
thanks for the replies so far. to provide a bit more color, we usually just like to relax so running out of things to do isn't really a concern. we went to northern italy last year and spent a few days in small towns on lake como doing nothing but eating, drinking wine, and walking around looking at nothing in particular. we definitely love wines from the russian river area so i'll have to look into that. please keep the suggestions and experiences coming as i'll probably be booking in the next couple days.
We stayed at the Carneros Inn last May. It is freaking awesome. Granted, it is in Carneros, which is south of Napa, so you're a little ways away from stuff (particularly St. Helena/Calistoga). We never felt like it was a problem. Even if you don't stay there, I'd highly recommend Farm Restaurant at the hotel. I would second the thought about spending more time in SF than Napa, by the way. After a couple of wineries, well, they really do all start to blend together.
given you like russian river wines, you need to go to sonoma, not napa. try healdsburg in sonoma if you just want to hang out
