Tours
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| "Drive It Yourself" Tours |
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Designed for the first-time visitor to the Napa Valley who wants to see the best-known highlights. Since there are well over two hundred wineries and scores of restaurants, you could visit the valley every day of the year and experience a different tour. Let your impulse be your guide. THE "I'M JUST PASSING THROUGH" If you're just passing through the Napa Valley, heading north or south to get somewhere else, try this tour. It's set up for those driving south to north through the valley. Simply reverse it if you're heading in the other direction. However you approach the valley from the south, head north on Highway 29. Pass through Napa and continue north till you come to Yountville. Take the Washington Street turnoff, turn right at the stop sign, then immediately left at the next stop sign. Continue into town, staying on the left at the fork. You'll find yourself at Vintage 1870, 40 shops in a three-story brick building on the west side of Washington Street. Stop, park, shop and /or have lunch. (If there's no time, just keep on driving through Yountville and pick up the directions in the next paragraph). You can eat lunch at Pacific Blues at Vintage 1870; just south across the street at Piatti or The Diner; just north of Vintage at Compadre's; or at the north end of town at either the Napa Valley Grille or Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi's Too. After lunch, continue north on Washington Street. Turn left at Madison Street (there's a stop sign there) to Highway 29. At the signal, turn right on the highway and head north. Approximately two miles ahead, just past Oakville, you'll see Robert Mondavi Winery on the left. Go into the left turn lane, then head into the winery. Park in the visitor's area. If there's time, take a tour. Otherwise just taste a few wines, take a few photographs, and head north again. A few miles further north and you'll be in Rutherford. Just past the Rutherford Cross Road and the Rutherford Grill restaurant, pull into the Beaulieu Vineyard parking lot. Taste a few complimentary wines from this nearly 100-year-old winery. If you have the time, and the next tour is soon, take it. It's an excellent tour of wonderfully wine-smelling cellars and aging areas. After BV, head north and drive through the town of St. Helena. Admire the quaintness of the town and overlook the fact that having a main highway through your quaint town is a traffic nightmare. Continue through town, take a picture out the window as you pass Beringer Vineyards and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone on your left just north of town. Continue a few more miles till you reach Calistoga. Turn right on Lincoln Avenue and drive into the heart of Calistoga's main shopping area. Here you can window shop, have an ice cream cone or cold beer (it's not all wine here), or if you've suddenly decided you're not in so much of a hurry, visit a spa and have a mud bath and massage. Your "I'm Just Passing Through" tour is over and you're on your own. THE "FIVE HOUR" Head up Highway 29 until you're just north of Oakville. Visit Robert Mondavi Winery on the left (west) side of the highway. Take a tour, taste some wine. Built in 1966, it was the first large winery (Stony Hill was actually the first) built in the valley after Prohibition. Since then, several hundred others have appeared. Leave Mondavi, turn left on Highway 29 (It's not easy. Watch for traffic from both directions) and continue north. Just past the Rutherford Cross Road, turn right into Beaulieu Vineyard. This is the true monarch of the valley, built in 1900 and famous for its wines, particularly its Cabernet Sauvignon. Taste a variety of their complimentary wines, then tour the winery and experience the 100-year-old building. This place looks and smells like a winery. It's wonderful. After BV, keep your car in the parking lot and walk into the Rutherford Grill for lunch. Good food, extremely varied menu, and very casual and comfortable. Good place for kids too. If you'd rather have an even more informal lunch, continue north on Highway 29 to St. Helena. On the right at the south end of town, you'll see V. Sattui Winery, where you can buy sandwiches and a bottle of wine and enjoy them outside at the picnic tables the winery provides. After lunch, continue north and on into downtown St. Helena. Wander around, enjoy the window shopping, maybe even buy something. There are top-notch stores for all tastes. Leave St. Helena and head back south. If you still have time, you can visit one of the other wineries along the way, shop at Vintage 1870 in Yountville, or visit Moet et Chandon's Domaine Chandon sparkling wine facilities (also in Yountville but on the west side of the highway). We mentioned the view? It 's everywhere. Highway 29 is an incredibly scenic highway and you'll see wineries and vineyards galore on the entire stretch. Enjoy. THE "FIRST TIMER-ALL DAY" Most first-time visitors tend to start at the bottom of valley and work their way north, generally visiting wineries on the right-hand (east) side of the road. We suggest you skip the crowds and drive directly (but enjoy the view) to Rutherford. Visit Beaulieu Vineyard (outstanding wines, historic winery facility, excellent tour guides) then drive through St. Helena to Sterling Vineyard (beautiful winery, self-guided tour, and an air tram ride up and down the hill) just south of Calistoga. After Sterling, go to Calistoga, walk around town, and have lunch. Then do a leisurely drive back down valley, drive through St. Helena - stop for a little window shopping if you wish - and visit Robert Mondavi Winery just north of Oakville. Mondavi is perhaps the best known winery in the Napa Valley. The tour is optional; take it if you have time and are interested in yet another winery tour. After Mondavi, continue south on Highway 29 to Yountville and visit shops in Vintage 1870 (40 shops in an historic building formerly a winery/distillery built in - yes - 1870). Be sure to leave town by 3:30 or 4:00 to miss most of the traffic. If you want to have dinner in the valley, stay in Yountville and cross Highway 29 on California Avenue at the south end of Yountville. Just before the entrance to the Veterans Home, turn right into Domaine Chandon. Chandon has an optional tour and excellent champagne. They're usually open till 6 p.m. and they also have an outstanding restaurant. You may get lucky and find they have a table available for dinner. After your pre-dinner champagne, go back into downtown Yountville and have dinner at one of the many outstanding restaurants in town. (Yountville probably has more good restaurants per capita than any town in California). By the time dinner is over, you can head home, secure in the knowledge that you've missed the traffic. ROMANTIC TIPS More than half of the people who visit the Napa Valley arrive in pairs. With good reason: the Napa Valley is a romantic place. The views are gorgeous, the wine is both soothing and stimulating, the dining can be intimate and is always superb, the lodging is luxurious, and the mud baths, whirlpools and massages bring your body to full tingling alert. Is there something special a couple should do in the Napa Valley? Actually a visit to the valley is almost foolproof for romance. But we can provide a few pointers.
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