Napa valley getaway

Old Jul 26th, 2016, 08:59 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Napa valley getaway

My husband and I are planning to fly to CONCORD and then explore Napa valley. We want to see the sights and visit some wineries....one for sure..ROMBAUER. I need tips and suggestions on where to stay and how to best utilize our time there. Going in october. Not sure how many days we will visit. Would like it all to be budget friendly regarding restaurants and places to sleep. Any suggestions?
clifbob is offline  
Old Jul 26th, 2016, 01:12 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 227
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Great time to go. I just got back from my 4th visit to the area and have not had a bad experience yet. On the most recent trip, we reserved a house through vrbo. It was in Sonoma and was perfect - 4 bedrooms for 4 couples so we had some wonderful "family" meals there in the house. You may not want to go that route with just the two of you, but check out options that are smaller - may find something nicer than a hotel with a lower price tag. I don't know that I would stay in a hotel there again, now that we had this wonderful stay with plenty of space and beautiful setting that belonged to us alone!

Activities - we did a hot air balloon ride with Napa Valley Aloft. Bucket list activity and I can't imagine a more beautiful setting for it! NOT budget friendly though

If you haven't done the wine country thing before, I would suggest a winery tour, maybe an olive oil tour (both with tastings) and take advantage of walk-in tastings for the rest. How many times do you need to see where the wines are stored and how fermenting takes etc... its fun but you don't need to spend 2 hours at each vineyard. Sterling does a beautiful tour as does Round Pond, Seghesio, Mondavi... we missed Schug on this trip but wanted to as it looked wonderful as well.

For one of the tours (likely your favorite if you have, Rombauer maybe?) I would suggest a sit-down food and wine pairing. Often that's pricey but enough food to count as lunch or dinner.

We also rented bikes and biked a "wine loop" around Sonoma. That was a lot of fun, a way to do something different after a couple of days at wineries. You can stop at wineries along the route, or do like we did and stop at a brewery for a different kind of tasting. You can rent bikes in both Napa and Sonoma.

We haven't done the wine train but if you have time that may be fun. Once on a girls trip we did a Platypus bus tour - a great day but again, with the husband, less appealing for some reason...

Once on a trip with just my husband, he got sick of wine and we drove out to Pt Reyes for a hike and scenery. Was beautiful!

Definitely DO NOT MISS Oenotri. It is a fabulous, farm to table restaurant in Napa. We've been twice with different groups and everyone both times said it was a highlight of the trip. Just wonderful - trust me!

Sonoma Plaza is a great little town. They have a weekly farmers market that we stumbled upon. It's HUGE. I'm not sure if it's just a summer thing, but you can probably google it.


Jealous! Have fun!
4sammy is offline  
Old Jul 27th, 2016, 06:57 PM
  #3  
Kal
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,489
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What is your idea of "budget friendly" when it comes to meals, lodging?

We love staying in Yountville but it is becoming less budget friendly since The Railway Inn remodeled and raised their prices.

Lot of good reasonably priced, IMHO, within walking distance of each other. Hurley's, Bottega, Ad Hoc, Bouchon's, Redd, Redd Wood, R&D, Bistro Jeanty, Ciccio's et al.

The unreasonably priced Fr. Laundry is also there. LOL

El Bonita Motel in St Helena is nice and a decent price. But you have to drive almost everywhere to eat. But Charlie's Palmer's Harvest Table is a 5-10 min walk along a non-sidewalked Hwy 29. Take a flash light if you walk at night!



ROMBAUERRRRRRRR Love them. Maybe take a picnic lunch up there or just explore the beautiful grounds.

Loved going there yearrrrrrs ago before everyone found it. Valet parking now and the smallish tasting room usually full of women with large purses and men with back packs.
Kal is offline  
Old Jul 27th, 2016, 08:11 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Flying to Concord?
Underhill is offline  
Old Jul 28th, 2016, 10:19 AM
  #5  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Is flying to concord bad?
clifbob is offline  
Old Jul 28th, 2016, 10:22 AM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I guess 150 a night is budget friendly for Napa. Once we land in concord..I need advice on how to do the rest of the trip on a budget. Renting a car at airport? Is that the way to go...or is there a better option. How many days would you recommend. 2 or 3? I'm not rich....but I know it's a pricey area. I want to stay at a decent place not to far out of the way..I know nothing about Napa. All I know is I want to visit rombauer. Any other recommendations on how to best do Napa on a budget would be helpful
clifbob is offline  
Old Jul 28th, 2016, 11:51 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 227
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
OK I admit I had to google Concord. I don't know anything about it, sure you have mapped the distance to Napa from there. Looks like about an hour. I'll defer any specifics on this to someone who may know.

For a quick, budget trip to Napa I think 3 nights (2 full days there, plus partial / travel days) is plenty. Doesn't sound like you have your heart set on anything specific, which will help in the budgeting area. Rombauer doesn't advertise a food pairing, and with budget being a concern, I would suggest you stick with the $25 / person, 5-tasting flight.


Honestly? I think you would have the best, least expensive time if you ONLY plan on that, because you love it and because the grounds sound lovely. Many of the wineries in the area are welcoming to walk-ins, especially a party of 2, and especially since you will be avoiding the higher-priced wines such as Opus One ($45pp and reservations required to taste ONE vintage, no thanks). So schedule your time for Rombauer, and while you're there, ask them to suggest your next couple of stops. We did our first trip to Napa that way and loved it. Maybe spend a day in Napa and a day in Sonoma, they are only a few miles apart but a completely different vibe. And just let the days unfold based on the suggestions you get.

Do visit V Sattui and assemble yourselves a picnic lunch while you're there. It is an artisan marketplace as well as a tasting room, lovely property to relax, drink some wine, eat some munchies, and decide what to do next.


The $150 hotel is tight. I don't think we've accomplished that but I haven't really tried (we lucked into having a relative to stay with twice, and shared a room with 3 ladies on a girls trip once, and then a house with a large group most recently). Maybe others can suggest in this area.
4sammy is offline  
Old Jul 28th, 2016, 01:52 PM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 339
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
"Is flying to concord bad?"

No, it's just unusual. Buchanan Field in Concord, CA is a very small airport that did not have any commercial flights until I think very recently. I assume you are flying on JetSuite?

I lived in a nearby town and did many day/weekend trips to the Napa/Sonoma area over the years so I can guarantee I would prefer to drive from Concord to Napa than from Oakland or SFO! You may hit some traffic around the Benicia bridge but it’s definitely a great option for access to Napa/Sonoma.

“I want to stay at a decent place not to far out of the way..I know nothing about Napa. All I know is I want to visit rombauer. Any other recommendations on how to best do Napa on a budget would be helpful”

Budget wise, the area is pricey and perhaps your best bet is to try to find a B&B within your budget. With a few days in the area, you can be pretty flexible where you stay as it's not that big and part of the fun is just driving around. For example, in the Napa valley, you could stay as far as Napa (the city) to the south or as far as Calistoga to the north. Or you could stay in the Sonoma area. Rombauer is located on the Silverado trail so perhaps one of your days you explore that side and another day you explore Sonoma. If you do some more research you’ll find lots of information to help you decide what type of vibe you want for your first visit to the area.

When you look at a map you’ll see that Napa Valley kind of looks like a ladder with Highway 29 (St Helena Hwy) on the left side and Silverado Trail on the right side and then lots of small rungs (roads) connecting the two. Highway 29 has the highest concentration of wineries with the most traffic - it gets a bad rap sometimes as it can be crowded and with large groups of bachelor/ette parties and tourists, etc but there are also some great wineries on that stretch and it can be a fun sort of party atmosphere. I do tend to be more careful about my winery selection and avoid the larger highly commercial operations. Tasting fees can also vary significantly. Silverado trail on the right side of the “ladder” also has plenty of wineries but kind of runs along the hill so the road is more windy and many of the wineries are a bit off the road and up the hills so it can feel more peaceful.

Sonoma Valley (to the west of Napa Valley) also has tons of wineries but they tend to be spread out a little bit more so it has a different vibe. The city of Sonoma has a very nice town square and so if you want to do some window shopping, you could spend a day in that area and it could be quite budget friendly.
NorCal_Jo is offline  
Old Jul 28th, 2016, 10:04 PM
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes NorCal...we are flying Jetsuite. I guess u heard of it. We did Sonoma two years ago...so I think we will stick with Sonoma. I guess I need to do a lot of research on where to sleep..and book it soon. October will be here fast
clifbob is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
fosterag
United States
17
Jun 10th, 2008 08:03 PM
heymo
United States
8
Nov 5th, 2007 08:09 AM
JerseySue
United States
37
Jun 8th, 2006 12:41 PM
Izzymd
United States
5
Apr 5th, 2005 03:35 PM
parkcitygal
United States
5
Feb 11th, 2003 07:00 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -