Wine Country/Honeymoon Road Trip
 

Well... I posted on here some months ago looking for romantic spots in Sonoma/SF to possibly propose...well let's just say it worked.

In fact, we are now looking at incorporating more CA wine country into our honeymoon. The current idea is to start in Santa Barbara and work our way up the Central Coast over the course of 4-5 days...then two days in SF and 5 days in Sonoma/Napa.

Any must sees? While I know Sonoma County pretty well and Napa ok, I really don't know anything about the central coast winery areas.

Any thoughts? Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Well if you are coming to the Sonoma Couty wine country, I would suggest checking out www.HealdsburgRentals.com for unusual places to stay. For Romance you can't beat Madrona Manor, also in Hbg. You're probably going to be checking out places to get married...n'est pas?? There are several lovely wineries, hotels and restaurants around Healdsburg where you can hold a wedding ceremony. I believe the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce has a list of places to get married in this area.

There are many pretty wine areas in CA. One of my favorite areas is the Anderson Valley and that spectacular drive from Boonville to the redwoods and the coast.We have been to Mandocino 3 times and love doing this drive and visiting the wineries along the way.If you don't want to go that far, consider staying at the Philo Pottery Inn one night. Napa is so overtouristed; it's worth visiting, but I wouldn't spend all my time there. If you do stay in Napa, I suggest Calistoga. Much quieter than St Helena or Yountville. We stayed at the Foothill House last year and loved it. Cottage Grove Inn is very nice, too. But for romance, you can't beat Mendocino!

ps...you can't leave us hanging like that!! Where and how did you propose? DETAILS!

There are many lovely vineyards in the San Luis Obispo/Arroyo Grande area of the central coast. My personal favorite is Talley Vineyard:

www.talleyvineyards.com

Good wines and beautiful scenery - very romantic IMO!

If you follow the directions on their website from San Luis Obispo, there are several vineyards along Orcutt Rd.

Congratulations!
Linda

You may want to get some information from two trip reports for the SanFrancisco end of your trip:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...150&screen

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...100&screen

Good planning!

Do you need accomodation recommendations or just winery information for the central coast? There are tons of wineries to visit in the area starting with Santa Ynez and working north to the Paso Robles region.

The Paso Robles area is very nice, we just did the Fall Harvest Tour there. Zenaida Cellars, Dover Canyon, Justin, Tablas Creek and many more. We will be taking the Justin "Justification" wine to our New Year's Eve dinner this year. Merry Christmas and enjoy your trip! ***kim*** ((#))

Thanks for the responses thus far. Ideally I'm looking for any advice (accomodations, wineries/vineyards, or otherwise for the southern leg of the trip). As for the northern leg, I have Sonoma pretty well covered and have a lot of info/input on Napa (but any other advice is always appreciated).

Consider staying at the Healdsburg Inn in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, if your travels are taking you that way. Wonderful B&B, with one of the most comfortable beds in which I've ever slept. Lots of wineries within driving or cycling distance. If you end up at the Inn, make sure to ask Karin for a 'free tastings' card...otherwise most of the wineries hit you with a nominal $5 charge.

Solvang is a cute danish town and the wineries around there are fun. Firestone Winery (Andrew Firestone aka the bachelor)is in that area. Couple of good restaurants also AJ Spurs and the Hitching Post. Edna Valley Winery is also really nice, the view is beautiful.

The Healdsburg Inn has a number of good specials going, one of which includes a dinner at the famed Cyrus restaurant. Check the web site and get your name on the waiting list!

A wonderful, romantic, place to stay in the Russian River area: www.springhillcabin.com It's lovely and we can't wait to go back. If you read the guest reviews, you will see a few have honeymooned there. Rave reviews all around. And Dean, the owner, is awesome.

We did an LA to Napa honeymoon, driving up the PCH. The two standout places we stayed on our trip were the Petite Soleil in San Luis Obispo http://www.petitsoleilslo.com
Nice rooms, friendly owners, wine tasting every night in the courtyard, plus it's a 15 minute drive to the Edna Valley vineyards. In Napa, we stayed at the Cottage Grove Inn in Calistoga http://www.cottagegrove.com/index.html
Private cottages with fireplace (firewood stack is replenished daily), deep jacuzzi tubs, porches with rocking chairs. Breakfast is served in the main building where you can socialize with others or you can grab the trays provided to bring breakfast back to your cottage.

One of the most romantic hotels in the world is in Big Sur--it'd be perfect for a honeymoon stay and is on your route. It's called The Post Ranch Inn & is perched on these cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean with floor to ceiling glass windows that overlook the sea in both the bedrooms and in their restaurant. Spa on-site, award-winning restaurant and wow...just a really relaxing, romantic place.

http://www.postranchinn.com/

My other suggestion is to stop in Carmel, which is a quaint little town full of artists and beautiful homes. Stay at L'Auberge Carmel.

http://www.laubergecarmel.com/


While you're in wine country, get reservations at French Laundry. It's a little extravagant, but this is your honeymoon and it's one of the finest restaurants in the country!

http://www.frenchlaundry.com/

Other famous (but less outrageously priced) restaurants to try are Mustard's Grill and Chez Panisse. Have a fabulous time on your honeymoon and congratulations!

http://www.mustardsgrill.com/

http://www.chezpanisse.com/

Well, we've come up with a itinerary for the trip that I just wanted to share with everyone in case anyone has comments or ideas they would like to share.

July 2-3-Buellton, CA.
July 4-San Luis Obispo
July 5-Carmel
July 6-8-San Francisco
July 9-Sonoma
July 10-11-Healdsburg
July 12-13-Calistoga
July 14-San Jose (on the way out)

We went to all the Sideways (the movie)wine tours sites near Santa Barbara this year. It was pretty fun. Not as spectacular wines or architecture as in Napa, but it was a fun tour! You can plug in the seasrch terms and their are several sites to help you download the map.