Hello All!

My friends and I (college students) will be in San Francisco in a few weeks, and we want to spend a day in Napa for wine tasting. I have several questions, any advice would be much appreciated!

1. If we are only in SF for 3 days, is it worth it to stay one night in Napa, or should we plan on leaving early one morning and going back to the city that night?

2. As far as wine tasting goes, we are afraid that most organized tours will be too touristy. The problem is, without a wine tour we would be completely lost as to where to go. Any recommendations?

3. If we do decide not to do an organized tour, how will we get from SF to Napa? Is there some kind of train or economical way of transport (remember, we are cheap college students!)?

Thanks so much everyone, you all are always so helpful!

http://www.napavalley.com/maps

Napa is expensive, but my sister stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which was not as expensive as most places. I think she said that the stay included coupons for wine tasting as well.

If you have an inexpensive place to stay in San Francisco, then it might be worth your while to pick up a car for the day and just drive to Napa. It is a relatively small place with many wineries on the main road (Highway 29) and on the back road (Silverado Trail). Just be sure that you sober up before you hit the road back to SF...

I would say you should have dinner someplace to sober up and let traffic die down, and then head back to the city. It's not worth it to move your stuff, etc. for such a short trip. Don't worry about not knowing where to go. Stop at Viansa on your way (it's one of the first wineries you will pass, right off of 37 which is the road you take from 101 to get to both Sonoma and Napa when coming from SF) and get a winery guide there. There will be a map with all of the wineries marked so you can plot your course from there. You can also ask the tasting staff at any winery what they recommend based on what you like.

The best way to get to Napa is by car. 3 days is really only enough to see SF itself, but I guess you can cut a day and do a day trip to go wine tasting. Consider Sonoma as well. It would probably make the most sense for you to take a tour if you won't be able to rent a car. For budget options, check out the Green Tortoise tours that cater to backpackers.

I'd recommend you get a guide book; we used one that described all the wineries in detail - that helped us decide which ones would interest us.

We liked this vineyard, on the Silverado Trail, because of its setting, primarily. You can sit on their beautiful stone patio, which overlooks endless hills and vineyards. The wine is good, the service was friendly, the prices were reasonable.

http://www.silveradovineyards.com/index.html
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Sorry to say that we have very little infrastructure up here in Sonoma & Napa Counties. Our "structure" in and out betwwen San Francisco is the Hwy 101 freeway for Sonoma and Hwy 80 to Vallejo for Napa. Various secondary roads will actually carry you to your destination(s). Our neighbors to the south in Marin county continue to vote "NO" opposing commuter rail that would travel from noth Sonoma county into various transportation centers in central Marin.

All that said, you could travel by bus & ferry to the plaza at the town of Sonoma-and visit the tasting rooms on the plaza. You could take a ferry from the ferry building to Larkspur, transfer by bus to the San Rafael transit Mall, then up Hwy 101 to the Petaluma Transit Hub and over to the town of Sonoma via Sonoma Cty transit. You'll need to study the schedules at
http://www.goldengatetransit.org
and
http://www.sctransit.org
to coordinate transit between these two entities. Once in Sonoma, you could rent bikes and easily trek to Sebastiani,
Buena Vista, Gundlach Bundschu, Ravenswood and others out on the east side.

Obviously the best way to visit either Sonoma or Napa would be a one day car rental. Do be advised that the majority of the tasting rooms in both counties charge a fee to taste.

Happy Planning !

R5

You could tour the Napa Valley by taking a ferry from SF and hooking up with a van group. See:

http://www.napadowntown.com/assets/files/FerryFlyer.pdf

But if there is three or more of you, renting a car makes the most sense. For first timers, visiting the major and best known wineries in Napa would be my recommendation. Robert Mondavi, Beringer, Mumm, and Domaine Chandon all offer interesting programs for visitors.

If you are primarily interested just in tasting, going to Sonoma might be the best option especially if you are strapped for time. Within a few miles of the Sonoma Plaza are a number of fine wineries with enjoyable tasting rooms.

http://www.bestinsonoma.com/sonoma_wineries_map.html