My husband and I are going to "wine country" for our anniversary and, with the help of this message board, chose Healdsburg over Napa. However, I decided to complicate my life by throwing Calistoga into the mix...LOL! Which of these towns is more charming? Which has better access to good restaurants and wineries? I'm from the east coast, so I'm totally clueless. Thanks for your help!!!

I've stayed in both places a few times(last year in fact). Calistoga is my favorite town in Napa Valley, because it's a bit quiter at the far northern end of the valley. Tha main grag 29 gets very busy and you contend with semi trucks and limos, etc all the time. To get a good experience, you need to do some of the side and back roads. Healdsburg has more to offer. They have lots of wine tasting rooms right in the town, several excellent restaurants and the town is conveniently located to lots of great wine producing regions- Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley, etc. If you are out there more than a few days, by all means bop over to Napa Valley for a taste of the "other side". But for beautiful drives, scenery, less traffic and a more relaxed feeling, definitely choose Sonoma Valley. We love Healdsburg!

We didn't get to Healdsburg, so I can't offer a comparison, but we loved Calistoga. We stayed at the Cottage Grove Inn at the far end of the main street but it was easy to walk into town. There was a good selection of restaurant choices. The wineries we went to that were convenient located were Freemark Abbey, Sterling & Domaine Chandon. Also, if you are into the outdoors we did a fantastic hike which started in town near the intersection of 29 & the Silverado Trail. It was an old mining road that leads up into the mountains outside the town. After the hike we did massages and mudbaths at the Indian Springs Spa

Cottage Grove is lovely but is smakck dab in the midst of the upper town. (On an island if you will) traffice goes from either side. Try Infian Springs in one of the cottages.

Such abysmal spelling..Cottage Grove is smack dab on an island which has traffic on all sides. Try a cottage at Indian Springs which will be removed from traffic! Plus..you have a fabu pool!

My dear Pam~Perhaps a soak at Indian Springs will cure the wiley spelling curse ? GTG ?
I'm with Pam on Indian Springs v Cottage
Grove.
Can you do both Healdsburg & Calistoga ?

R5

Healdsburg - by far.

Stu Dudley

Can't comment on Indian Springs, but I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Cottage Grove Inn. I'd highly recommend it. Didn't notice traffic noise. Our cottage did not back up to the street so I wonder if that made any difference.

I also found Calistoga more charming than Healdsburg.

Calistoga is more laid-back, we loved our stay at the Indian Springs Resort there. We were just in Healdsburg last night and dined at Cyrus which was totally amazing. If you choose Healdsburg (upscale) I would definitely try to fit a meal at Cyrus into your itinerary. ***kim***

We've stayed at Cottage Grove Inn and at the Foothill House. You are going to hear the traffic noise at either, however slight at Foothill. The latter was just a wonderful place to stay- such great pampering. Our room was enormous, too, and unlike some B&Bs, each room has a private entrance and porch. We've stayed at several places in Healdsburg- my favorite was the Grape Leaf Inn. It's in a lovely residential area withing walking distance to the town square. Or stumbling distance, lol. The only thing I ever heard was the garbage truck too early one morning. grr.

From Healdsburg you can also get to the coast, the Russian River, and Armstrong Woods redwoods. It's funny, though, Healdsburg started out as the underdog, but now probably has a more up-market look than Calistoga. The Napa Valley wineries are lots fancier than ones around Healdsburg. You can drive between Healdsburg and Calistoga in maybe 45 minutes, but you can't see both areas in one day.