Carmel Valley Wine Tours VS Wine Tasting Rooms
 

Okay...we decided to celebrate our girlfriend's 50th birthday in Carmel. Ive received lots of good information from Fodorites about the wineries and wine tasting rooms.

Next big decision...do we rent a limo to go into Carmel Valley to visit several wineries? Or do we just walk and visit the wine tasting rooms in Carmel and drive ourselves out to one winery, Chateau Julien...which appears to be fairly close?

We've done the limo tours before in the Santa Barbara area as well as the Texas Hill Country...and they were fun...and much needed after our fourth winery! But, with the wine tasting rooms in Carmel, I didn't know if the wineries and scenery in Carmel Valley are worth "committing" ourselves to 4-6 hours. We have 3 full days in Carmel and want to have time for shopping, "spa-ing" and taking a day to drive down to Big Sur for lunch at the Post Ranch Inn.

I'd not spend $$ on a limo for one winery......The Valley is pretty, nice to drive it... save the money for the spa.

Actually, if we rent a limo, we'd go to more than one winery. It looks like there's about 8 in Carmel Valley.

My question is...do we:
A. Take a limo wine tour into Carmel Valley and visit several wineries along with lunch (4-6 hours).

B. Drive ourselves to what seems to be the most popular winery in the area (Chateau Julien) and visit several tasting rooms in Carmel.

I vote for A...if you have the mean$ to rent a limo, by all means do that! Carmel Valley is beautiful. You can enjoy the scenery in the limo as well.

I'm jealous!

Having done so, I would also recommend option A.

Thanks for the replies...we'll do the Wine Tour. ;;)

After a Google search, I found "Your Maitre D'" limo company offers wine tours. Unless someone has another recommendation, I'll give them a call.