Hello all. I need to take my daughter to college in incline village, nv (north tahoe) and was thinking about spending some time in napa while there. We are flying in from NY on a Saturday and could fly into San Fran about 11:30 AM. I would then rent a car drive to Incline and stay with her there for family activities sunday and monday. Was then thinking about getting up early Tuesday AM and driving to NAPA and spending the later morning and afternoon there visiting a few wineries and then driving in the evening to the san fran airport. Is it realistic to drive from incline village to san fran airport and visit a winery or two in Napa in one day? I'm not adverse to being on the road very early as I am usually awake by 5 or 5:30 anyways. The other possibility would be to leave the college Tuesday evening and drive to Napa and stay the night there.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
thanks!

Have you already booked your plane tickets? It would be much better all the way around to fly into Reno airport and a quick drive over to Incline Village to drop off your daughter. San Francisco seems way out of the way to me,(4 hours) to drive to Tahoe.

You'll be hitting Sacramento rush hour in the morning and SF Bay Area rush hour in the evening, so you might not have as much time as it seems you would. Otherwise, it's certainly possible, especially if you stick to the southern regions. Try cutting across from Napa to Sonoma on Ca-116, then to the freeway (US 101) at Petaluma.

You'll be heading in the opposite direction of traffic going over the Golden Gate, but you could run into very slow traffic south of the city, especially if you take 101. I-280 (the most beautiful freeway in the world) is usually much less crowded. Take it to
I-380 to get back to 101 and SFO.

I'd fly into Reno as well if at all possible and then out of SFO or OAK. I'd also spend the night in Napa or Sonoma rather than rushing to see some wineries and then get a flight later in the day.

Hmmmm....if you are returning to SFO, taking 121/12 from Napa over
to Hwy 116 to Petaluma to hook up with
101 is the slow route (yet scenic)and will backtrack you a bit. If you're going to do it, follow 121/12 West to the 1st stoplight just west and south of the town of Sonoma. This is where 121 and 12 split. Hang a left and you'll be on 121. This will intersect with Hwy 37
at Sears Point. Turn right and follow it over to 101 at Novato.

Even faster: follow Hwy 29 south from
Napa to Hwy 37 and hook into 101 at Novato.

I too think the Reno airport might be closer or even Sacramento. SFO seems out of the way for your activities.
R5