elle123

Three friends in our late thirties need a couple of days to unwind!! I'm flying LAX to Santa Rosa airport and trying to figure out how to plan this whole trip, May 20 weekend. We want ease in location and want to eat very well, go wine tasting, spa...the works, but don't want to spend an arm and a leg. We each have big trips planned so want to keep this relatively low cost, a mini-break in the interim. UBER available in wine country? I need help planning! Thank you!

Kal

We did Easter weekend in Napa Valley and used Uber to get to/from St. Helena/Yountville.

Not as plentiful as a big city but we did see several cruising around on the Uber app when estimating the fare.

In Yountville you have several very good and not too expensive restaurants within walking distance....and then you have the French Laundry. $-)

Spas in Yountville at Villagio and Bardesonno and Yountville Hotel.

Chef Michael Chirello's "Napa Style" (located outside his Bottega restaurant) had wine tasting as to several other places in Yountville but there are a lot of wineries nearby.
Rent a limo?

Kal

....tick...tick....tick.....

MichelleY

Hahaha!

MissMandy

UBER is available. It works pretty well and very cheap fares around wine country.

keithpence

Good luck not spending "an arm and a leg" in Napa, as it is really quite expensive (especially if you want to do all the things you mentioned). If you don't want to spend too much money, I'd recommend looking into Sonoma or Russian River Valley, where you can get a cute airbnb (especially in Russian River) and taste amazing, if not better wines (and for much cheaper! some places don't even charge tasting fees).

If you want to stick to Napa, know that Napa City isn't all that nice (although it's cuter than it used to be!), and the more you go "up" the valley, the nicer the little towns are (Yountville, St. Helena, Rutherford, Calistoga). Be prepared to pay anywhere from $30-$50 for basic tastings at the nicer wineries (about 5-7 tastes, depending on the winery, mostly reds), and perhaps in the $20 range for places like BV and the like (i.e. places that don't have the best wine).

Some suggestions of places to taste: Paraduxx (fun tasting, cornhole, etc.), Joseph Phelps, Duckhorn, Quintessa, Castello di Amoroso (for the castle, obviously), Etude, and of course there are others. If you've never tasted in Napa before, prepare for some tourists (compared to Sonoma and Russian River) and somewhat expensive experience. It's obviously luxurious driving around in a limo while drinking wine, but it doesn't come cheap in Napa anymore!

Kal

Boom ;-)

elle123

Thank you! We're considering the Sunburst Hotel (there's a Groupon) http://www.thesunburstcalistoga.com/ It doesn't look too nice but good enough. Solage is 13 minutes walking distance. We could get treatments, have lunch. I stayed there years ago and love their thermal pool. I wonder if we could rent their bikes as non guests or maybe the Sunburst can arrange for them. We're also looking for a dinner spot. Solbar was okay, something better nearby?

Is there UBER around Sonoma and Russian River Valley? Alexander Valley? Last year I saw at the airport you could carry a case back from Santa Rosa airport, still okay right?

A cute airbnb works also we haven't decided yet, any suggestions would be great! Healdsburg is also nice but hotels are crazy expensive and I didn't see any airbnbs. Thanks for the places to taste I'll look them up. I've only been to Castello on that list. I thought the castle was a lot of fun. We did a tour and tastings underground but I specifically remember not liking any of their wines...but it was our last stop and I might've been completely wined out at that point!!

sf7307

There are no airbnbs in the town of Healdsburg because short-term rentals are illegal. They're legal outside city limits though.

lantana

Drive to Indian Springs in Calistoga for mud bath and relaxation!You won't regret it.

NewbE

You can check cases of wine at any airport. Regular checked luggage charges apply.

elle123

Thank you! We are going a week before original plan. One of the girls backed out so we might not stay at the Sunburst Hotel anymore but still somewhere in Calistoga.

Do you get in a tub of mud in Indian Springs? Any suggestions on a nice dinner restaurant for Saturday in Calistoga or town nearby? Thanks!

MikeReifeiss

You could also use a limo to go wine tasting, it's pretty cheap and most of them offer discounts for wine tastings with their partnered wineries

starrs

Their trip is over.