Napa or Healdsburg?
 

My husband and I will be in California in September 2008. We're planning on staying in Sonoma for 2 nights and 1 night in Napa.

While searching through the boards, I've come across so many recommendations for Healdsburg that I'm considering replacing our 1 night in Napa with 1 night in Healdsburg.

Some info on us: It's our first time in California, we've been married for 3 years, we're in our mid-30s, we love to stay at B&Bs, we enjoy eating good food and are excited about experiencing fantastic wines (reds, whites & sparking).

Any suggestions on which one to choose - Napa or Healdsburg?

Healdsburg. But sometimes it can be hard to find a B&B in Healdsburg for just one night. Often they want a 2 night minimum. But Healdsburg (which is in Sonoma County) is much more fun in my opinion.

Are you stayng in Napa the city, or Napa Valley (St Helena, Yountville, Calistoga, etc). If you're staying in the City - I would suggest Healdsburg instead of Napa. If you're really staying in one of the villages in the winegrowing region (valley), then I would suggest a night or two in Healdsburg instead of Sonoma.

Healdsburg & the Dry Creek Valley is my favorite region in the Wine Country.

The drive north of Calistoga through the Knights & Alexander Valley to Healdsburg is lovely.

We're heading out to visit friends in Healdsburg in about an hour.

Stu Dudley

We have been to the Napa/Healdsburg area 2x recently - once staying on the "Napa" side in Yountville and once on the "Sonoma" side in Healdsburg. I would recommend staying in Healdsburg the whole time if you can. We really enjoyed the Russian River road and found so much to do just staying there. I will say that when we visited on the "Napa" side we really enjoyed Calistoga - which might be worth a drive over if you have time. In Healdsburg, we stayed at the Raford House Inn which was fabulous - but about 10 minutes outside of Healdsburg - literally in the middle of the vineyards. We enjoyed that - but you do have to drive everywhere. Have fun!

Here's another vote for Healdsburg. Great restaurants, wine tasting, shopping. A couple of good B&Bs are the Grape Leaf Inn in Healdsburg proper (walking distance to the Plaza) and the Farmhouse Inn near the Russian River just a few miles outside Healdsburg.

We just stayed at the Madrona Manor in May. It is set on unbelievably beautiful grounds w/gorgeous mountain views, and only a 5 min drive out of the center of Healdsburg. Besides being a lovely old Victorian mansion converted to a B&B, they have a gourmet restaurant that rivals Cyrus, in our opinions....
http://www.madronamanor.com/

Here's another vote for Headldsburg. We just returned from a visit to this area a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the area of Russian River and Dry Creek.

The town of Healdsburg was just beautiful. It was filled with shops and restaurants and best of all some great wine tasting rooms. We visited the Madronna Manor and it was just lovely.

If you happen to be a Pinot Noir fan the Russian River has the best!!!

I think you are on the right track with Healdsburg. Our experience last Oct. was super. We stayed at a b&b, nice surroundings, very convivial group of guests, walk to town, and moderate as far as California goes. Sure you will enjoy. Our favorite spot was Ferrari-Carano.

http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/calif...rwood-inn.html

I too vote for Healdsburg. You might want to look into staying in a vacation rental, which is a private house or guest apt. More space than a hotel or B&B, and usually very quiet and private. One night is also probably possible, altho I'd stay more myself. Check out www.sonomacountyvacations.com and see what they have to offer for the time you want to come.

I would also go for Healdsburg; see my post on Backroads Bike tour trip report. We biked through the town of Napa and it was just like a strip mall city. (Sorry, that may be a little harsh, but in comparison.) I would also consider Calistoga maybe even over Sonoma. It has a 'western' kind of theme on main street and was established to be the Saratoga Springs (NY) of California, hence - Calistoga of Sarifornia! It is also known for hot springs and spas and you and your husband may want to splurge on a treatment or at least enjoy the pools.

One last observation....before we went to Wine Country this last May, I had never researched it, as I normally do when going on a trip. A quick perusal of Fodor's and it became clear that Healdsburg was a great place to go! Just a little reminder of what a great resource we have here!! :)

Fabulous advice...I'm convinced Healdsburg is the way to go.

We were planning on doing a 1/2 day or full day bike trip --- so I appreciate cindyj's Backroads Bike trip report.

Does anyone else have any recommendations on bike itineraries or companies in the napa/sonomoa/healdsburg area?

Biking is a great way to see this beautiful area. Although you don't have as much time to taste wine when on a bike, you can sip a bit and aren't wizzing by all the beauty at light speed. There are also nice grocery shops like the Oakville Grocery Store (One in Oakville, one in Heldsburg) that sell everything you'd need for a nice picnic lunch and in Heldsburg they have tables outside. Don't know of any companies that offer 1-day 'tours' but I wouldn't be surprised if there are companies that rent bikes. Try Blazing Saddles, they're generally though of as bike the GG bridge rentals in SF, but we saw a group riding Blazing Saddles bikes in Napa valley too. I guess I would just get a good road map and map of wineries and pick which ones you want to visit and plan your route accordingly. Through Napa valley the Silverado trail parallel's the main highway. It is also a fast road, but has a very nice wide bike lane and we didn't find it bad to ride on at all.