We're planning a trip to the Napa Sonoma area in October, but can't decide how many days we should spend there. We're also having trouble deciding where to stay. We're looking for something quaint, classy, adult oriented, but not over the top expensive. Your thoughts and those two things, and perhaps some input for other areas we should check out...i.e., mendocino, big sur, etc., would be greatly appreciated

How many wineries would you like to visit? Unless wine is your hobby, seeing 2 or 3 wineries should be sufficient. How long are you planning to be in California?

In Sonoma, check out the Sonoma Mission Inn, a nice resort that is not too expensive. Check their website for packages and specials.

In Yountville (Napa Valley) check out the Villagio Inn & Spa, a very nice place that is walking distance to the great restaurants in Yountville. Let me know if you have any questions on either of these places. We have also enjoyed a couple of nice stays at the Yountville Inn. ***kim***

I just got back from 3 days at the Kenwood Inn and Spa in Kenwood (Sonoma Valley) and highly it. Had great dinners at Redd in Napa and General's Daughter in Sonoma as well as 2 excellent lunches at Mustard's.

Thanks for the suggestions! It's so hard to tell what things are like when you've only got an online perspective. As for number of wineries, that's also undecided. We were thinking about the possibility of doing a little bike tour between wineries one day, maybe a day at the spa, a picnic lunch...that sort of thing. We're going to be in California for 10 days, spending 4 days in San Francisco, and the remainder in Napa, Sonoma, and possibly mendocino or big sur. We can't decide whether or not to stay in one general area i.e Napa, or branch out.

We can't decide whether or not to stay in one general area i.e Napa, or branch out

Obviously, it depends what you like to do. 6 days in the wine country would be way too much for me, but then we once cut short a visit to the wine road south of Strasbourg in order to return to (and have a few more days in) Paris.

I'd suggest staying in or around the town of Healdsburg in Sonoma county (not the town of Sonoma, and not in Napa). You could visit a couple of wineries... bike to them if you want. There are bike rentals in town. There are lots of shops and restaurants. I'd drive West towards the coast and visit the Armstrong Woods.. a state park with beautiful redwood trees, and less crowded than Muir woods outside of SF. Go to the coast and go slightly North and visit Fort Ross where the Russians established a fort for their fur trading industry..then drive South towards Bodega Bay and swing back in to Santa Rosa and back north to Healdsburg. Day trips from here are easy to do. Driving through the Alexander Valley to Napa and touring that for a day is easily possible. For different places to stay, check out www.sonomacountyvacations.com and consider staying in a vacation rental, rather than a hotel or B&B.

Six days is a lot to spend in Napa/Sonoma. You may want to check out Point Reyes National Seashore, amazing scenery (http://www.nps.gov/pore/). Also heading south down the Pacific Coast Higway to Big Sir, Monterey and Carmel makes for a memorable vacation.

We were in SF dor 2 days prior to the Kenwood Inn where we stayed for 3 days. From there we drove down to Carmel/Big Sur where we spent 2 nites at the Tickle Pink Inn (highly recommended). We found the Kenwood Inn very well situated. We were easily able to travel throughout Sonoma and Napa from there. The only problem was that it was very hot last week in the wine country but that won't be an issue in Oct.