My husband and I are heading to wine country for 3 nights for our anniversary in early August. We've stayed in Napa Valley twice before, and we're trying to decide whether to return to the Yountville/St.Helena area, or whether to venture to a new area, like Sonoma or Healdsburg. We tend to like places that have lots of little shops, restaurants, etc., within walking distance of or relatively near our hotel. Are these towns like this, or are they super small and quiet? Any insights would be appreciated! Thanks!

Try the Sonoma Mission Inn

Sonoma County-less crowded-more filling
OK, I live here so I'm biased. Town of Sonoma has all you seek as does Healdsburg. Healdsburg is a twig smaller. Both larger than Yountville.
For Healdsburg look at wineroad.com
For both see sonoma.com-Glen Ellen
is gorgeous, but prob to quiet for you.
R5

THe SMI is wonderful. We also enjoyed Healdsburg, the Healdsburg Hotel is walking distance to all the shops. www.hotelhealdsburg.com

We enjoyed the Dry Creek Kitchen for a nice dinner. Very memorable and upscale.

If you stay on the Plaza in Sonoma, The Girl & the Fig is very nice for lunch and we enjoyed Cafe La Haye for dinner. ***kim***

Kim and Kal and PamSF know how passionate I am about Sonoma! I love Healdsburg and the whole area . Take a nice drive up to Geyserville, to Ferrari-Carano and to Lake Sonoma (winery and the park with it's stunning overlook) We loved the Grape Leaf Inn in Healdsburg- an extraordinary B&B with gourmet breakfasts, charm, spacious,great wine/cheese in afternoons. Dry Creek Kitchen is good, also Willie's Seafood (tapas-style) is fantastic.Another favorite is Manzanita.All of these are walking distance. We really wanted to try madrona Manor- it's not quite walking distance from the town, though. Still looks incredible. I also love the town of Sonoma, but thought Glen Ellen was too small- lacking in restaurants, shops, etc. Still nice to visit (see Benziger) For 3 days, you'll have time to drive the entire Sonoma Valley- just be sure to eat 3 meals and sip slowly!

Madrona Manor looks incredible and IS incredible. It's situated privately on 8 acres of lushly landscaped grounds and will please those who appreciate beautiful, historic homes and excellent food and wine. We received a gift of a 4-night stay there through the week a few years ago and loved every peaceful minute of it. Their friendly cats are sweet, too.

Beautiful rooms--ours was upstairs in the Mansion #204, pictured on the website, which also had a balcony overlooking the trees with great views, but the new School House Suites in another house at the edge of the property look tempting, too. It's a very romantic hide-away, perfect for celebrating an anniversary or whatever?

Just down the road is the Dry Creek area of wineries. At the end of the road is Ferrari-Carano, I believe, which is especially beautiful, but there's also much more to do nearby. www.madronamanor.com

Madrona Manor does look very nice. It was one of the two places we were considering when in Healdsburg in March.

My husband prefers the more contemporary stuff, so we stayed at the Hotel Healdsburg which was wonderful. I would love to try the Madrona Manor, tho. ***kim***

Poo-Poo you two....when are we going to get together for a long weekend, LOL? We went back to Napa one day...this was OFF season in April, and barely made our Opus tour. It took us nearly an hour to get from Healdsburg to Yountville. Napa traffic SUCKS. ALWAYS.Why , oh why, does Napa get the best press? Sure, they have some great wines, but so do so MANY other areas in CA. There is nothing romantic about Napa. You're going to hear the semis, the horns honking and have huge crowds everywhere! Go to disney's Int'l Food and Wine fest for the same experience (maybe better) Napa has gone to the dogs....