San Francisco to Napa Valley daytrip
 

Our family is visiting SF this April for 5 days (spring break) which will include a one-day trip to Napa Valley. Any suggestions: best time to leave SF, which routes to avoid, places to visit in Napa, restaurants, shops ....

This is our first trip to SF/Napa, any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Tony and family.

Hello, Tony, in the search window type in "easytraveler", she posted detailed reports of her trips to wine country.

Tony,

Do you want to visit only places in Napa? The Napa Valley has more to offer than that, although Napa itself is very pleasant.

I really enjoyed Sonoma much more than Napa - it's a smaller town, with a quaint feel. The Beringer winery gives a really neat tour - the house itself is worth the trip, I think.

Have a nice time!

Tony:

I would suggest visiting Beringer's and Mondavi wineries. They probably get the most visitors but I think they are both worth a visit. Both places offer free tours.

I have posted to this question before, but when we took my mother for a day trip to Napa on a visit to SF, just followed the signs to Napa. It is a nice drive. We toured Mumms for the "champagne" process tour (very interesting) and the Beringers tour (also very good) because you get a good mix of the different wine making processes. Round out your visit by eating at any of the great restaurants that abound in the area (the CIA cooking school does a great lunch, and even a tour, but you may want to make reservations and it can be pricy). It was an easy day to and from SF and we had a wonderful time.