My husband and I have 4 nights to spend in the San Francisco area, en route to Maui. We have never been, and are wondering if it would be worth it to spend 2 nights in the city, and the other 2 in "wine country". Alternatively, should we spend all 4 nights in the city, with a day trip to Napa?

There's more to do at night in San Francisco than there is in Napa. Depends on whether you want to do something at night or not.

Hello MarkandLeslie: You haven't specified when you are going on your trip, but I would spend four nights in SF and do a day trip to Napa. Four days will give you a taste of SF but it isn't really enough to include a separate, comprehensive visit to Napa or Sonoma. Rent a car, leave SF early in the morning and go to Calistoga for a mud bath and massage (pre-book!), drive to St. Helena for an afternoon of window shopping and perhaps dropping into one or two wine tastings, have an early, fabulous dinner, head back to the city and finish the day off with a cocktail at a favourite lounge. Perfect! Check out www.napavalley.com Have a great time. Cheers, Linda

Thank you both for your replies. Linda, we will be there in mid-October, what I understand is a busy time in Napa. Do you know if we should book winery tours/tastings quite far in advance for that time of year? We think the day you've described sounds perfect!

I would recommend spending at least 2 nights in Napa. It will be harvest season at that time of the year so its a wonderful time to be visiting Napa. Personally I enjoyed my time in Napa more than in SF.

FOr the most part you don't need to book winery tours in advance; ditto for tastings, some of which some at the end of tours. For the ones that don't you just go into the tasting room, sometimes pay a fee, and go up to the counter to be served. It's mostly the smaller wineries that ask you to call in advance.

Do Sonoma rather than Napa. Won't get the great Cabs (although Silver Oak IS uo there too), but the best Zins, Pinots, and Chards are produced up there, especially if you are north of Santa Rosa. Might I recommend Healdsburg as your lodging point? It's a great town with nice places to stay. Think St Helena 15 years ago, and you have Healdsburg

I would absolutely agree with emummert's suggestion that you use Healdsburg as a base. Much more interesting wineries around there than around Sonoma, taking nothing away from the Sonoma wineries! Healdsburg is more the center of the "Sonoma" wineries than Sonoma is!

Using advice from this forum, I recently went up there with some friends and can highly recommend Ferrari-Carano and Souverain which are north of Healdsburg. You'll like the smaller wineries too, very charming!

Get some good maps! We found the maps to differ slightly, but the local people were very helpful (and bemused by all these lost "tourists")! If you lose your way, don't hesitate to ask - especially the guys who look like they belong to the local chapter of the Hells Angels, LOL!

Sorry if this posts twice...I think the computer ate it the first time.

BowenLinda--you mention a mudbath and massage in Calistoga--are there any specific places there that you would recommend? About how much will those treatments cost? It sounds fabulous!!

We stayed at the Indian Springs Resort and loved it! www.indianspringscalistoga.com is the web address. My story may still be on their website! Enjoy the wine country, it is beautiful. ***kim***

Hi MarkandLeslie,

Definitely recommend the wine country for two nights.

For a first time visit I'd stay in or around St. Helena or Yountville. Both are beautiful, especially during the fall months and there are plenty of nice wineries & wonderful restaurants to enjoy.

As for the mud bath...sorry but I did that last year with a friend, and all I can say is eeeewww! Recommend you try one of the other massage or spa treatments

Yountville is wonderful. We have stayed twice at the Yountville Inn. www.yountvilleinn.com Very nice property with pool, spa, beautifully presented buffet breakfast in the am.

They also have free passes to the tastings at some local wineries. We did the Stag's Leap Reserve tasting which was excellent.

Have lunch or dinner at Bistro Jeanty and Domaine Chandon is right across the street from the Yountville Inn. ***kim***

2 and 2 is do-able IMHO.

Yountville or Kauai. A hard retirement choice.
But I don't know if there are any good restaurants in Yountville.

If you stay in Healdsburg, drop in at the Flying Goat Cafe for breakfast or a snack. Wonderful baked goods and the best coffee around. I always have an americano (espresso with hot water added) and a scone.