sunshine7

We are driving to Napa Valley early on Labor Day and plan to do a few things in Calistoga. We'd like to be able to walk around a "cute" town in the late afternoon, have dinner and then stay somewhere that night. We are leaving the area early the next morning. Since I've been reading about the traffic in the area on a weekend, would you suggest we just stay in Calistoga? Yountville or St. Helena seem nice, but is it worth dealing with the traffic? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

JulieVikmanis

I'm guessing you may run into problems trying to book a hotel room for a single night during that weekend. Places in Napa frequently require a two or even three night minimum for weekends, especially long, holiday weekends. Your problem may be more than traffic for the scenario you've envisioned. Sorry.

sunshine7

I've checked a few places and since I am booking for the night of Labor Day, (Monday) which is not part of the weekend itself, it doesn't seem to be a problem. So, any suggestions will be appreciated.

Underhill

Traffic on Labor Day itself is apt to be fierce throughout the Napa Valley; so it won't really matter where you decide to stay. But since you're planning to leave early the next morning, it would make the most sense to stay at the part of the valley closest to your ultimate destination. For a cute town I'd go with St. Helena--nice to walk around and any number of good restaurants. With luck you can find a place to stay within reasonable walking distance, although it may be too hot for much of that.

PamSF

I always recommend folks travel the valley using the Silverado Trail as much as possible. You will cross over to 129 any number of places if you need to. St Helena,as Underhill mentioned, is also a cute town although has a different feel from Calistoga. I'd reserve now for that one night(alot of places include holidays in a two night min.) wherever you hope to eat,I'd also try reservations.