Visit to Napa Valley
Mar 22nd, 2001, 10:44 AM
#1
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Visit to Napa Valley
Help!! I'm visiting San Francisco next month and am thinking about taking a day tour to Napa Valley where they take you to a couple of wineries and to Calistoga..is the trip worthwhile?
Has anyone used the Blue and Gold Fleet or Gray Line for this kind of tours? Which one do you think is better?
I know they take different routes (one by sea to Tiburon and then by land and the other one just by land) so I don't know which one is nicer. I'd appreciate your comments..!
Has anyone used the Blue and Gold Fleet or Gray Line for this kind of tours? Which one do you think is better?
I know they take different routes (one by sea to Tiburon and then by land and the other one just by land) so I don't know which one is nicer. I'd appreciate your comments..!
Mar 22nd, 2001, 04:23 PM
#2
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You should definitely see Napa and Sonoma if you get a chance. Very pretty scenery and many of the wineries are nice. It's only about 1.5 to 2 hours away from San Francisco, depending on where you go. I've never been on a bus tour of it (just taken my car and driven up, it's pretty straightforward), therefore, I can't give you any comments on the tours themselves. I think, however, that the Blue and Gold Fleet is one of the local SF ferry services and their ferry boats are nice with a lower covered seating/viewing area and an open air seating area up top. Pretty large boats as well (although I don't know if those are the ones you'd be using). Tiburon is a pretty community as well and you'll get a nice view of the city on your way there. I guess if you're into low maintenance travel, a tour can be good. But, if you're really looking to explore, visit your favorite wineries, or go at your own pace, I would say drive yourself. The drive there is not difficult, and once in Napa Valley, they have free maps and signs everywhere which will direct you to wherever you'd like to go. Good luck and have fun!
Mar 30th, 2001, 09:53 AM
#4
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Hi,
Napa and Sonoma are great!
We live in the Bay Area, and go there several times throught the year.
You may want to rent a car and do it yourself. Then you can visit the wineries on your own, stop on as many as you like, many of them have free tours where they talk to you about the wine process, and most offer free wine tasting. The downtown in Sonoma is nice, with some historic buildings, a mission and a cheese factory (complimentary samples). We like Sonoma and the Alexander/Dry Creek Valley a bit better than Napa which is getting TOO touristy and crowded (specially on the weekends). You could also rent a bicycle and cycle around the vineyards. A great place for cycling is the Dry Creek road, and surrounding roads in the Alexander/Dry Creek Valley.
Some of our favorite wineries are:
Napa: Sattui Winery. (picnic area, and nice overall wine-tasting experience)
Sonoma: Kunde (good tour-they take you inside the nearby mountain where they age the wines).
Chateau St Jean, Buena Vista.
Dry Creek/Alexander Valley:
Rabbit Ridge, Quivira.
Alexandra
Napa and Sonoma are great!
We live in the Bay Area, and go there several times throught the year.
You may want to rent a car and do it yourself. Then you can visit the wineries on your own, stop on as many as you like, many of them have free tours where they talk to you about the wine process, and most offer free wine tasting. The downtown in Sonoma is nice, with some historic buildings, a mission and a cheese factory (complimentary samples). We like Sonoma and the Alexander/Dry Creek Valley a bit better than Napa which is getting TOO touristy and crowded (specially on the weekends). You could also rent a bicycle and cycle around the vineyards. A great place for cycling is the Dry Creek road, and surrounding roads in the Alexander/Dry Creek Valley.
Some of our favorite wineries are:
Napa: Sattui Winery. (picnic area, and nice overall wine-tasting experience)
Sonoma: Kunde (good tour-they take you inside the nearby mountain where they age the wines).
Chateau St Jean, Buena Vista.
Dry Creek/Alexander Valley:
Rabbit Ridge, Quivira.
Alexandra
Apr 6th, 2001, 08:16 AM
#5
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it may be too late for your visit, however if you dont want to rent a car or want the commercialism of a tour bus you should consider California Jeep Tours. We used them for our family of 5 last summer and they were great. They will pretty much take you where you want to go and the driver/guide was great. its especially good if you want to do any sampling of wines, you dont have to worry about the driving. We only went to 2 wineries because we had kids w/ us, but we would recommend both. Cakebread winery in Rutherford and Clos Pegase in Calistoga. we combined napa w/ some other stuff, but you could certainly do more wineries if you arent traveling w/ kids. have fun. we loved it out there so much we are going back this summer and staying in napa for 4 nights w/o the kids!
