Happy Thursday everyone! I am finally sharing my Napa Valley itinerary and I have to say, it’s a good one. I flew out to Pleasanton, CA, where my cousin’s husband is currently working. My cousin and her 4-year old daughter, my niece, flew in from Iowa. Bryan wrapped up his work trip to Asian and flew to California. Yeah…we were all coming in from different parts of the country/world.
When I embarked on the task of planning our Napa trip, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Googling “Napa wineries” took me into this deep, dark, cabernet whole (Cab is King in Napa!), that I had to dig myself out of. There are around 400 wineries in Napa, so describing it as overwhelming is an understatement. I thought about just booking pre-planned tours, but then realized we would not get to visit the wineries we wanted to.
To give you a lay of the land, Napa is made up of several towns that have their own “downtown” area filled with restaurants, cafes, etc. I broke down each day and tried to group the wineries together to minimize the driving. Below, I will list out a set of necessary planning tips and then each day’s itinerary.
If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will be happy to help!
Napa Travel Tips
- Reservations, Reservations, Reservations – For both wineries and restaurants, time slots fill up quick! A lot of the restaurants I wanted to try were booked up 3 weeks before our trip! Some wineries make you pay when you reserve, so that’s why you need to do a bit of research.
- BYOB – Most of the restaurants will let you bring in your own bottle(s) of wine for dinner. At the places we dined, the first bottle had no corkage fee and then it was $10 for any ones after.
- Transportation – There is not public transportation around Napa, so your options are (1) driving yourself, (2) renting a limo/car, (3) Taxi/Uber/Lyft, or (4) doing planned tours so you can travel by bus/private car. We drove since we had a kid with us and had to have her stroller, etc. Do not risk drinking and driving, so I would suggest designating someone as the driver and alternating each day.
- Don’t over or under plan – You should definitely have some sort of schedule, depending on what you want to do. Napa is the type of place where if you don’t plan anything, you will either waste time or not do anything at all. I recommend planning 2-3 stops per day, which will allow you time to be spontaneous and go to an extra winery or two that you spot on the road. Below, I will bold the wineries we needed reservations for.
Day 1
- Sterling Vineyards – A gondola ride takes you up to the winery and you get a beautiful 360 degree view of Napa
- Lunch – Buster’s Southern BBQ – Casual roadside bbq and perfect for after some wine tasting
- Duckhorn Vineyards – We literally found this off the side of the road and it was amazing! We only had 30 minutes to spare before our next visit, so they poured out the full tasting and we took it like champs!
- Castello di Amorosa – The Castle. This is probably one of the most “touristy” wineries, but it’s so beautiful you just have to see it. The tour and tasting is the way to go, as you and your group get a tasting in the caves. I think we tasted around 10 to 12 wines! It’s exactly what you want to experience in Napa.
- Dinner – Brasswood Bar + Kitchen – the food here was so good. Modern italian and tons of great cheese!
Day 2
- Domaine Carneros – Sparkling wine tasting and beautiful views
- Lunch – Bottega Napa Valley – Michael Chiarello’s restaurant in Yountville. Some of the best italian food I have ever had!
- JCB Tasting Room – small tasting room in Yountville, with mainly sparking wine and rose
- Raymond Vineyards – My cousin’s friends are members here, so they graciously booked a tasting for us. It was our least favorite, since the tasting room was inside a warehouse/tech room, which was very dark.
- Turnbull Wine Cellars – Beautiful setting and great wine. Their wine glass (pictured above) is so great.
Day 3
- Caymus Vineyards – Bryan’s favorite cabernet. The setting was very nice, but small.
- Miner Family Wines – Casual winery. The people were so nice and since it was a Monday, they took us into their cave and let us do a barrel tasting!
- Lunch – Gott’s Roadside – Burgers at roadside stop. So good.
- Hagafen Cellars – Kosher wine!
- Dinner – Redd Wood – Really good pizza!
Day 4
- Beringer Vineyards – The lightest wine tasting we had (only 3 wines). We went to the main house where you can do a reserve tasting or just getting wines by the glass and enjoy the outdoors.
- Bouchon Bakery – I had to stop by Thomas Keller’s famous bakery.
- Domaine Chandon – Sparking wine and tons of cheese and charcuterie.
