Tuesday Travel Guide: Napa- Where to Play

Our time in Napa was much shorter than we had originally intended, but I still think we got to see a lot! We even had time for a mid afternoon nap which has become absolutely necessary the older I get! We planned it out so that each of us would have one day to drink while the other one did the driving and it worked out pretty perfectly!

Castello Di Amorosa- This was the first vineyard we visited and it was one of our "must do" places. The grounds are beautiful and walking around the castle was a lot of fun. It was really crowded though, especially in the shop and tasting area. 

Chateau Montelena- Another really gorgeous property. We didn't have time to do a tour or tasting but we did get to wander the grounds a bit. Even cooler- the harvest was in progress so we got to see these huge containers of grapes and the machines that pull the grapes from the leaves and stems. Pretty neat!

Grgich Hills- This was one of my favorite activities because Grgich Hills offers a grape stomp for a couple months a year. We really wanted to stomp grapes. There was nobody else around when we went so we got to take all the pictures we wanted and wander the grounds while our shirts (you get a souvenir shirt with your grape stained footprints it's super cute) dried. So much fun!

Beringer Vineyards- This was the only real tour that we did. We did the Legacy Cave Tour which was really fun and informative and consisted of several tastings throughout the tour. The grounds are also really beautiful and it was such a gorgeous day for walking around. 

Old Faithful Geyser- The geyser itself is fairly small but it does what it promises- it goes off every few minutes. I think it was a bit more active when we were there because there had just been an earthquake early that morning too. There's a lot of areas to lounge and it's quite peaceful and relaxing, especially when the weather is nice. There is also a large goat farm with all kinds of goats. So cute!

California 101- This wasn't an attraction but I definitely wanted to include it. Driving up from San Francisco International Airport, we took the Bay Bridge to go north into Napa. We took CA 101 on our way back down so that we could make a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge. We found the perfect viewpoint too. Take the exit for Point Cavallo and drive down to the Moore Road Pier. It's a fishing pier with an amazing view and virtually no tourists!

I wish we'd had a couple extra days to explore. We had a little time to explore the Napa Riverfront but there's so much more to see outside the downtown area. There were so many adorable small towns along the way and it would have been fun to stop and explore. A couple things on my list for next time:

Winery Picnic- So many of the wineries have picnic grounds and I would love to get a meal at a gourmet store like Cal Mart and enjoy it out by the vineyards.

Napa Wine Train- This has been on my bucket list forever. Next time I'm in Napa I'd really like to do the sunset dinner train in one of the observation cars. So gorgeous!