Napa Valley, in the Bay Area in California, is one of the main wine growing regions of the United States of America and one of the major wine regions of the world. It is also known for its gourmet restaurants, cafes, and spa-treatment centers.
From north to south the main locales are:
Napa Valley, a world famous wine area, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in California. More than five million visitors come each year, often overcrowding the roadways on summer weekends. Peak times are the summer months and the harvest "crush" during September and October. Napa Valley is home to more than two hundred wineries. With wine as a focus, great dining naturally emerged to complement it. The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena supplies a steady stream of well-trained chefs, supplementing the already prestigious chefs drawn by Napa Valley's reputation and locale.
A small airport exists in Santa Rosa, but the nearest international airports are in San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento. San Francisco is the largest airport of the group presented. Here, a traveler arriving at San Francisco Airport can easily rent a car or reserve a limo to take them to Napa Valley. The trip is about an hour and a half long over the Golden Gate Bridge to scenic Route 1. The Evans Airporter provides scheduled bus service between Napa and Oakland or San Francisco airports.
Napa County Airport (IATA: APC) is a smaller airport in Napa, just west of the intersection of Broadway St. and Lincoln Highway. Air charter companies including Napa Jet Center and Air Charter Advisors offer direct flights with aircraft rentals ranging from economical single & twin engines props to luxury Gulfstream and business jets.
From San Francisco:
Highway 101 North over the Golden Gate Bridge, to Highway 37; Highway 37 East towards Vallejo/Napa, to Highway 121; Highway 121 North towards Napa to Highway 29 North.
Use Highway 29 or Silverado Trail to see the valley. They run north-south along the valley.
Napa VINE provides bus service to Vallejo, with transfers to Greyhound and the ferry to San Francisco. VINE also serves BART's El Cerrito Del Norte metro station, as well as the Amtrak station in Fairfield.
There are many other leisure activities in Napa Valley to complement fine dining and wine tours. If you are an early riser, you can take a hot air balloon ride. There is also horseback riding, boating, fishing, gliding, golfing, bicycling and spa treatments.
Wine Tours and tasting are the main reason why people go to Napa Valley. To see how their favorite wine is made from stem to bottle is often the passion the drives people to Napa. People may go to Napa valley to taste wines before they invest in them.
The thing about wine, of course, is that it has a synergy with food; they enhance each other. Accordingly, food is elevated here. There are many excellent chefs in this area and many great dining facilities, ranging from the world-famous French Laundry in Yountville to tiny grocery stores that serve gourmet sandwiches.
The Valley and its wines beg to be brought on a picnic. It might just be the best way to have lunch. Some wineries cater to picnickers, notably V. Sattui has a nice picnic area and even a deli, but they don't want picnickers tying up their limited parking. Some encourage picnics, but only by reservation.
Most wineries offer tastings and/or tours of their products. The form this takes varies greatly. The largest, most well known wineries such as Mondavi and Beringer are open daily with large hosting facilities, guided tours of the operation and reserve rooms for tasting select, more expensive wines. The many smaller wineries may offer tastings only by appointment, but your tour or tasting may be conducted by the owner. Almost all vineyards charge a fee for the tastings, with the more popular vineyards charging somewhere in the range of $45–$110 (however some ~$30 tours may be available). Winery tours are generally very interesting and informative. Reserve room tastings provide an opportunity to sample expensive wines without having to spend a larger amount for a bottle. Sometimes the tasting fee can be applied to the cost of a bottle purchased.
Napa Valley enjoys very low crime rates and is generally considered to be a relatively safe part of California. Emergency response (police, fire, and paramedics) can be reached by dialing 911.
Note that California's drunk driving laws are extremely strict and accidents happen often on Highway 29 right after the wineries close around 6PM. Designate or hire a driver and be safe.
Related Wikipedia article: Napa County, California