Visit the Napa Valley

Vacationing in the Napa Valley

Napa wineries - St. Helena CA

A vacation in the Napa Valley. A week exploring the Napa wineries. This is something worth planning to make sure it’s the best it can possibly be. The Napa Valley is known for cool mornings and warm to hot days, especially in the summer, so pack enough clothes for a range of temperatures.

First, find a place to stay in the area. This probably isn’t a family vacation (children and wine tastings are not a good pairing) so look for a little bed-and-breakfast. There are many of these in Napa Valley, mostly vintage homes. As for transportation, at the airport at San Francisco, Oakland or Sacramento, you can rent a car. The San Francisco and Oakland airports also have shuttle bus service.

In addition to Napa itself, there are the towns of Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and Angwin, all with interesting things to see and do. The reservoir of Lake Berryessa is a great place for fishing, waterskiing, canoeing, hiking, birdwatching and other outdoor pleasures. If you’re not afraid of bees, you can learn all about beekeeping in American Valley. The Oxbow Public Market in the town of Napa is a 40,000-square-foot indoor market which offers an extraordinary variety of different foods from many different cultures. If you aren’t vacationing by yourself, the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena is a movie theater so old it has love seats in the back rows.

But most of all, there are the famous Napa wineries. There are many vacation packages that will allow you to tour the Napa wineries alone, as a couple or in a small group. Or you can develop your own itinerary, if there are one or two Napa wineries you particularly want to visit. The usual tasting fee is $10 to $20 per person per winery. Keep this in mind when planning your vacation budget.

One of the best Napa wineries around

Some of the best California wines come from Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley. Just a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, these vineyards produce world-class wines at affordable prices. The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain. Instead of a busy tasting room, the vineyard offers you the chance to meet the owners and wine-makers and taste excellent wine stored in a cave. Wine Merchants Gourmet includes them in one of its Middle Valley tours.

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide. By ordering six bottles or more per year, you can join their wine club, giving you discounts on many of their finest wines.