For two grape novices, our 3 days in Napa were unforgettable – packed with hikes, intimate vineyard exploration, and mouthwatering meals!

Itinerary Highlights:

• Duration: At least 3 days. See below for skimmed itinerary (Friday – Sunday)
• How to get around: We flew into SFO (other options are Oakland, Sonoma County (Santa Rosa), or Sacramento International), so renting a car made the most sense for us. It’s about a 1.5 hour drive without traffic to get to the Napa area. Once you get there, there are several ways to get around the vineyards (tuk tuks, hired car, or bikes – be safe!)
• Where to stay: There are a ton of options to choose from depending on your budget, preferences, and the kind of experience you want. If you’re headed up from San Fransisco, you’ll first hit Napa. This had more of a downtown feel with lots of restaurants, shops, and tasting rooms. Next major stop is Yountville, known for some of its higher end restaurants. Continue on, and you’ll find the quainter St. Helena, once again with a cute main street of shops and tasting rooms. Finally, you’ll come to Calistoga, famous for its hot springs and spas. We landed in Calistoga, initially trying to snag a spot at Indian Springs. Unfortunately, they were booked for the weekend so we ended up at the Calistoga Spa Hot Springs. The place we stayed was okay, but we would probably try for Indian Springs if we were to go back – it was a beautiful mid-range option. Other spots we looked at were MacArthur Place and Carneros Resort and Spa. If you’re really trying to ball out, there’s also the Solage (an Auberge Resort), that looks STUNNING.
• Three Trip highlights: Wine Tour (Day 2 – included a little surprise ;)), Massages at Indian Springs (Day 3), Lunches at Brasswood (multiple days)

Our 3-Day Full Itinerary (skimmed)

Day 1: Hiking & Exploring St. Helena

• Morning workout at hotel.
• Explored the main street in Calistoga for bakery / coffee. We checked out Calistoga Roastery, but there were a few cute options.
• St. Helena farmer’s market (Fridays, 7:30 am – 12 pm).
• Drove to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (~9 min from Indian Springs) and hiked Ritchey Canyon Trail and Coyote Peak. This was a fairly quick ~5 mile loop with a lot of tree coverage that didn’t have a ton of foot traffic.
• Stumbled upon Brasswood on our way home and stopped for lunch. This was the ultimate hidden gem of our trip – we hadn’t heard of it on any lists or recommendations, but it was SUCH a cute spot with a fusion of a winery, bakery, and restaurant. The indoor / outdoor spaces were both elegant and cozy at the same time – we knew we would be back.
• Hotel for some downtime and hot springs.
• Stopped at V Sattui for pre-dinner drinks – there were a few events going on when we went, and overall the property was VERY busy.
• Low key dinner at the Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery. They had some cute outdoor seating, and we even got lucky with some live music!

Day 2: Wine, Engagement, and more Wine

• Morning workout at hotel.
• Wine tasking adventure with Bohemian Highway – this had been recommended by a friend and we LOVED it. It was so easy to coordinate with them, and we loved that they picked more intimate, off the beaten path vineyards for us to explore. They also coordinated a picnic lunch at one of the wineries. Our three stops for the day were:
  • John Anthony Church Vineyard – super unique church-turned-winery (church was originally built in Pennsylvania, then reconstructed and renovated in Napa). We were the only two there, and had an amazing wine and cheese tasting. We had our Bohemian Highway lunch out in the garden next to the vines, and Brian wrapped things up with a little surprise pop of THE question. Anna said yes, and it was a GREAT start to the day!
  • Calmere Estate Winery – a little more populated, but had a great celebratory drinks on the terrace.
  • Whetstone Wine Cellars – another spot that we found ourselves alone at. It was a beautiful stone building with a great outdoor patio out back.
• Dinner at Farmstead (now Long Meadow Ranch)

Day 3: Spa Day

• Stopped at La Palmeraie Lounge for some pastries and coffee
• Walked to Indian Hot Springs for a spa day! While we were waiting all robed up, we added a little lawn game competition to the mix.
• Lunch at Brasswood again on the way back to the city. We were sad to be leaving, but got lucky to have overlapped with Fleet Week in San Francisco! Stopped by to see some family and check out the jets from a rooftop.
• Sadly we had some MAJOR delays getting out of SFO but kept busy by calling all our loved ones and doing some airport convenient store snack taste testing