A Local’s Guide to Napa Valley

I’ll tell you now, Napa Valley really is everything it’s chalked up to be. Rolling hills carpeted in vines, soft sunshine all year round, and some of the best food and wine you’ll have in your life. It’s the kind of place people dream for years of visiting, and since moving here I still pinch myself at how often I get to enjoy it.

Located as close as an hour’s drive from the city, visiting Napa an easy trip that I recommend to everyone that visits. As you drive north along the Saint Helena Highway, it doesn’t take long to become captivated by the rows and rows (and rows and rows and rows) of vines.

So if you’re thinking of planning a trip to wine country, read on for all of my insider tips on how to make your trip to Napa Valley unforgettable.

Things to Know Before Visiting Napa Valley

Location of Napa Valley

Napa Valley is located in Northern California, just north of San Francisco. While locals tend to refer to all of Napa County simply as ‘Napa’, it is actually made up of five separate cities, one of which is also called Napa. A little confusing, I know!

Starting from the south, you’ll find American Canyon, Napa, Yountville, St Helena, and finally Calistoga. Each of the little cities is culturally and visually distinct from the next, and you could honestly spend days exploring each on its own!

Best Time of Year to Visit

The most popular time of year to visit Napa Valley is during the summer, from around early May through late September. It’s a popular time to visit for a reason, as all of the vines are lush with green leaves and bursting with bunches of grapes.

The flipside of that popularity, though, is that you will have to plan your trip well in advance. The weather can also be suffocatingly hot this time of year, especially on the valley floor. There is a very popular annual music festival called Bottle Rock – it’s very fun, but if you’re not attending it’s probably the worst time to visit Napa Valley.

I personally think that the best time of year to visit is just after harvest, around October through November. The weather this time of year is much more pleasant to be outside, reservations are less competitive to snag, and everyone in the valley is generally in a much better mood.

The locals call wintertime “cabernet season”, and it’s a great time to visit if you’re looking for great deals. It tends to be a little chillier and the vines aren’t as lush, but it is still very pretty and most days are warm enough to sit outside with a jacket. The towns of Calistoga and St Helena both run special passport schemes during this time, letting you visit a great selection of wineries at a big discount.

Amount of Time in Napa Valley

Napa Valley is totally do-able as a day trip from San Francisco if that’s all the time you have, but is best experienced over a long weekend. I recommend spending at least three days here so that you can explore a few wineries without getting too drunk to enjoy it all.

Getting to Napa Valley

The closest airport to Napa Valley is Charles M Schulz – Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa. It’s a smaller regional airport, so there aren’t too many direct flights, but if you happen to find one it’s a great option.

The next best airports to fly into are either Oakland International Airport (OAK) or Sacramento International Airport (SMF). Both are a little over an hour’s drive away and have very good flight availability, you’ll just want to time your journey to avoid rush hour traffic.

Finally, you can also consider flying into either San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Both are about a ninety minute drive from Napa Valley, and rush hour traffic is a similar concern here. If it’s your first time visiting, though, I recommend spending the extra $8 to detour through the city and over the Golden Gate Bridge!

Getting Around Napa Valley

The best way to get around Napa Valley is by car. Public transit unfortunately isn’t great in Napa Valley beyond the main highway, which is where you’ll find many of the best wineries and restaurants. If you’re not local, your best bet will be renting a car from whatever airport you fly into.

You can get around Napa Valley by using ridesharing apps, but nobody ever recommends it. Service can be unreliable and wait times to connect to a driver can be unpredictably long, so if you’re trying to make multiple winery reservations in a single day you might end up out of luck.

The final and most recommended way to get around Napa Valley is by hiring a local driver. Depending on your needs, they can even help plan your entire trip for you and make all the reservations. This is an especially great option if you’re traveling with a group of people, as the rates tend to be per vehicle rather than per person.

Planning the Wineries

There are more than 400 wineries and 90 urban tasting rooms in Napa Valley – making it sometimes feel overwhelming to research and see them all.

My advice from personal experience is to only visit one or two wineries per day, followed by either an urban tasting room or a paired dinner. Any more than this, and you’ll be too busy rushing around and too drunk at the end of the day to be able to enjoy it all. Trust me, I’ve been there!

The Best Things to Do in Napa Valley

Go Wine Tasting

I mean, duh. Wine makes up the heart and soul of Napa, and is the main reason for most journeys here. Keep reading below for more details on all of my favourite places to go wine tasting.

If you want to expand your horizons beyond just wine, there are also great opportunities for artisanal olive oil tasting, whisky tasting, and beer tasting around Napa Valley as well.

PS: For a full list of everywhere I’ve been in Napa, click here!

Soar Above the Vines

This is probably the dreamiest experience you’ll have in Napa Valley. There are a couple of local companies to choose from, many of which offer a champagne brunch once you land.

Even if you don’t end up going up in one, they’re very pretty to look at in the early mornings while you enjoy a cup of coffee.

Peruse the Oxbow Market

I could spend hours perusing through all of the vendor stalls at Oxbow Market, which are lined one after another with specialty gourmet products, fun restaurants, and fresh produce.

Start off by grabbing a coffee at Ritual Coffee, specifically whatever their seasonal latte is. Then head down to Whole Spice, where many sommeliers go to train their noses.

Make your way down to Olive Press, where you can do a little tasting of Napa’s other great export. Finally, don’t overlook Napa Bookmine, which has a great selection of specialty books by local authors, especially if you have any interest in cooking or viticulture.

Soak in Hot Springs

Located in the northernmost part of Napa Valley, the town of Calistoga is home to some of the nation’s finest natural thermal waters. Powered naturally by volcanic activity, the mineral water is extremely rich in healing properties like sulphur, magnesium, and calcium that are great for the skin.

The best way to enjoy these healing waters is to book a spa service or overnight stay at one of the town’s many resorts. My top picks for this are Indian Springs, Dr Wilkinsons, Calistoga Spa Hot Springs, or the newly opened Four Seasons.

Take the Napa Valley Wine Train

I’ll admit that even by Napa standards, this is a bit of a splurge. The historic pullman train chugs along the valley floor for 36 miles offering stunning panoramas of the vineyards beyond.

While it’s a very pretty experience, the stops that the train makes aren’t my top picks for wine tasting. My top recommendations are either The Vista Dome Lunch or The Afternoon Tea x Chandon experience.

Explore Nature

The wine is obviously great, but one of the reasons that people love visiting Napa Valley so much is its natural beauty. There are lots of great places to explore outside, my favourites being Skyline Wilderness Park and Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.

The Best Places for Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

Tres Sabores Winery

I’ve been a wine club at Tres Sabores, and it’s truly my favourite place to spend time in all of Napa Valley. It was founded in 1999 by a woman named Julie Johnson, who was formerly the co-owner of Frog’s Leap Winery and a huge pioneer in the biodynamic wine movement.

In contrast to a lot of the bigger and flashier wineries that dominate Napa today, Tres Sabores is a slice of what the old timers sing nostalgic about. Their wines are predominantly old world style, and she is most famous for her wines produced from dry farmed zinfandel vines dating back almost one hundred years.

During your visit you’re very likely to see not only the owners but also some of the estate’s other residents, which include heritage chickens, miniature goats, and a very sweet golden retriever named Cava.

In addition to wine tastings, Tres Sabores also throws fabulous parties, many of which are open to the public beyond just club members. Last year, I attended Outstanding in the Field, which is basically a traveling pop-up dinner party, that featured not only her wines but also food from her garden.

Robert Biale

Robert Biale Vineyards has a history in Napa Valley dating back to the early 1920s, when the family immigrated from Northern Italy and built themselves a little cabin on Mount Veeder. To support his family after the sudden death of his father, the young Robert Biale began (illegally) selling wine to make ends meet.

It is a rare Napa winery that, contrary to popular fashion, does not produce a single cabernet sauvignon. Their zinfandel vines are some of the oldest in all of California, and their partnerships with neighbouring growers go back decades with old fashioned handshake agreements.

Today, their mission is as much about education and preservation as it is making great wines. New customers at Robert Biale are treated as old friends, and it’s an especially great place to start out if you are a little unsure about all the pomp and circumstance that can sometimes come along with tastings in Napa.

Matthiasson

Matthiasson was founded in 2003 by a young husband and wife duo who consider themselves to be farmers first and foremost, and his since become one of the most exciting biodynamic wineries in Napa Valley. Steve was a co-author of California’s first manual on sustainable viticulture practices, and Jill graduated with a degree in botany before pioneering the “farmer to farmer” network for sustainability in the early 90’s.

Their independence from investors allows them to operate the winery as a passion project in every aspect. In addition to the classic vines, you’ll also find more obscure varietals growing here like ribolla gialla and refosco. Matthiasson currently have more than 30 varietals, and hope to continue expanding and experimenting each year.

Quintessa

Quintessa is amongst the most jaw droppingly beautiful wineries you’ll visit in your lifetime. Unlike many wineries in Napa Valley, they specialise in just one wine per year – cabernet sauvignon. They take the quality of it very seriously, and even brought over a specialist in electro-conductivity from Chile to map out every inch of the property to best maximise the soil.

As you can imagine, there is an incredible amount of detail to every aspect of the winery, which is translated into the tasting experience. The “Quintessential Quintessa” experience includes a scenic drive through the property to a tasting pavilion perched atop Dragon’s Hill, which offers unrivaled panoramas of the valley. If you’re looking for a classic Napa experience, this is it.

Faust

Owned by the same family as Quintessa, Faust is the cheekier little sister housed in a recently renovated Victorian-era home, which they call The Faust Haus. The brand is heavily inspired by Dante’s Inferno, and the property itself is split into two halves – heaven & hell.

Both are very nice, but hell is likely where you’ll want to be, as it retains most of the home’s moody charms. The Regular “Act I” tasting comes with a fairly hearty plate of well curated snacks, such as freshly picked crudite from the garden alongside homemade hummus.

Axr

Axr is the lovechild of acclaimed winemaker Jean Hoefliger, who immigrated from his native home of Switzerland after spending more than a decade cutting his teeth in some of Europe’s most famous vineyards.

The focus here is on the two varietals that Napa is best known for – cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay. Many of the wines that you’ll taste, especially the single vineyard cabernet sauvignons, are sourced from some of the valley’s most prestigious vineyards.

Despite all the acclaim, Axr is not a stuffy place. The tastings here are incredibly intimate, reflecting the winemaker’s belief that the point of wine is to bring people together. It’s the kind of place where club members and industry friends regularly stop by to grab a bottle and enjoy a little picnic lunch under the towering redwood trees.

Tank Garage Winery

Tank is a funky newer winery, established by industry veterans Jim Regusci and James Harder in 2014, that’s located in an old mechanic’s garage dating back to the 1930’s. If it gives you any sense of the place, they describe themselves as ‘a winery that celebrates misfits, bootleggers, and daredevils.’

The vibes here are truly unmatched. The staff working at Tank are all huge wine geeks, but don’t have any pretension towards it – visits here are casual, relaxed, and focused on having a good time.

They like to experiment a lot with their wines, with names like Talk Dirty to Me and Hippy Sippy, and everything you’ll taste is single run. Tank does bottles of cabernet sauvignon, but also serves wines that are made from falanghina grapes or have been carbonically macerated. In short, it’s the coolest place in Napa Valley.

PS: If you’re a military veteran, Napa Valley is an especially great place to visit! Check out this list I compiled of all the places that offer free or discounted tastings for our service members.

The Best Places to Stay in Napa Valley

Poetry Inn

The Poetry Inn in Napa is an insanely beautiful bed and breakfast overlooking the vineyards at Cliff Lede winery.

North Block

The North Block in Yountville is perfectly located in the little downtown strip for walking to restaurants and tasting rooms.

Inn St Helena

The Inn St Helena is a cosy little bed and breakfast with a white picket fence surrounding their historic gardens.

Indian Springs Resort & Spa

The Indian Springs is a modern bohemian retreat in Calistoga, that also happens to be California’s oldest continuously operated pool & spa facility.

The Best Places to Eat in Napa Valley

Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch

Everyone will tell you to come here, and they’re right. This place is quintessential Napa Valley, with meals made from locally sourced seasonal produce and lush vines growing out back.

You’ll almost always need to make reservations in advance for a table here, but you can always try your luck at the ample bar seating as well.

Gott’s Roadside

Iconic local chain serving nostalgic diner-style food reimagined with premium, locally sourced ingredients. They have a very convenient location near the Oxbow Market, but I recommend stopping by the original roadside diner in St Helena if you can make it.

There is always at least a table or two in the sprawling outdoor picnic area, but be prepared to budget in more time than you think you’ll need during the busy summer months and weekends unless you order ahead online.

There’s no wrong order here, but I always come back for the california burgers, fish tacos, and ahi tuna burger. And (obviously) save room for the milkshakes!

The Gatehouse

I think that this place has to be one of the best kept secrets in Napa Valley. This restaurant is part of the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Calistoga, and is part of the final training process before graduates go off to work in some of the world’s finest restaurants.

The dining experience at The Gatehouse is modeled after what you’d find in a michelin starred restaurant, with white table cloth service and an ever-rotating seasonal menu. The service is a little less slick than you’d find at an actual starred restaurant (they’re still students, after all), but the experience is no less charming for that.

Bistro Jeanty

Bistro Jeanty is a locally beloved French restaurant (just down the road from that other one) with a great seasonally rotating selection of homestyle dishes. The owner originally came to Napa in the early 70s to work in the first ever Moet & Chandon restaurant stateside. Like many people here, he fell in love and has been in the valley ever since.

The interior could plucked from anywhere in the French countryside, adored with old family photos and newspaper clippings on the walls. The most coveted seats, though, are in the outdoor patio overlooking Yountville’s little downtown.

Loveski Deli

Everyone always recommends Model Bakery for breakfast, but I prefer heading to this deli right next door. The bagels here are made fresh every day from a thirty year old sourdough starter passed down from the owner’s nana.

I’m particularly fond of the smoked salmon bagel, but all of the fixings here are super fresh and you really can’t go wrong. If you’re planning a picnic lunch, this is also a really great spot to pick up a sandwich to take to-go.

Lovina

Lovina is one of the newer additions to the Napa Valley food scene. It’s housed in a converted craftsman-era mansion in Calistoga, and serves seasonal California cuisine that it describes as “accidentally” vegetarian.

You can tell that this place is run by women, because every moment spent here is a sensorial delight, down to the tumbled linen tablecloths. It’s a perfect place to end a long day, especially if you’ve been at one of the thermal spas just up the road.

Some Final Tips

• Tip your wine host – a typical rule of thumb is to give somewhere between $10-30 per person, depending on the level of intimacy. If you forget to withdraw cash, many will also give their venmo.
• Don’t wear perfumes – scented products can be incredibly distracting for tasting wines for both your own party and those around you.
• Stay hydrated – one bad hangover is enough to ruin a trip!
• Be extra cautious on the roadways – Napa County unsurprisingly has some of the highest drunk driving rates in the country, which often ends in tragedy for pedestrians and cyclists.