Napa Valley is one my all-time favorite travel locations! I’ve been the last eight years for business, wine, world-class dining, and beautiful scenery! Over the years, I have been curating a list of my favorite places to stay, eat and wineries to visit for this Napa Valley Travel Guide. I’ve also had some awesome recommendations from friends along the way. So, here’s the lowdown on everything you need for an amazing trip to Napa Valley. I’ll show you how to plan a Napa Valley wine trip that you’ll remember forever!
I’ve broken my Napa Valley Travel Guide recommendations into four main categories. Where To Stay, Favorite Wineries, Where To Eat and Napa Valley Travel Tips. I also created sub categories based on the Napa Valley appellation and its sub appellations. This is especially helpful when planning your daily itineraries so you aren’t wasting all of your time in a car. You want to narrow down wineries based on their proximity to one another.
Where To Stay in Napa Valley
We’ve stayed at Senza, Hotel Yountville, Wydown Hotel, and Meritage Resort & Spa. The grounds at all of these hotels are beautiful and they are centrally located to everything. I’ve listed a few other great resorts that I researched before we decided.
Napa
Yountville
St. Helena
Rutherford
Calistoga
Favorite Wineries in Napa Valley
We always start our mornings out with bubbly. Our favorites are Domaine Carneros (stunning location), Domaine Chandon (beautiful grounds) and Schrampsberg (a cave tour is a must). After some bubbles, we head to 2-3 other wineries. Our absolute favorite was Shafer Vineyards because of the selection of wine and the view. The Rutherford Chandelier Room at Hall Rutherford wins most beautiful tasting room for me and is worth the tasting fee splurge! The Swarovski crystal chandelier is insta-worthy! We love the mountain region wineries not just for their stunning views, but also for their supremely structured and bold taste. Barnett Vineyards, O’Shaughnessy Winery, Cade Estate Winery and Quintessa are just a few with killer views.
Napa
- Domaine Carneros
- Mumm Napa
- Shafer Vineyards
- Del Dotto
- Stags’ Leap Winery
- Biale
- Palmaz Vineyards
- Covert Estate
Yountville
- Domaine Chandon
- Hill Family Estates
- Hope & Grace Wines
- Cliff Lede Vineyards
- Cosentino Winery & Tasting Room
- Giard Winery
Stags Leap
Oakville
Rutherford
- Honig Vineyard & Winery
- Hall Rutherford
- Caymus Vineyards
- Rond Pnd Estate
- Elizabeth Spencer Winery
- Frog’s Leap
St. Helena
- Peju
- Tuck Beckstoffer
- Seavey Vineyard
- Joseph Phelps Vineyards
- Corison
- Hall Wines
- Duckhorn Vineyards
- Raymond Vineyards
- Orin Swift Cellars
Calistoga
Mount Veeder
Spring Mountain
Diamond Mountain
Howell Mountain
Pritchard Hill
Where To Eat in Napa Valley
Start your day out at The Model Bakery, a small bakery with the best English muffin you have ever had. For lunch, our go-to is a sandwich and snacks from Oakville Grocery or a burger and fries from Gott’s. Oxbow Market is also a great choice. They have coffee, beer, wine, chocolates, pizza, seafood, BBQ, a butcher shop with cheese and everything in between!
My three absolute favorite restaurants for dinner are Redd Wood, Bouchon and Oenotri. I love the ambiance, service and the feeling that locals eat here rather than just tourists. Redd Wood is a super cute casual wine country pizzeria centrally located in Yountville. My favorite things on the menu are the warm olives, Brussels Sprouts Salad, and the Brussels Sprouts Pizza. Basically, all the brussels sprouts. Bouchon takes me back to Paris. It’s a French-inspired bistro in Yountville. Every time, I get the moules frites with champagne. Oenotri never disappoints and the pizza is amazing! The Italian wine list might seem intimidating, so don’t be afraid to ask the somm’s recommendations.
I’ve been to everything on the list below with the exception of two spots in Rutherford. Everything is amazing and you really can’t go wrong with any choice. Don’t forget to make a reservation, even a few weeks out!
Napa
Breakfast / Lunch
Dinner
- Oenotri
- Cole’s Chophouse
- The Restaurant at CIA Copia
- Tarla Mediterranean Bar + Grill
- Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ
- Bistro Don Giovanti
- Morimoto
Yountville
Breakfast
Lunch / Dinner
Oakville
Lunch
Rutherford
Lunch / Dinner
St. Helena
Breakfast
Lunch / Dinner
Calistoga
Lunch / Dinner
Napa Valley Travel Tips
The San Francisco airport is about an hour drive (depending on traffic) from Napa Valley. My husband and I enjoy playing tourist for a few hours before heading up to wine country. You can hit the major tourist highlights in a few hours. We also like flying into Oakland International airport which is also about an hour drive (depending on traffic). For transportation, you can either rent a car, Uber/Lyft or hire a driver with a limo service like A Limo Excursion and Wine Tours.
In order to get the most out of a visit to Napa Valley you absolutely must plan ahead. Most of the tastings in the valley are by appointment only, and appointments fill up fast. Restaurants fill up fast too and sometimes weeks in advance. I highly recommend that you pre-book everything prior to leaving for your trip.
I also recommend no more than 3-4 structured appointments per day. You can always add in a few walk-ins. Most of the tastings and tours are pretty lengthy so it becomes difficult to fit too many in plus it gets to a point where you can’t taste anything. When booking your appointments, it’s helpful to tell them what you already have in place for the day and they can help you figure out if you will make it or not. Include enough buffer time in between because some might run long, you might get lost and you want time to snack in between.
I hope this Napa Valley Travel Guide is helpful and I can’t wait to hear about your trip! Feel free to ask me any questions. As always, thanks so much for stopping by…see you back here real soon!
Hi Erica,
This is amazing! Many years ago I sold Linens to restaurants and hotels in this area. A lot has changed since then. This site is fabulous! Thank you for the hard work you put into creating it!
Joe and I are planning a trip up there this year.
Cheers!
Pam Dutra
Hey Pam! So glad you found this helpful. You and Joe are going to have a blast! Feel free to reach out with any questions and I can’t wait to see your pictures!