Honeymoon Ideas: Napa Valley
In March, my hubby and I finally got to do our first travelling trip of the year and it was so much fun! We actually went to California for my friend's wedding in Palo Alto, but before we celebrated their nuptials, we couldn't pass the opportunity to explore Napa Valley. Below is a summary of our little getaway in case you are considering spending your honeymoon touring vineyards and drinking wine.
Wednesday
We arrived to the San Francisco airport, rented a car, and drove to Napa. We actually had to drive through the Golden Gate to get there, which was such a fun and scenic experience.
Lunch at Oxbow Public Market. This cute little market is similar to Krog Street Market here in Atlanta. Since we wanted to sit down, we ate at Kitchen Door and had some ice cream from Three Twins.
Wine tasting at Laird Family Estate winery. We absolutely loved Andrew and enjoyed picking his brain on everything wine and Napa Valley. We really enjoyed how this was a more intimate family-business type of experience.
Napa Valley Bistro for dinner. It was ok, but wouldn't recommend it.
Thursday
Our second day was all about maximizing our time and trying to hit as many vineyards as we could. Needless to say, I had a nice nap at the hotel after this one.
Morning tour and wine flight at Castello di Amorosa. This castle was so nice, and even though it is technically just 10 years old, everything in the property is hand made and was brought from Italy.
Domaine Chandon champagne tasting. If you know me, you know this was my absolute favorite flight I had. It was really relaxing to seat outside, drink some bubbly and enjoy the views.
Grabbed sandwiches from Oakville grocery for lunch and stopped at Napa Cellars for a glass of prosecco out on their picnic tables.
Napkins for dinner. The food and ambiance was cool.
Friday
We wanted to make a couple of stops before heading over to Palo Alto for the wedding. However, since it was raining, we couldn't really fully enjoy these two vineyards.
Shared a flight at Beringer.
Had lunch at Auberge Du Soleil for lunch, a very nice restaurant on the hill overlooking the vineyard. The raviolis were yummy!
Drove to Palo Alto.
Ended the day having lunch with some friends at Three Seasons.
Saturday
We took it slow before my friend's wedding in Palo Alto.
Bill's Café for breakfast. Yummy humongous pancakes.
Drove through Stanford campus and walked around the Stanford Shopping Center
Had a blast celebrating Megan and Amir at their beautiful venue, the Thomas Fogarty Winery, and learning about the different Persian wedding traditions.
Sunday
We ended our trip exploring San Francisco before heading back to the airport and my fitbit was very happy with my step count.
Walked around the Marketplace which reminded me of Chelsea Market in NYC.
Explored Fisherman's Wharf, watched the seals at the end of the pier, and had lunch at Wipeout.
Walked through Little Italy and China Town to get to Union Square.
(Tip: We were pleasantly surprised to realize that street parking was free on Sundays!)
Tips
Finally, here are a couple of tips from our Napa experience:
Not all wineries offer wine by the glass.
If you can, share flights of wine with your significant other to save some money and stop at more wineries.
Not all wineries allow walk-ins. Consider calling on your way there to let them know you are coming.
Most wineries open at 10:00am and close at 4:00pm, so the "It's five o'clock somewhere" saying, definitely applies here.
Expect to pay at least $50 per meal for both of you. So for all my fellow frugal people out there, get into vacation mode and enjoy the wine!
