Living in San Francisco, we’re super lucky that Napa is just a short few hour’s drive away, which makes a Napa day trip totally doable.
While there are so many different parts of wine country to explore (I love Healdsburg, Russian River, and Calistoga), Napa Valley’s beautiful vineyards are the epitome of bougie wine tasting.
Given its popularity, if you want to spend a day there and have a good time, you should absolutely make reservations at all of the wineries and restaurants you want to go to weeks in advance.
Be prepared to pay for tasting rooms fees at all of the vineyards.
Today I’m sharing some snaps from a recent cousin’s trip we did, plus an itinerary for a full day well spent in Napa.
Napa Travel Guide
Whetstone Wines
Best Outdoor Wine Tastings in Napa
Las Alcobas
St. Supéry Winery, Napa
Where to Stay in Napa
If you are traveling from outside of California or want to stay more than one day, there are so many beautiful hotels in Napa to choose from!
Archer Hotel Napa
This is a very popular place to stay because of how beautiful it is to stay here.
It’s located in downtown Napa and designed as a full renaissance luxury boutique hotel. You’ll be within walking distance to all the shops, restaurants, and entertainment.
Don’t even get me started on the rooftop spa services and delicious restaurants to eat it all within the hotel.
Make wine tasting easier by staying at the Archer Hotel Napa.
Andaz Napa
The Andaz Napa is another beautiful boutique hotel in Napa. You’ll be staying in downtown Napa close to the Opera House, Uptown Theater, and many restaurants and shops.
I love that they give a complimentary beverage as soon as you check in. You can enjoy the lounge area before heading to your room.
The lounge is the seriously everything! I love that you can enjoy your morning coffee out there or even drinks with your friends at the bar.
Each room has a king bed and 9-foot ceilings. The bathrooms also have walk-in showers with a waterfall shower head—it feels like a mini spa but in your room.
River Terrace Inn
If you’re looking for a more cottage and cozier stay the River Terrace Inn is the place to stay.
Enjoy hopping on one of the bikes at River Terrace Inn to head into downtown to explore California wine country.
You’ll also be really close to the Oxbow Public Market to experience dozens of artisanal food outlets.
Grab dinner at the ALBA Restaurant that serves locally sourced ingredients and faces the Napa River. You can enjoy watching the sunset over the water.
The Westin Verasa Napa
The Westin Verasa Napa is a stunning hotel located within steps of the Napa Valley Wine train that takes you on a Napa Valley wine country tour.
You can also enjoy being close to downtown. Definitely take advantage of the five-star dining located at the hotel.
Napa Valley weather can get pretty warm so enjoy a nice dip in their gorgeous pool to cool yourself off after a long day of Napa wine tours.
SpringHill Suites Napa Valley
Stay at SpringHill Suites to be close to the Napa Valley Wine Train and stay in a studio style room.
Everything is super clean and you’ll have everything you need in your room. From a refrigerator and microwave to a flat-screen tv.
Take advantage of the outdoor fire pit and spend nights outside with friends around the fire.
Napa Valley Wineries: One Day Napa Valley Itinerary
Goosecross Cellars
We started our day off at Goosecross and loved their beautiful outdoor seating (and their heavy pours).
Goosecross is known for producing high quality wine made with sustainable farming. You can only get Goosecross wine at the winery—it’s so worth it!
The views from the winery are stunning and the whole atmosphere is so enjoyable. The staff really know their stuff!
Oenotri
Oenotri has amazing pizzas and is a really cute spot for lunch. Their delicious pizzas always hit the spot during a day of drinking.
You’ll find Southern Italian cuisine at this Michelin star restaurant. The menu changes daily so you may not get to have the same thing twice.
They use some of the freshest ingredients all locally grown. All the breads and pastas are made in-house so you know it’s going to taste heavenly.
Bouchon Bakery
After pizza, walk over to Bouchon for one of their insanely delicious French pastries or macarons. Heaven.
So if you’re in Yountville make a stop at this amazing bakery! Definitely get there early because a long line always forms and you may have to wait a while.
Everything is sweet but not too overly sweet, which I really appreciate.
James Cole Winery
This small family winery on 11 acres of Napa Valley land is amazing! Their small tasting rooms have a relaxed vibe (and when we were there, lots of cute dogs).
When you make your reservation, ask if it’s possible to reserve one of their outdoor couches.
Enjoy their specialties of ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. Everything here has a cute rustic vibe and you get a beautiful view.
Domaine Chandon
We ended the day with bubbly and champagne cocktails at one of the most popular sparkling wine producers.
Domaine Chandon has beautiful grounds that you can walk around and enjoy, and it’s definitely a must-do if you haven’t visited it in Napa before.
You can go on a fun 1 hour private wine tour around the winery and enjoy some food options in the tasting rooms.
This is definitely one of my favorite spots because of how beautiful and delicious everything is. Everyone made our group feel welcomed and we learned a lot about how to make sparkling wine.
More Wineries Napa Valley:
Napa Valley Wine Train
A fun option is to try is the Napa Valley Wine Train that takes you on a winery tour through the historic town of Napa and St. Helena.
They have raving reviews about how fun this wine tour is and how delicious the meals are.
They also have the half-day Napa Valley Wine Train tour that passes through the Grgich Hills Estate.
These tours are so fun and can be spent in a small group costing around $163 per person.
If you like these types of tours, the next time you visit I would recommend taking the Silverado Trail to do your Napa wine tasting (who doesn’t love the scenic route).
Napa Valley Wine Tour
You have to try the Napa Valley Wine Country tour—it’s so much fun. This one in particular includes a picnic lunch.
You get chauffeured through the Napa Valley in a limousine and get to visit five wineries—you can also opt for a party bus.
The driver also is very knowledge and helps give you a more detailed tour as you drive along. This is perfect for small groups.
Be prepared this is a six-hour tasting tour and you get conveniently picked up and dropped off at your hotel.
The Hess Collection Winery & Art Museum
The Hess Collection Winery & Art Museum is such a gorgeous winery and part of a historic site where wine was first produced in the 1860’s—literally how cool is that?
You can enjoy the many wine tastings and tours that they have daily. As well as, enjoying some of the best food with artisan cheese and chocolates.
What makes this winery special is that it’s joined with the Hess Art Collection that showcases contemporary art. Everything part of the collection uses sustainable practices, which is a huge plus.
The gallery takes up about three floors of the winery with so much art to look at. At the end, you can take advantage of the gift shop.
Jarvis Estate
If you have the time you have to make a stop at Jarvis Estate. This family-owned winery is dedicated to making sustainably sourced wines.
All the wines are made of grapes grown from their estate. They specialize in Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Tempranillo, and two proprietary Bordeaux blends.
Located four miles east of downtown, you get to see the cave where they make all their wines. It’s really so so beautiful.
The caves are tunneled in the Vaca Mountains—definitely a great spot for pictures.
O’Brien Estate Winery
Another fan favorite winery located in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. You do need to call and make a reservation in advance to do a wine tasting or tour.
The entire winemaking process is done on their estate. So that means from the grapes to the bottling they really do it all.
Enjoy their specialties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.
If you’re heading to Napa with kids, I recommend checking out this list of Napa Valley kid friendly wineries to help you decide which wineries to visit.
That was our lovely day trip to Napa, but I know there are sooo many other delicious wineries!
Omied and I will probably be spending more weekends doing Napa Day trips soon so I’ll definitely be creating another guide for an extended weekend trip.
One of my biggest travel tips for you is call in advance to try and book tastings to make things run more smoothly.
We also recommend spending some time in Sonoma wine country doing some Sonoma wine tours.
This is perfect if you want to do some more wine tasting with a slight change of scenery. Most of the wineries have a one to two hour private Sonoma winery tours or tastings.
Do you have any recs for wineries we shouldn’t miss next time we’re there?
If you decide to visit any of these wineries be sure to tag me (@wtfab) in any of your pics of stories on insta!
Want to go wine tasting? Explore my other Napa guides here.
Best Outdoor Wine Tastings in Napa
Meritage Resort Spa Terra + Pool Day
FAQs
Typically, people visit 3 – 5 wineries per day if they are trying to be relaxed. If they are trying to visit as many wineries as possible in a day they will typically visit 6 – 8 wineries in a day.
The best time to visit Napa Valley is in August through October or March through May. This will be when things are in season.
Each winery is different, however, typically wine tours will last around 30-45 minutes.
Elise Armitage is an entrepreneur and founder of What The Fab, a travel + lifestyle blog based in California. At the beginning of 2019, Elise left her corporate job at Google to chase her dreams: being an entrepreneur and helping women find fabulous in the everyday. Since then, she’s launched her SEO course Six-Figure SEO, where she teaches bloggers how to create a passive revenue stream from their website using SEO. Featured in publications like Forbes, Elle, HerMoney, and Real Simple, Elise is a firm believer that you can be of both substance and style.
