Napa Valley Birthday Present

[KittyTiger]

Basically I did nothing at work today except research Napa Valley and the hotel rates, and car rental, etc... And let me tell you guys, it''s expensive!




For his birthday gift (I got this idea from Mara

), I wanted to plan a trip to Napa Valley on Memorial weekend for 4 days and 3 nights. Here''s what it looks like in terms of $$:




Hotel, 3 nights $560


2 air tickets $220


3 day car rental $60


2 winetrain tickets $220




Total: $1060




And of course there will probably still be other misc. costs.




Expensive!! whew!




But I''ve never been there, he''s never been there, so I think we''ll really have fun.




Okay,.. just needed to share how expensive it is with you guys!

thanks!

 

[Mara]

Ooh sounds fun Leota!!!




We love Napa. Are you looking to stay in downtown Napa or in another area? We love our hotel in dtown Napa.

It's on the main strip and we don't like B&B's so it's perfect. Not too hotel-ish but still private!




I would say that Napa itself may get a little boring after the first 2 days unless you want to visit every winery...so you may want to drive into SF or something at that point (about 45 min drive) to get a change of scenery. Or visit some of the surrounding areas, like Vallejo where there is a Six Flags...or go to Sausalito and Tiburon which are small artsy type towns on the water...great restaurants and cute shops.




Oh and if you are interested in really spending some money, check out French Laundry, the famous restaurant in Yountville which is about 10-15 min from downtown Napa, they take reservations a year in advance and the food is supposed to be great! I don't even know if you could get in! I've never tried.

Not the hugest fan of true French food. http://www.frenchlaundry.com/tfl/frenchlaundry.htm




I hate it when small trips end up being super expensive, it's almost like if you are not traveling that far, and for not that long, it should just automatically be cheaper.

Doesn't work out that way though!

 

[Hest88]

Sounds lovely. I would skip the Wine Train, though, unless you really, really want to go. I've been on it and it's rather a short ride with mediocre food. A bit of a tourist trap, in my mind.

And, sorry, Mara, but the French Laundry may not be open yet on Memorial Day. They closed down the restaurant so they could open Per Se in NYC, but an electrical fire still has Per Se closed down, so all bets are off on whether or not they're going to re-open the French Laundry on time.

However, you should really go sometime. The French Laundry is not classic French food at all. It's really creative California cuisine, like most of the high-end SF restaurants.

But back to Leota.

There are some really great restaurants and, personally, I don't find it boring at all--though I prefer the Sonoma Valley. There are lots of spas and towns, such as St. Helena, where you can do some leisurely shopping. There are also lots of places to bike and hike. Of course, when we go we usually get a room with a huge tub and spend a lot of time reading, napping, and taking long baths!

 

[Mara]

I disagree on the wine train...we LOVED it. We were not sure what to expect, yanno tourist trap and all, but we really loved it. It's not about the food, it's just so much fun to ride on the train and go through the scenery. You have to take the early ride though because then you have appetizers on the back of the train, which means you can go out onto the back porch and ride outside! It's great, you get to be outside in the great warm air with all the scenery going past you, and people are always waving at you. It was almost surreal and not at all like our typical life if that makes sense.




I wouldn't want to take it again if we couldn't be on the outside, since looking at everything through the dirty windows wouldn't have been half as fun. The food was good, nothing super special but not bad, and the wines were excellent and the waiters are sooo friendly because they really want your TIP. I even got a free 2nd dessert and they poured HUGE glasses of wine and port for Greg.

Overall, we had a great time, it surprised us and we highly recommend it. We even bought our cheesy wine-train picture which actually turned out surprisingly good...if I can dig it up, I'll post a pic.

 

[KittyTiger]

I will difinitely take the "day" train ride. And I will definitely try some of the restaurants suggested.

I don't plan on staying all 3 days there. I think one of the days in SF, maybe try Carmel, and Sanoma.... But I sure have to do my research and have my 3 days planed out.




Thanks Mara and Hest for all the good suggestions. ~~ I think it'll be a really fun trip with lots of good memories. Lots of fun doing things the 1st time together. Though you're right Mara, sure is going to get expensive considering it's such a short vacation. With this $$ spent... it's a round trip 2 Taiwan, plus food money for 2 weeks there!




Okay, I will be sure to post my experience once after this trip takes place.