Travel Booking to California Wine Country

I have had some requests about blogging my travel tips for booking a Napa/Sonoma getaway.

First off, I found a long weekend (four days) was enough to explore, eat, drink and leave wanting more.  Secondly, what time of year?  Well, harvest time is October and although it is interesting, it is VERY crowded.  Our first trip to Sonoma was a Thursday-Sunday on the last weekend in September.  Our second trip to Napa was the Easter long weekend/first weekend in April from Friday to Monday.  Expect hot weather from May to October, while early spring is the rainy season.

For flights, I lucked out using my Aeroplan points for both trips.  http://www.aeroplan.com/ Expect to pay about $120 for taxes per person, but you can fly direct, non-stop from Edmonton to San Fran in under 3 hours, and the flight times are very sensible!  Otherwise, expect to pay about $500 for a direct, non-stop return ticket.  http://www.aircanada.com/

When I have my dates set, it is off to http://www.expedia.ca/ to book a car rental ASAP!  Good thing, no "pay up front" for the car reservation, and if you book in advance, you can snag a convertible for just a few more dollars a day than a regular sedan!

Where to stay.  Your choices: Hotel, Inn, B&B or Motel.  My husband likes new and modern so we generally look at Inns and Hotels.  There are many luxury accommodations to choose from with varying price tags, but be forewarned, Napa will not provide 5 stars for a steal!  Also, B&Bs are beautiful in both valleys and offer some great weekend packages.  Most accommodations offer perks like full breakfasts, wine tastings or drinks and appetizers in the evening.  Maybe even a cookie on your pillow before bedtime!

My first electronic stop is http://www.luxurylink.com/  Here, you can either buy or bid on accommodation packages, all of which you would feel comfortable recommending to friends and family.  I was the lucky winner of a stay at The Vintner's Inn for our Sonoma trip and The Hotel Luca for our Napa trip.  I saved about 60% and we had breakfast, discounts at restaurants, wine tastings and evening treats thrown into the deal!  One note of caution: read the auction restrictions carefully!  Some have blackout dates where they will not accept a reservation, others will state a Sunday through Thursday stay only.  When you find something you want to bid on, phone the reservations desk at the hotel of choice to see if they have availability for your dates before bidding on the package - wouldn't want to be the proud winner of a hotel auction only to find out that on the weekend you are travelling there is no room at the Inn!

(Vintner's Inn, Sonoma Valley http://www.vintnersinn.com/ )

If nothing appeals to me on Luxury Link, I always try the http://www.expedia.ca/ back-up and often cross-reference the expedia rankings with a google search titled "luxury hotel in Napa" or "best places to stay in Napa".  Then you are on your way!

As for eating establishments, Zagat offers their rankings of best restaurants, however following that list twice a day will leave a big dent in your wallet!  I also google "best restaurants" and the area, cross-referencing them with a food magazine's top picks.  I recommend hitting the bistros for lunch and dinner.  You will find fantastic locally grown fare at great prices.  If you are wandering through a town in the valley and come across a high-end restaurant, they often provide a lunch menu that resembles the larger dinner menu but at reasonable prices - knock yourself out!  We did - several times!

Wine tastings.  This is also good to google search, but we found our best bet was to ask the resident wine expert at our hotel of his/her preference.  You will never get the same answer twice!  The recommendation is to plan 3-4 tastings a day.  Sometimes we went with recommendations, sometimes it was a drive-by that looked of interest and other times you strike a conversation with others at the tastings and go to their previous destination.  There is no rhyme or reason here, just get out and enjoy it!  One recommendation for Sonoma is the Ferrari-Carano Winery - absolutely beautiful grounds with multiple tastings.  This is the winery associated with The Vintner's Inn.  And for Napa, Hall Winery for it's modern design and great wine;  Frank Gehry designed tasting room and enthusiastic staff.

Cheers!