While we are visiting San Francisco, we add a day trip to Napa. This is a HUGE error on our part. Napa deserves two or three days and we suggest that you stay overnight. We have learned from our mistake and will stay in Napa overnight during our next trip.

Our day trip begins with catching the ferry from San Francisco to Villejo. You will be able to purchase tickets for the round trip ferry inside the Ferry Market Place Building (look for the clock tower) at the end of Market St. The ferry leaves at 8:30 A.M. sharp. During the ferry ride you will see several of the islands including Alcatraz. We arrive early in Villejo and are able to grab a coffee and pastry while we wait. Our tour company, Platypus Tours, meets us just before the 9:40 scheduled pick up time. As we drive to hotels and other places to pick up the other passengers, we learn some facts about the Napa region.

 

Platypus Tours

Our mini-bus tour includes 10 people in total for the full day tour. The bus has cold waters for us to drink throughout the day. There is also a cheese plate for sharing. A delicious lunch is served during our trip. We eat lunch on the veranda of a winery. The quinoa salad at lunch was great! The recipe for the quinoa salad is posted on their website and we printed it once we were home. The trip to the wineries were very laid back, informative, and relaxing.

The Wineries

We visit four wineries during the full day tour. In addition to the two below, we also visit a larger winery that was more industrial feeling and looking, and a small winery that was our favorite. Unfortunately, neither of us can remember the name, that’s how much fun we had. At each winery, they discuss their manufacturing process as we walk around and they provide several varietals for tasting after the tour. Each wine is described by its contents, flavor notes and multiple additional characteristics. By the end of the day we discover some new wines and taste lots of great selections. We buy several bottles of wine at each winery and they were able to package the wine in an insulated container for the plane trip home. Wine can also be shipped directly to your home.

 

• 

• 

Our favorite winery…

 

After a day of wine tasting and a wonderful experiences, we missed our ferry back to San Francisco. This is mostly due to road construction and traffic. As a result, Platypus tours takes us back to our starting point in San Francisco on the tour bus.

While we have a great time in Napa, it was much too short. In addition to spending a night or two in Napa on our next trip, we will definitely book a bike tour as well.

Click Here for 20% off Pura Vida

Click here for Great Pricing on Booking.com

Click Here for 15% off Travel Accessories