A few weeks ago we went to Napa for the first time and had such a wonderful time. Below is our trip in review...
Stay:
We stayed at The Carneros Inn in Napa proper, and I can't recommend it enough. We loved staying here and would definitely stay here again. The food was excellent, the service was great and the spa is like my favorite place ever. Perez Hilton was staying there while we were there too!
The Carneros Inn
Our room at The Carneros Inn
The patio just outside our room
Inside our room at The Carneros Inn
Eat:
My best advice for Napa is make your restaurant reservations in advance...like way in advance. I made ours two weeks out and a couple of the places were already booked the entire weekend. That said, we didn't have a bad meal while we were there. And the beauty of Napa is that you could come back a dozen times and have a completely different trip.
Farm at The Carneros Inn. Loved the food here (the Chilled Cucumber Soup was to die for), but the absolute best part was sitting on the spacious porch enjoying a cocktail.
On the porch at Farm
Spice of Your Life cocktail (basically a really amazing margarita) at Farm
We also ate at Morimoto, which was excellent. Everything we had was wonderful, but the Morimoto Sashimi was just spectacular. It puts other sashimi appetizers to shame.
Morimoto Restaurant
Another dinner we loved was at Angele Restaurant, a quaint French bistro style restaurant. They too had an awesome patio and great drinks. I'd love to come back for brunch next time.
Angele Restaurant
Go:
We went to wine tastings at Jordan Winery and Vineyards and Cakebread Cellars. Both were great, and were really different from each other. Jordan was a little bit more posh I would say and Cakebread was a bit more relaxed. Jordan featured food pairings and lots of insider info about the winery and their wines. Cakebread was very informal, and I didn't see like I got to see a lot of the winery, but our guide was very knowledgable and the wine was great. I would recommend both. And, for me, two wineries in one trip was definitely enough.
At Jordan Winery and Vineyards
On the tour at Jordan Winery and Vineyards
Do:
We went on a hot air balloon ride, which I can't recommend enough. We booked ours through our hotel and they used Napa Valley Balloons. Even though we had to get up at 4:15 a.m. it was well worth it to see Napa Valley from a hot air balloon. We started and ended at Domaine Chandon Winery. They had breakfast and mimosas waiting for us upon return, which was awesome.
Before our balloon ride
Taking off
Napa Valley from a hot air balloon
Last, I would suggest flying into San Francisco and driving to Napa, it's a super-easy drive and you get to see the Golden Gate bridge.
Looking at these photos makes me want to go back!
xo,
The Canary Diaries
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