The Wine Country of Northern California is a vacation destination for wine lovers from all throughout the country and around the world. Napa, Sonoma, and Calistoga offer visitors a splendid vacation experience with the laid back attitude of Northern California. From the romantic bed and breakfast tour to the exhilaration of winery tours for the wine affecionato, the Wine Country is genuinely a marvelous destination.
The area has definitely been developed on the wine industry’s popularity. In 1975, Napa Valley had about 20 wineries. Now tourists can choose between an extraordinary 275. Nearly all of these wineries offer tours and tastings and many are open to the public daily. The Wine Country continues to develop and to draw visitors who are interested in the best wines that California has to offer.
The city of Napa is the largest in the valley and has all of the facilities someone might expect from a city of its size. There is mainstream shopping and many choices for visitors needing to have a fitting base of operations in the valley. Rates for vacation rentals and hotels are typically less in Napa than beach rentals directly on the coast line. The drawback is that the city is less refined and definitely more mainstream than the rest of the valley’s wine destinations, but the proximity to the rest of the valley might make that a small price to pay.
If you are on the lookout for something out of the ordinary, then Calistoga ought to be on your list of destinations. The town is adorned with false fronted shops in the manner of the Old West. There are real 19th century hotels and wonderful opportunities for visitors looking for bed and breakfast inns in the wine country. The fine dining enjoyed elsewhere is replaced by unassuming cafes and a casual attitude that permeates the town. The town was founded as a resort destination, and a number of the initial lodges and hot springs are still in operation. This is definitely the place for visitors who are delighted in the Wine Country but also have a desire to see Northern California the way that it once was.
Another 19th century creation, and the oldest town within the Wine Country, is Sonoma, California. There are a range of attractions here and a lot of of them are unrelated to the food and wine culture of the surrounding vicinity. There are places preserved from the Spanish Mission era, 19th century adobes, old hotels, and even a theater preserved from the 1930s. Sonoma is definitely an outstanding place to find vacation rentals to set up your base of operations, though there are amazing hotels and a variety of bed and breakfasts here as well. Fit in a stop in the city’s central plaza to glimpse what real life is like for locals of the California Wine Country.
