Napa Valley

Tucked between the pine-crested Mayacamas Mountains on the west and the volcanic ridges of the Vaca Range on the east, just 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of San Francisco on the ancestral homeland of the Mishewal Wappo People, Napa Valley is only 48 kilometres (30 miles) long and 8 kilometres wide, yet it produces just 4 percent of California's wine while commanding global renown alongside Bordeaux and Burgundy. Ever since the historic 1976 'Judgment of Paris' blind tasting, when a 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay defeated France's finest First Growth Bordeaux and white Burgundies, this sunny valley has been the flagship of New World winemaking.

Two parallel two-lane roads run the entire length of the valley floor from south to north: landmark Highway 29 and the quieter eastern Silverado Trail. Starting in walkable Downtown Napa and Oxbow Public Market (where the vintage 1915 Pullman cars of the Napa Valley Wine Train depart) and the breezy châteaux of Domaine Carneros, the valley climbs north through the Michelin-starred culinary village of Yountville, the legendary Cabernet estates of Oakville and Rutherford (Opus One & Stag's Leap), historic St. Helena, the aerial gondola and medieval castle of Sterling Vineyards and Castello di Amorosa, and the volcanic mineral pools of Calistoga. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Napa Valley.

Napa Valley is surrounded by four airports within a 60-to-80-minute drive: San Francisco International (SFO, 75 mins south), Oakland International (OAK, 60 mins south), Sacramento International (SMF, 60 mins east via I-80) and Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport (STS, 45 mins northwest). Once in the valley, note that Uber and Lyft are easy to hail in Downtown Napa and Yountville, but mobile reception and ride-share availability drop sharply at hillside wineries up in St. Helena and Calistoga. For worry-free tasting days, ride the Napa Valley Wine Train, book the open-air Napa Valley Wine Trolley, hire a designated driver who drives your own hire car, or rent an e-bike on the car-free Napa Valley Vine Trail. See getting to Napa Valley and how to get between wineries safely.

Instead of one single city, Napa Valley is a string of five distinct towns along Highway 29 from south to north: stay in Downtown Napa (south end) for the best hotel rates, 40+ walk-in tasting rooms, Oxbow Public Market and lively evening nightlife; stay 15 minutes north in Yountville for a jewel-like, 100% walkable culinary village home to The French Laundry and Bouchon; stay in central St. Helena for historic Main Street boutiques and classic estates; or stay at the northern tip in Calistoga for relaxed geothermal hot-spring swimming pools and mud baths at 30% lower rates than Yountville. Compare all five towns in where to stay in Napa Valley.

Tour the 107-room medieval Tuscan castle of Castello di Amorosa and ride the aerial gondola up to Sterling Vineyards, board the restored 1915 Pullman dining cars of the Napa Valley Wine Train, sip sparkling brut on the French terrace of Domaine Carneros or Chandon, compare Highway 29 vs the scenic Silverado Trail, taste landmark Cabernet Sauvignon in Oakville and Rutherford (Opus One, Robert Mondavi & Stag's Leap), stroll Yountville and St. Helena (Beringer Rhine House & CIA at Greystone), soak in geothermal mineral pools in Calistoga, and float over the vines in a sunrise hot-air balloon. Full list in things to do in Napa Valley.

With more Michelin stars per capita than any wine region in the Americas, Napa Valley is a pilgrimage for food lovers: Chef Thomas Keller's three-Michelin-starred The French Laundry, French bistro classics and flaky croissants at Bouchon Bakery, gourmet trail sandwiches wrapped in butcher paper at historic 1881 Oakville Grocery, roadside California burgers and ahi tuna tacos with a milkshake at Gott's Roadside, artisan oysters, tacos and wood-fired pizza inside Downtown Napa's Oxbow Public Market, and wood-fired farm-to-table dinners at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch and Charter Oak. Read more in our Napa Valley dining and winery picnic guide.

Pioneered in the 1860s to 1880s by visionaries like Charles Krug, Jacob and Frederick Beringer, and Gustave Niebaum (alongside skilled Chinese tunnel builders who hand-chiselled miles of underground ageing caves into volcanic tuff rock), Napa Valley protected its agricultural soul in 1968 by creating America's first Agricultural Preserve.