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3 Day Napa Travel Itinerary: The Perfect Weekend


3 Day Napa Travel Itinerary: The Perfect Weekend


Napa is the landmark destination for California wines. We go to Napa at least once a year to try to restaurants and wineries. Napa may be a wine destination, but its culinary scene is top notch. Exploring Napa for a three day weekend is the perfect amount of time to do wine tastings, shop, and see the area. Three days in Napa allows you to take it slow and enjoy your time in this lovely town. This three day weekend Napa itinerary highlights my favorite places and recommendations from locals. I hope you enjoy this little town that put California wine on the map.


TELL ME MORE ON NAPA

Founded: 1847
Famous Food: Farm to Table Ingredients
Known Drink: Cabernet Sauvignon
Souvenir: Wine
When to Visit: All Year

Napa Valley is the town that put california wine on the map. With the judgement of paris chateau montelena and stag’s leap winery made a name out of this wine region. Since that day in 1976 napa valley has been on the rise as one of the top wine destinations in the world. Napa has become home to over 400 wineries making it one of the most populate wine regions. Although a large tourist destination today, napa is one of california’s many agricultural regions producing crops that feed the world.


Highlights OF NAPA

Top Places from Locals

Food

Model Bakery
Torc
Oakville Grocery
Oxbow Public Market
Mustards
Goose and Gander

the wine castle, napa valley tourism, 3 day napa travel itinerary
Photo by Kelsey Caroline on Pexels.com

Photography

“Welcome to Napa Valley” Sign
Bunny Foo Foo @ Hall Wines
Downtown Napa Riverfront
Winery Fields

Drinks (Non Wineries) See Wineries below

Goose and Gander in St. Helena
Sam’s Social Club in Calistoga
Cadet downtown Napa
Fieldwork Brewery downtown Napa

History

Stag’s Leap Winery
Chateau Montelena
Napa Valley Museum

Shopping

Downtown Napa
St. Helena
Yountville

Tips

  • Downtown is easy to walk around and has great restaurants, wine tasting rooms, and hotels
  • A car is the best way to get to wineries in Carmel, but make sure you have a designated driver
  • There are also several companies where you can hire a driver to take you around the towns.
  • Make reservations at wineries and restaurants in advance as both fill up quickly. The busiest times in Napa are May to June and August to November.
  • Most reservations for wineries are to made directly from the winery website
  • If you are flying to California and only visiting Napa region, fly into Sacramento Airport
  • If you want to see San Fransisco then SFO will be the best airport

CERTAIN SUGGESTIONS ARE LINKED TO ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR RESERVATIONS


Best Wineries in Napa Valley

Napa Valley extends for almost 45 minutes worth of driving from Napa Valley past Calistoga. This whole drive is scattered with wineries. Below we highlight our favorite wineries in the different regions of Napa. Our favorite district is the Stags Leap District and home to the famous Stag’s Leap Winery.

Stags Leap District is known for their Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Stags Leap
District

Stag’s Leap Winery
Silverado Vineyards
Relic Wine Cellars
Chimney Rock
Shafer Vineyards
Baldacci Family Vineyards

Central Napa
Valley

Cosentino Winery
Alpha Omega
Miner Family
B Cellars
Mumm
Cade Estate Winery (Views)

Calistoga & St. Helena

Chateau Montelena
Clos Pegase
Tamber Bey
Tedeschi Winery
Girard Winery
Sterling Vineyards (Views)

Best Hotels for Three Days in Napa

Downtown is the most reasonable pricing and is the start of Napa Valley. Yountville, St. Helena are also great places to stay and are quieter towns.

This post may contain links to affiliate websites, and we may receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you on the affiliate website using such links.

Napa Valley

Bardessono Yountville
Hotel Villagio Yountville
Alila
Poetry Inn
Solage
Hotel Indigo
Napa Valley Lodge

vineyard in napa valley, 3 day napa travel itinerary
Photo by Vanessa Sezini on Pexels.com

Best Restaurants for Three Days in Napa

Downtown Napa, St. Helena, Yountville and Oakville are the main towns for restaurants
Making reservations far in advance is suggested for dinner.

Breakfast

Model Bakery
Lovina – Calistoga
Jax White Mule Diner
Bouchon Bakery
La Chevre
Winston’s
Sunshine Cafe
Le Paris


Coffee

Model Bakery
Ritual Coffee Roasters
Naysayer
Kelly’s Filling Station
Le Paris
Napa Valley Coffee Roasters


Lunch

Oakville Grocery
Oxbow Public Market
Gotts
Graces Table
Kitchen Door
Mustards Grill – Yountville
Sam’s Social Club – Calistoga
Calistoga Depot
Busters BBQ


Drinks

Goose and Gander in St. Helena
Sam’s Social Club in Calistoga
Cadet
Fieldwork Brewery
Chispa
The Charter Oak



Dinner

Torc
Goose and Gander
Brix
Auberge du Soleil
Bouchon
Coqueta
Bistro Jeanty
Bottega

Desserts

Kollar Chocolates
Monday Bakery
Model Bakery
Woodhouse Chocolates
Sift Dessert Bar


3 Day Travel Itinerary Napa: The Perfect Weekend

Day 1 in Napa – Napa and Stags Leap District

Morning

Breakfast

Model Bakery

Sightseeing / Wine Tasting

“Welcome to Napa Valley” Sign
Wine Tasting Stag’s Leap Winery

Afternoon

Lunch

Gotts

Wine Tasting

Wine Tasting Silverado Vineyards
Napa Valley Museum

Evening

Dinner

Torc

Drinks

Cadet


Day 2 in Napa – Yountville

Morning

Breakfast

Le Chevre

Wine Tasting

Alpha Omega

Afternoon

Lunch

Oakville Grocery

Sightseeing

Shopping Yountville
Kollar Chocolates

Evening

Dinner

Mustards Grill


Day 3 in Napa – St. Helena & Calistoga

Morning

Breakfast

Bouchon Bakery

Wine Tasting

Chateau Montelena

Afternoon

Lunch

Sam’s Social Club

Wine Tasting

Sterling Vineyards

Evening

Wine Tasting

Tamber Bey Winery

Dinner

Goose and Gander

ENJOY YOUR 3 DAY NAPA TRAVEL ITINERARY: THE PERFECT WEEKEND!