San Francisco help with winery tours!

[ceecee]

We are going to San Francisco in a week for a convention and I have been put in charge of finding a winery tour! I have spent hours and am more confused than ever. It will be myself and 5 co-workers and we only have 2.5 days of fun time before our seminars start so we want to do a half day tour and we will need transportation. The boss really wants to do Napa Valley. Can anyone offer any suggestions???

 

[jsmith]

Okay i dont have any experience with Napa specifically but i do lots of touring of wineries all over the country because i travel alot for work and collect boutique wines-this is how i do it.

I usually have a rental car-you can rent one for the five of you for just one day. then just go a google for wine trails in the state i am traveling too-i.e california wine trails. The results usually have maps-i look at them and plan my route based on whats close to where i am, what experience tells me is the number of wineries i can visit in the time i have alloted and any other sites in the area i might be interested in.

Alternativelly-google California wine tours-i got a ton of hits on sites for companies offering tours-the first result had something that might exactly fit your bill but its a full day tour that starts with a ferry ride, includes transportation to five Napa wineries-at least one of which is a household name. I would do this in a heart beat but be warned its quiet expensive. ( 129 dollars per person plus tax tip and lunch). that company will also design iteneraries for you. Anyway there are many companies -you may have to make some phone calls but i found tons of info. Good luck and have fun-i would LOVE to do a tour in Napa and Sonoma

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It's going to be hard to do much touring in a half day, especially if you are driving to and from SF. Just the drive to and from Napa will take over 2 hours.

You can find plenty of information about wineries in Napa using Google. I suggest that you pick out 2-3 which look interesting and are fairly close together. Or pick out a tour operator (check out tripadvisor.com for recommendations) and work with them.

 

[ceecee]

Thanks for the info. I looked into renting a van and a tour would be cheaper since they do the transport, but haven't been able to find a half day tour. I didn't realize the wineries were that far away!

 

[pixiewings71]

Napa isn't 2 hours from SF unless you're going during rush hour. It's about 45-60 minutes. Napa is 20 minutes from me and I'm about 45 from SF, but to get to Napa I have to take a slightly different route so that's why the time difference, it isn't a straight shot. Look into NVT, they are a limo company that does tours, also as a PP suggested do a search for Napa Valley Wine Tours and you'll get a bunch of hits. If you decide to go the rental car and driving yourself route feel free to PM, I go to Napa pretty often (I am a wine club member so we go to Napa to pick up shipments) so I may be able to help.

 

[MomToOne]

I suggest looking into renting a limo. The limo company can usually suggest an itinerary that will fit your needs - the limo companies in the area do these types of tours all the time.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Napa isn't 2 hours from SF unless you're going during rush hour. It's about 45-60 minutes.

You misread my post. I said the drive to Napa from SF was 2 hours there and back, not each way. That equals a 2 hour round trip.

 

[DVC Daisy]

Check on GROUPON for the San Francisco Bay Area. They have things like 6 hour limo wine tours on there all of the time for great prices! Then you would just need to figure out your transportation to/from Napa.

Most likely whatever company you use could probably help you out with that as well. As an added plus, no designated driver

 

[DVC Daisy]

Oops! I see GROUPON actually has Napa/Sonoma as one of their cities. I see deals on the SF city listings often, but I would check out those as well.

 

[jmac323]

I grew up in Napa and my husband and I just returned from a long weekend there. We used Beau wine tours for their daily tour and it was an awesome experience! It was only $129 each and included a gourmet picnic lunch, an awesome driver who knew the region very well and 5 winery stops. They also have a Sonoma option and private wine tour option. I thought I remembered seeing something on their websire about Sf pick up too. Might be worth checking it out?

 

[DVC Daisy]

*i have not done a wine tour, so you may want to take the PP's advice - much more knowledgable most likely.

However, today on Living Social Contra Costa/Tri-Valley they have a 6 hour wine tasting limo for up to 9 including lunch & champaign with pick up anywhere in the Bay Area for $389.

It is by Rixos Limo if you want to google it.

(I have never used them & take no responsibility LOL - just wanted to pass on the deal for you)

 

[DVC Daisy]

Another on on Living Social today:SF Limo Zone. $375. Does not have lunch & champaign, but might be worth a google search.

 

[ceecee]

*i have not done a wine tour, so you may want to take the PP's advice - much more knowledgable most likely.

However, today on Living Social Contra Costa/Tri-Valley they have a 6 hour wine tasting limo for up to 9 including lunch & champaign with pick up anywhere in the Bay Area for $389.

It is by Rixos Limo if you want to google it.

(I have never used them & take no responsibility LOL - just wanted to pass on the deal for you)

That sounds great! I can't seem to find the Living Social outside of my city, what am I doing wrong? The tripadvisor reviews aren't good, but still may be worth a try?

 

[jls886]

I grew up in Napa and my husband and I just returned from a long weekend there. We used Beau wine tours for their daily tour and it was an awesome experience! It was only $129 each and included a gourmet picnic lunch, an awesome driver who knew the region very well and 5 winery stops. They also have a Sonoma option and private wine tour option. I thought I remembered seeing something on their websire about Sf pick up too. Might be worth checking it out?

Another vote for Beau wine tours! We used them a couple of years ago and had a great time!

 

[DVC Daisy]

That sounds great! I can't seem to find the Living Social outside of my city, what am I doing wrong?

Non- tech answer - dunno? Sorry. Maybe try adding cities, I think you can go to "more cities" and just add cities

You can however google any deal that you do know about, like google "Rixos Limo Living Social" and you can find that specific deal that way.

I call companies all of the time on deals like Living Social & GROUPON before I buy & ask a ton of questions. So you can always call first & make sure they will meet your needs.

 

[crjack]

We are going to San Francisco in a week for a convention and I have been put in charge of finding a winery tour! I have spent hours and am more confused than ever. It will be myself and 5 co-workers and we only have 2.5 days of fun time before our seminars start so we want to do a half day tour and we will need transportation. The boss really wants to do Napa Valley. Can anyone offer any suggestions???

We were lucky enough to visit Yountville/Napa last year and here are my suggestions:

Book with a tour company and let them help you with an itinerary. Let them know how much time you have and they will probably ask you for preferences such as types of wine, are you interested in doing lunch or a picnic on the grounds, wineries that include a wine cave, etc.

They know the areas and the wineries and honestly there are too many for you to research on your own. They will match up your requests with wineries close enough to handle your time constraints and also provide you with a personalized tour of the area.

I believe this is one of the busiest times of year though for the area though so your options may be more limited, especially when it comes to Groupons, etc.

Enjoy!