A word of thanks - my first trip to Napa was ah-mazing! We ended up staying near the SFO airport and

Hi! New to the forum and looking for some great advice. My husband and I are interested in about 5 days in Wine Country. We don't know the first thing about where to fly in from (we live in Chicago), where to stay and this whole car rental thing is utterly confusing. I did some research on which part of wine country to stay in. I also happen to love hot springs. I was delighted to learn of an area called Callistoga (sp?) that seems to have wine, hot springs and bike riding national car rental locations - 3 of my favorite things - all within walking or bike riding distance. Would a trip to wine country be "wasted" if we just landed in Callistoga for 5 days? Is rentaing a car to go to Napa and Sononma a must? Also, if we did decide to just lay low in Callistoga, given the town is so walkable, do we even need a car? If not, how do you suggest we get from the airport to Callistoga national car rental locations and back?
I would compare the airfare plus rental car costs for SFO and Sacramento (SMF). national car rental locations The distance to Calistoga from each is 85-90 miles. I like the ease of getting in/out of Sacramento rather national car rental locations than driving through San Francisco.
In any event - the airfares are probably much more reasonable into the Bay Area (SFO, Oakland national car rental locations or San Jose) - or possibly Sacto - and you could probably national car rental locations rent a car on a weekly rate and get a relatively decent deal, that being offseason and all.
BTW - Calistoga is at the northern end of the Napa Valley -and there are many other wineries in the area outside of Calistoga - and getting down as far as Sonoma (very cute town/city center)at national car rental locations the southern end/Carneros region - can be done in an hour or so.
April is a great time to visit. Calistoga gets pretty hot in the summer. Spring and Fall are best. We live in Napa and prefer to fly out of Sacramento but Santa Rosa is even more convenient for Calistoga if you can work out flying into there.
And we used to get up to Napa from SF faster national car rental locations than two hours, but everybody is different. I still would take the least expensive air fare to the Bay Area or Sacto - and then just rent a car for a week. If you can arrive after the morning rush hour, or before the afternoon one - it would be best.
Sejal - compare car rental rates as well. Renting in Sac is usually cheaper than SFO and probably Santa Rosa too. Santa Rosa has limited service. Mainly Alaska, I believe and only from Seattle, Las Vegas, and LA.
Napa/Sonoma is beautiful just about any time. I was just there in late January; have also been in March, also when it's raining, etc. and still love it. Personally, 5 days just in Calistoga would be way too much. There are over 450 vineyards + many cute towns in the area to plant yourself in one without the ability to move around. YES, rent a car. We stayed in Yountville, national car rental locations which I would highly recommend; good location, fabulous restaurants (think Michelin stars) and easy access to the wine trails. We flew into SFO mid day, rented a car and were in Napa in an hour. It's really pretty national car rental locations easy and a nice drive. Do some research, get some 2-1 wine coupons. Have fun.
If you fly into Sacramento, there's a backroad you can take from Davis which will take you through the country and coastal national car rental locations range over to the Napa Valley via Hwy 128. This route takes about 20 minutes or so longer but you avoid all the development and traffic along I-80. It is especially pretty in April. national car rental locations However, the road is not for everyone. Those that get carsick should avoid it.
If you are going up to Montelena (flaming pink area up at the top of the map), then I'd suggest Clos Pegase for its art and Sterling. Both are in the light brown region just below the flaming pink area.
Dear Jbass - thanks for the tip! I picked Calistoga for the ease of access to hot springs and hope to spend each night resting tired muscles in a healing national car rental locations bubbly pool! I think we will end up renting a car so I'll keep Yountville in mind.
Dear easytraveler national car rental locations - Indeed I have a few travel days included. We arrive in SFO on Sat night so we will stay someplace cheap near the airport and pick up the rental car early on Sunday. We leave Thursday midday. Wanted to say thanks for the link to the great map!
Ok - since others are throwing in some specific Wineries - we loved quite a number of them during our many bicycling trips - back in in the 70's - and for a classic old line/historic place - Gundlach Bundschu by Sonoma was great - as was the BV/BeauLieu winery national car rental locations - which has the classic cellar - which made for a great tour.
And I think it was in St. Helena - we use to poach some fruit from the trees on the big lawn outside Christian Bros was it? - could have been Sterling? (the fruit was totally ripe and just falling from the trees - rotting on the ground). They had posted a small sign at edge of the big lawn which read: No Picnics.
One sunny afternoon - about six of us were enjoying sitting on some blankets - breaking out a little wine and cheese and salami - and some of the "available" fruit - when the little national car rental locations old guard on the far side finally noticed us and yelled out: What are you doing - you can't picnic there!!!
As he slowly started across the big lawn to shoo us away - he was further horrified when he saw we had picked some fruit, and said something like: What are you doing - you're not supposed to pick the fruit either.
BTW - if you haven't been to downtown SF - you might consider "Barting" in from SFO (BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit is like a Metro/subway - and that's assuming you don't aren't toting around heavy luggage).
I think you can do in an hour or less now? - and you could stay the night by Union Square - and then you can probably rent a car near there the next morning, whatever. You could also walk to nearby Chinatown and have Dim Sum for breakfast.
I second Tomsd's idea of renting the car in San Francisco rather than at the airport. Cheaper because you don't have to pay all those airport taxes. Also easier, since you don't need a car while you're in San Francisco.
A word of thanks - my first trip to Napa was ah-mazing! We ended up staying near the SFO airport and taking the BART to Foreign Cinema a restaurant in the Mission District. Though pretty fast, clean and comfortable, the BART ticket prices are appauling. Score 1 for Chicago mass transit
We rented a car from the SFO airport national car rental locations the next day and headed out to Napa via the Golden Gate Bridge. Wow. She really is a beauty! We stayed at the Roman Spa in Calistoga national car rental locations for the entire week and it was well worth it. The most relaxing way to wine country is via Calistoga. We did a bike tour through wine country that was fantastic. Lets just say I was glad we rented the tandem. By the last winery I was only good to pedal not steer! I. Will. Be. Back.