Everyone asks us the same question: if you had one trip, where would you go? This is the answer — the short list we'd give a friend, no hedging. Some of these we've featured at length; the rest are the kinds of days we'd plan around them.
Stay: Auberge du Soleil
The valley's grande dame, and still the benchmark. Fifty rooms across thirty-three acres of olive and oak in Rutherford, and a restaurant that has held its Michelin star for nearly two decades. If you stay one place in Napa Valley, stay here. Read the feature
Dine: Auro at Four Seasons, Calistoga
Four consecutive Michelin stars, and the most interesting changing of the guard in the valley — a new chef who had under three months to prove the star still belonged. Dinner here is the hardest reservation worth getting. Read the feature
Base yourself: Four Seasons Napa Valley
The only resort in the valley with its own winery — five acres of Elusa vines wrapped around the property, a working winery steps from your room. Read the feature
Give Calistoga a full day
The north end of the valley moves slower, and that's the point. Mud baths, the old main street, and dinner back at Auro — it's the most relaxed day you'll spend in wine country.
Book one long lunch
Napa Valley does lunch better than almost anywhere in America. Pick one afternoon, book the table you actually want, and let it run three hours. This is not the trip to rush.
Drive the valley end to end, once
Highway 29 from Napa to Calistoga is thirty miles and about forty-five minutes without stops. You'll stop. Do it early one morning, before the tasting rooms open, when the light is doing all the work.
Taste less, better
Two wineries a day, booked in advance, beats five walk-ins every time. The valley rewards the unhurried — here's how tasting actually works.
Come back in a different season
Harvest, mustard bloom, bud break — the valley is four different places across the year. Our month-by-month guide tells you which one you want.