Staying
in San Francisco for several days on vacation? Or, perhaps you are fortunate
enough to live in that beautiful city by the Bay. What better way to spend
the day than to drive to the Napa Valley Wine Country.
If you are vacationing in San Francisco, you are probably staying at a hotel and will want to enjoy a leisurely breakfast before you set out for the Napa Valley. A departure time around 10:00AM is ideal. Rush hour traffic has thinned out by mid-morning, and you should have an easy drive north into Wine Country. At that time, it should take a little more than 90 minutes to get to the Wine Country once you leave San Francisco. If you delay your trip until after 2:00PM, give yourself an extra hour to get to the Valley because of increased traffic.
You have a choice of taking either the Bay Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge on your way to the Napa Valley. This recommended route suggests that you take the Golden Gate Bridge heading north. This is a more scenic route and will get you to your first destination, Calistoga, in about the same time as the Bay Bridge route.
It’s best to ask at your hotel for directions to the Golden Gate Bridge—if you are staying near Fisherman’s Warf, for example, you should be at the bridge in about 10 minutes. On your way back to San Francisco, we will suggest an option for taking a route back over the Bay Bridge. We will also give you an option for going directly to either San Francisco airport or Oakland Airport just in case you have a late flight that night.
