What should I expect to pay?

Greetings,

My fiance, her sister, brother-in law, and myself are looking at plans to come to Napa over labor day weekend. I am curious how much money we would most likely spend to do most things in the area. Our rental car and hotel are already covered, so what will everything else cost us? I really don%26#39;t know what else there is to do in town besides tour wineries (I don%26#39;t know anyone who has been to the area before) so I am not sure what would possibly be on our agenda.

Does it cost any money to tour the wineries? How much is wine tasting? What are other popular things to do around town and what do they average?

Thanks everyone,

Mike

What should I expect to pay?

mike-

You say your car and hotel are already covered-- does this mean that the reservations have already been conformed for the hotel?

The reason we ask: Many Napa B%26amp;Bs/Inns/Hotels are already booked solid for that weekend (some folks are shocked when they find this out, given that labor day weekend is almost 2 months away).

Cost of wine tastings: Range $5-25 per person. Free in some spots (use the TA forums search with keywords ';free wine tasting'; and you%26#39;ll get lots of great info). Also, sharing tastings is perfectly OK-- so 2 of you can wine taste for the price of one tasting.

And if you don%26#39;t have a designated driver, search the TA forums for ';6 S%26#39;s'; (advice on how to taste wine all day without getting snoggered)

Meals here run $10 to $300+ per person (no, that%26#39;s not a typo). Most meals avg about $35-50 per person, not counting the cost of wine-- which can be *considerable* ($12-15 a glass is not uncommon for some of the mid-range wines). If you want cheap eats, again, use the search function, keywords ';budget food'; or ';restaurant not too expensive'; (at least a dozen past threads on this). .

Balloon Rides, $200 per person avg (w/tip), Limo rides $300 min (4-5 hrs avg), Horseback riding $100 per person, or less, Bike Rentals $50 per person +/ - . . .

There are really so many things to do here, we don%26#39;t want to take up a whole thread listing activities and costs.

Are there specific things you want to do? Golf? Winery Tours? Bicycling? Cooking Classes?

You can get $$ for any of these by googling the specific item (e.g., ';Napa golf course';).

Here%26#39;s a suggestion for getting ideas about what to do: Use the TA search function with the keywords ';trip report';. The dozens of actual one-day itineraries you get from this will give you *tons* of ideas.

Happy hunting! :)

-The Innkeepers

Napa Old World Inn

What should I expect to pay?

Thanks for the info. Our hotel is already booked. We are staying a little outside of town so that we could use our hotel points. Can you tell me more about the bike rides and cooking classes? Those both sound like fun activities.

Thanks again,

Mike

In terms of cooking classes, look at COPIA and see what they are offering. We really enjoy the cooking demos at the Culinary Institute of America - great demoes doine by professional chefs and generous samplings. Call in advance to book - usually takes 60 to 90 minutes.

http://www.ciachef.edu/ (look for the Napa campus)

I%26#39;m looking to get a cooking demo lesson then taste what they taught/cooked. When does schedule for CIA come out and how quickly do they fill out, can%26#39;t seem to find Oct. Are the food demos any good at Copia.

Also, have you tried Ramekins? Their schedule just came out for oct. they have a tapas dinner class with food and also a brunch class during the time I will be in Napa. Wanted to know if it%26#39;s worth it I believe $75 a person? How far a drive are they from the center/town of Napa?

Thanks!

Copia classes are great. They may not have their fall schedule out yet.

Ramekins is in the town of Sonoma, only about 20-25 min from the town of Napa.

We haven%26#39;t taken any of the Ramekins classes, but we%26#39;ve heard nothing but good things about them.

There is also someone in the valley who does their own cooking classes--- we think it%26#39;s called ';cooking with julie';-- google this for more info (or search these forums).

-The Innkeepers

Napa Old World Inn

Thanks!

I found that you get more free tastings in Sonoma and at the smaller wineries than in Napa, but even in Napa, you can get tastings for 5-20 dollars. I would recommend the 3:00 pm tour at Del Dotto. It is a really cool cave tour and you taste straight from the barrels. It is $40/person, but you get a LOT of wine, which is why I am recommending the later one. We had Matt, the GM, tour us and he was GREAT. Ask if you can get on one of his tours. It is usually 1 1/2 hours, but he toured us for 3 hours! We tasted at least 16-18 wines! Well worth the money, esp. if you can get Matt. Also, don%26#39;t know if this appeals to you AT ALL, but the Jelly Belly factory is not far from there and it was free and fun and you can buy ALL kinds of stuff in the store. There%26#39;s also olive oil tastings/sales. Stop at the St. Helena Olive Oil Co., but not the one IN TOWN, but the bigger one outside of town. TONS of free samples and lots of good stuff at fairly reasonable prices. I had to buy an extra suitcase for everything I bought in Napa - wine, yes, but also a lot of oils, vinegars, sauces, dips, etc. If you are there on Friday, there is a great farmer%26#39;s marker in St Helena on Friday mornings. Also, in Calistoga, Indian Springs Spa - GREAT mud bath, massage and heated mineral pool. A little pricey, but very worth it and I think a bit nicer than some of the other mud bath places. Stop at Oakville Grocery for picnic lunch and then eat it there outside or at a winery that has picnic areas. GREAT food there. There is SO much to see and do....don%26#39;t think you can%26#39;t get over to Sonoma as well...nothing in that area is more than 45 minutes or so. You%26#39;ll have traffic on that weekend, but still, you should be able to do both Sonoma and Napa if you cared to. Downtown Sonoma is nice as well...Have fun!!