Napa Valley travel guide

Napa Valley stretches over 30 miles along Highway 29, between the towns of Napa and Calistoga. Less wild than the neighbouring Sonoma Valley, it is mainly vineyard land. The name comes from the Indian word Napa (plenty) that is also the name the Indians gave to the river rich in fish. The name was kept even after the Spanish and the Mexicans took possesion of the area depriving the native Indians of their land. The town of Napa, which is the administrative seat of the county, enjoyed a period of economic growth during the years of the gold fever as an important commercial point on the route to San Francisco. The flourishing time didn’t last long, after the construction of the first railway lines Napa was cut off the commercial routes. It was thanks to Jacob Beringer, who noticed that the type of soil and the climate were ideal for growing vines and in 1875 started Beringer Vineyards, if the Napa Valley has become an important wine industry centre. Today wine and tourism are at the centre of the Valley’s economy. Other towns of interest are American Canyon, which is the 2nd largest city in the county with 60000 inhabitants and also the newest. Yountville, named after George Yount who was the first American to settle there in 1831, is a lovely small town with only 3000 people offering excellent shops, restaurants and charming little places to lodge. St. Helena was founded in 1853 and is the up-market centre of the Napa Valley wine industry. A charming small town with less than 6000 people living there and a lot of designer shops. Calistoga is an ideal destination to mix the pleasures of wine tasting with spas pampering. Famous for its spas it is the only place in the valley with a decent nightlife. It is a very bubbly town with people walking along the sidewalks, standing outside bars and shops and has a good selection of restaurants.

There are more than 300 wineries in the Napa Valley and mostly all of them offer wine tasting. Among the most famous are the above mentioned Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena, Robert Mondavi , Beaulieu Vineyards, Newlan Vineyards and Napa Wine Company.