Napa Valley Honeymoon on a budget

Following... We had discussed this last month!

Long time lurker but I've never posted until now! My FH and I did a big trip to Napa last year and it was AMAZING. We really loved it and I would go back in a heartbeat!

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Vallejo which is south of Napa and was really affordable. We also had a lot of cheaper meals around there since things tend to be pricier once you get into the heart of Napa.We took turns driving the rental car to avoid hiring a car service, but hiring a private driver as a splurge for one day I've heard can be great - you will get lots of perks at wineries since the drivers know the owners!

While this piece of advice seems contradictory, I would join a wine club before you go. I would suggest Sterling. While it is pricey, a Sterling wine membership will get you complementary tastings at both that winery and their sister wineries (Acacia, BV, Provenance plus a few more). This can save you hundreds in the long run since a tasting can be about $20-30 per person. We also visited a few other vineyards using econcierges, which is an app that gives you 2 for 1 tastings if you check in at the winery.

My favorite wineries to visit (in terms of value you get for your money and overall experience) were Sterling, Merryvale, Silver Oak (we splurged for the food and wine pairing), and Silverado. We also really loved the experience at Acacia and Provenance.

For non-winery activities, we hiked up to see Lake Sonoma and it was beautiful. I highly suggest it!

I live in the area and wineries that are good are Beringer(good wine and gardens with walking paths), Castillo be amerosa( has some tours to see castle priced in different amounts), and my favorite winery is V. Suttui(has beautiful gardens and grounds, a deli, dessert, and awesome wine) it is expensive to stay in Napa but starting in Vallejo or Fairfield is within a 30 min drive.

Thanks for the info guys! I like the idea of staying south of Napa since FH may want to check out San Francisco for a brewery and I've always wanted to see Stanford. Kate, love the idea of hiking up to see Lake Sonoma!

I live in Napa! Are you honeymooning right after your wedding or waiting a bit? I would check out donapa.com as they'll give you a ton of things to see and do. We have uber and lyft so you can use them instead of hiring a limo. There are off brand hotels that you can find on Travelocity that run cheaper, like wine valley lodge. I would also look in Fairfield or American Canyon as they're about 10 mins from Napa city so they're cheaper. As a pp said, the courtyard in Vallejo is also cheaper, but that's the only hotel in Vallejo I'd recommend as you can end up in a sketchy part of town very quickly.

A lot of wineries offer two for one deals on tasting, or we like to just buy one tasting to share between the two of us. There's an app that will also give you free tastings at certain wineries, I think it's called cellar pass. ETA: September and October are most expensive for hotels, which is why I asked when you were honeymooning. Winter is definitely cheaper, May process start to increase, then drop off in November again.

I think we're gonna wait a little while for the honeymoon. Our wedding is in July, but we both teach at a college, so we'll most likely be waiting till beginning to mid August to honeymoon so that our summer semester is over.