Wine Country Getting there & around

Getting there & around

Napa and Sonoma counties each has a city and valley of the same name. So, the town of Sonoma is located in Sonoma County, at the southern end of Sonoma Valley. The same goes for the city, county and valley of Napa.

From San Francisco, public transportation gets you to the valleys, but it’s insufficient for vineyard-hopping. For public-transit information, dial 511 from any Bay Area telephone.

Both of the valleys are 90 minutes by car from San Francisco. Napa Valley, the further inland of the two, has more than 230 wineries and attracts the greatest number of visitors (expect heavy traffic on summer weekends). Sonoma County has 240 wineries, 60 in Sonoma Valley, which is less commercial and marginally less congested than Napa. Greater Sonoma County has an additional 180 wineries. If you have time to visit only one valley, see Sonoma.

Sonoma Airporter (707-938-4246, 800-611-4246; www.sonomaairporter.com) operates a door-to-door shuttle service ($40) between San Francisco Airport (SFO) and Sonoma Valley.

Greyhound (800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) operates from San Francisco to Santa Rosa and Vallejo for $16; transfer for local buses.

Golden Gate Transit (415-923-2000; www.goldengate.org) operates bus 70/80 from San Francisco to Petaluma ($6.90) and to Santa Rosa ($7.60); catch it at 1st and Mission Sts, across from the Transbay Terminal.

Napa Valley Vine (800-696-6443, 707-251-2800; www.nctpa.net) operates bus 10 from the Vallejo Ferry Terminal and Vallejo Transit bus station, through Napa to Calistoga ($2.50); it also runs local trolley services in Napa ($1).

Sonoma County Transit (707-576-7433, 800-345-7433; www.sctransit.com) runs the bus service from Santa Rosa to Petaluma (70 minutes), Sonoma (1¼ hours) and western Sonoma County, including the Russian River Valley towns (30 minutes).

Downtown Napa Trolley (800-696-6443, 707-251-2800; www.nctpa.net) operates without charge and makes a loop around downtown, every 20 minutes, 11am to 6pm Monday through Wednesday, 11am to 8pm Thursday and Sunday and 11am to 11pm Saturday.

Amtrak (800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) trains travel to Martinez (south of Vallejo), with connecting buses on to Napa (40 minutes), Santa Rosa (1½ hours) and Healdsburg (1¾ hours).

BART trains(415 989-2278, www.bart.gov) run from San Francisco to El Cerrito (40 minutes), where you need to transfer to Vallejo Transit(707-648-4666; www.vallejotransit.com) for Vallejo (30 minutes); then you take Napa Valley Vine buses to Napa and Calistoga.

Flying Horse Carriage Company (707-849-8989; www.flyinghorse.org; 3hr tours per person $95) See the Alexander Valley from the back of a horse-drawn carriage on a three-hour tour. Bring a picnic lunch.

Wine Country Cable Car Shuttle (707-838-3200; www.cablecarcharters.com; per person $30; Fri-Sun May-Oct) Open-sided trolley cars make a continuous loop from the Healdsburg Plaza through the Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys, stopping at 12 wineries along the way; riders hop on and off the shuttles as they like. The first car leaves at 9:45am, the last at 4:45pm.

Wine Country Jeep Tours (707-546-1822, 800-539-5337; www.jeeptours.com; 3hr tour $75) Tour Wine Country’s back roads and boutique wineries by Jeep. Tours depart year-round at 10am and 1pm. They also operate tours of the Sonoma Coast.

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Car & motorcycle

Car

From San Francisco, take Hwy 101 north then Hwy 37 east then Hwy 121 north; continue to the junction of Hwys 12 and 121. For Sonoma Valley, take Hwy 12 north; for Napa Valley, take Hwy 12/121 east. Plan 70 minutes in light traffic, two hours during weekday commute times.

Highway 12/121 splits just south of Napa: Hwy 121 turns north and joins with Hwy 29 (aka St Helena Hwy); Hwy 12 merges with the southbound extension of Hwy 29. Highway 29 backs up weekdays 4pm to 7pm, which slows return trips to San Francisco.

From the East Bay (or from downtown San Francisco), take I-80 east to Hwy 37 west (just north of Vallejo), and turn north on Hwy 29.

From Santa Rosa, take Hwy 12 east to access the northern end of Sonoma Valley. From Petaluma and Hwy 101, take Hwy 116 east toward Sonoma.

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Bicycle

Touring Wine Country by bicycle is unforgettable. Stick to the back roads. Through Sonoma Valley, take Arnold Dr instead of Hwy 12; through Napa Valley, take the Silverado Trail instead of Hwy 29.

Both valleys are fairly flat and cycle-friendly. Pedaling between wineries isn’t too demanding. Crossing from one valley to the other is challenging, particularly via steep Oakville Grade and Trinity Rd (between Oakville and Glen Ellen).

Bicycles, in boxes, can be checked on Greyhound buses for $15. You can also transport bicycles on Golden Gate Transit buses, which usually have bike racks available free (first-come, first-served).

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