Napa hotel, tours, balloon
 

My wife wants to go to napa for her birthday. We have never been. I am looking for some suggestions. I think we would want to do balloon ride (suggestions please).Also we want visit mumm as we enjoy their sparkling wines. Probably looking to go to bouchon for breakfast as we have been to the one in Vegas many times.
Looking for places to stay and tour suggestions.

Thanks, Mike

St Helena has a bunch of stellar restaurants but get reservations.

If you want a $350 dinner, make reservations at the French Laundry in Yountville. :>)

http://www.frenchlaundry.com/

More my speed is a place like Mustards.

http://mustardsgrill.com/

For lunch, you can get killer drive-in food at Gotts.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/rph/6/7667...roadside-photo

Get a driver so you can enjoy the wine.

If you like smaller wineries to tour/taste we are fans of chase cellars and obrien. +1 for mustards.

The Westin is a nice place to stay and great location. I 2nd spending the $$$ and getting a driver. There is no good options for transportation.

My wife and I have been there so many times. We really like the Vintage Inn in Yountville. Can't beat their awesome daily brunch. I'd recommend an upstairs king room. Don't worry about where the room is located in the complex. All locations are great. Mumm is a bit touristy and is set up more like a restaurant. I would humbly suggest a tour at Schramsberg. Not saying Mumm is bad. Schramsberg just has an awesome cave tour with a private sit down tasting at the end. You can see the pick marks left by the Chinese laborers that built it. Lots of history there too. If you're trying to be efficient with money, you've never been there, and you like rides, join the BV wine club. With your membership, you'll get free tasting and tours from them as well as 5 other wineries. One of those other wineries is Sterling where they have the gondola lifts up to the top of the mountain to their tasting areas. Lots of photo ops and killer views from up there. I could really go on if I knew more about what you're into or wanting to spend. Napa has over 450 wineries to choose from.

If you stay anywhere in Yountville, you'll have no need for a driver. You can walk to many world class restaurants.

Good luck getting into French Laundry. If you didn't get lucky enough to get a call through 3 months ago, or if you don't know someone who knows someone, it ain't gonna happen.

If you need a car, call Perata Luxury Car. I can give you the number. He knows the secret places that are uncluttered by buses full of tourists. Great experience.

We went last fall - best time to go in my opinion.
We stayed at a bed & breakfast - Churchhill Manor Very nice, great breakfast with wine and snacks every evening.

Call 707-337-8519 for your Ballon ride. Small basket so its more personable.

We went to the castle and took the tour - ended up buying 6 bottles of wine. LOL
Sterling is a nice place too - tram ride up to the winery.

The main road in Napa valley runs north and south - about in the middle is a burger place you need to eat at.
Dont remember the name but you need to go there.

There are lots of places to eat

We flew into San Fransico and stayed there a couple days before heading out to Napa. Take the hwy1 road
If you do that - rent your car from the place downtown San Fran

We had a great trip - great place to visit!

If you want something really special, I suggest checking out Milat Winery. Bob & Mike are really cool and fun to visit. They have three cottages in the vineyard they rent out for about the same cost as a hotel and far cooler. They generally host a private reserve wine tasting in the evenings for the guests and a behind the scenes production facility tour and love hanging out with their guests. They have been there forever and know virtually everyone in the valley so a great source for recommendations on restaurants, balloon tours etc.. They generally offer case pricing discounts and their Port Chocolate Sauce is amazing.

Link:
http://www.milat.com/home.php

The name of the restaurant used to be Taylors Automatic Refresher and a must do. Amazing food and not too expensive for the valley...
They were on Diners Drive Ins & Dives a few years ago and always have a line but definitely worth the wait.
They changed the name recently to Gott's roadside:
Link:
http://gotts.com/

DDD Link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/restauran...estaurant.html

I forgot to mention Napa Valley Olive Oil Company. A must stop located in a residential neighborhood only locals know about. Going there is a step back to the 1930's-1940's. Very cool old building where they make olive oil and have a deli selling tons salamettes, prosciutto, cheeses, olives, mufualetta relish and other specialty foods. Take an ice chest and a camera. Neat garden/patio for picnic at the old location, I have not been to the new one. A bazillion business cards on walls and ceiling from all over the world.

https://local.yahoo.com/info-2147096...pany-st-helena

http://nvoliveoil.com/