NAPA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- The golden state's wine capitol has long been a favored destination of tourists, but the valley offers so much to see, do, smell and taste that it can seem a bit intimidating to newcomers.

Where should you start if you have only a limited time to spend in the Valley? This article will give you a few general suggestions, but half the fun of this area is venturing off course when the mood strikes to find elusive new wineries. A visit to the Napa Valley should be as unique as the visitors themselves.

Calistoga
While there's much to see and do in the Napa Valley, the attractions are conveniently concentrated in a relatively small geographic area. You can drive the entire length of the valley in less than 45 minutes. A great place to start is in the tiny town of Calistoga, at the valley's far north end.

Yes there are wineries in Calistoga, including Chateau Montelena - the winery which originally put California wines on the map, but the town is even more famous for it's geysers, hot mineral pools, mud baths and numerous spas. There's no more relaxing way to begin a vacation than relaxing in Calistoga's therpeutic waters.

The quaint little town of Calistoga offers so much, it really deserved an article of its own, so follow this link for more detailed Calistoga information. Whether or not you opt to follow the link, do spend at least a portion of your Napa Valley time in Calistoga, you'll be glad you did.

Wineries
Wineries are undoubtedly the Valley's main attraction. The Napa Valley is home to 182 of them. That's a lot of wine! Most offer tours and/or tastings, usually by appointment, so be sure to get a visitor's guide before you go and do call ahead.

Everyone has their own favorite wines and wineries, but I'll give you some of my favorites and why I think they are worth a stop. Each has something interesting to offer, besides great wine. After all, in the Napa Valley great wine is a given.

Schramsburg Vineyards - Perched high atop Diamond Mountain, visitors will find a beautiful old Victorian home and winery building which author Robert Louis Stephenson lovingly described in his book Silverado Squatters.

Known for making some of the finest sparkling wines in the world, a tour of Schramsburg Vineyards is a truly fascinating and educational experience. Burrowed into the volcanic rock hillsides around the winery, a catacomb of tunnels provide a dark, cool, year round place for the sparkling wine to age.

The caves, an integral part of the Schramsburg tour were originally dug, by hand, by Chinese laborers during the valley's youth. The marks of ancient pick axes are still plainly visible today.

The caves are a dark and eerie place, one in which if you listen carefully, you might imagine you still hear the sounds of hard working laborers who have long since left this world. I wouldn't want to be caught in them alone at night. Too spooky. Some Schramsburg employees have some interesting ghost stories about just that, you just have to ask them nicely.

Ghosts or no ghosts, the wines that come forth from those caves are superb. Tour participants will learn the ins and outs of sparkling wine production, and at tour's end, will be treated to samples of the wonderful sparkling wine which is so special it has graced the White House table at numerous important functions.

Neibaum Coppola
A visit to the Neibaum Coppola winery is a Napa Valley must. Housed in the historic 1879 Inglenook Estate, the winery is owned by famed movie producer Francis Ford Coppola. The renovated chateau's upper floor now houses a museum of memorabilia from Coppola movies. Visitors will see an original Tucker, the famous automobile built by the even more famous movie's namesake, costumes, props and set pieces from other Coppola films such as The Godfather, Bram Stoker's Dracula and One From The Heart. Coppola's Oscars are also on display.

Interestingly enough for film fans, the Napa Valley is home to five Oscars, three at Niebaum Coppola and two at Calistoga's Sharpsteen Museum, which belonged to Disney animator Ben Sharpsteen.

The Neibaum Coppola grounds are gorgeously landscaped with trees, fountains, benches and a reflecting pool. Oh yes, their wines are most excellent as well.

Robert Mondavi Winery
While many of Napa Valley's Wineries are built on ancient estates with ancient buildings to house them, the Mondavi Winery strikes a contemporary profile. Built in a Spanish Mission style, the sprawling winery has several tour options for visitors, including a general one hour tour of the facilities with tasting, a "Wine Essences Tasting", an "Advanced Wine Growing" tour and an "Art of Food and Wine" tour which includes luncheon at the winery. The Robert Mondavi winery is also a wonderful place for art lovers to visit since they offer exhibits of paintings, sculptures and photographs which rotate about every two months.

The Hess Collection
Built on the site of the historic Christian Brothers Winery, the Hess Collection started renovating this site in 1986 to integrate traditional and modern wine making techniques. The Hess Collection Winery is another stop that art lovers must make while in Napa Valley. Winery owner Donald Hess has acquired an extensive art collection that rivals many fine museums. The collection is on public display at the winery.

Sterling Vineyards
Perched high atop a knoll, visitors must arrive by aerial sky tram to reach Sterling Vineyards. Needless to say, the vineyard has one of the finest views in the entire Napa Valley. Once at the top Sterling Vineyards offers a self guided tour that allows you to experience the world of wine making at your own pace.

Beringer Vineyards
Founded in 1876 by Jacob and Frederick Beringer, this winery is the oldest continually operated winery in the Napa Valley. The tour includes a visit to Beringer's wine caves, which are nestled into the nearby hillside. Also of interest is the gorgeous Rhine House, once a spectacular home, now used as a visitor's center. This elegant structure, which looks as though it belongs in the German countryside rather than in California, is filled with exquisite stained glass and carved oak.

Food
Man cannot live by wine alone. Great wines must have great food, and the Napa Valley doesn't disappoint in this department.

Greystone - True foodies will need to take some time to visit Greystone the Culinary Institute of America's west coast campus. Located in St. Helena, the school is housed in what is considered to be one of the largest stone winery buildings in the world. Formally owned by Christian Brothers, the building was used for sparkling wine production from 1950-1989. Today the site is bustling with the activity of culinary students from all over the world, who come to take part in the institute's continuing education programs.

Visitors can tour the CIA's facilities, attending lectures and getting a peak into the truly awesome teaching kitchens, where the cuisine of tomorrow is being created today. There's also a wonderful campus store that will have cooks, both amateur and professional, checking their Visa Card limits.

Greystone's restaurant, The Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant, is surprisingly not manned by the Institute's students. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to dine there. The Reaction from both locals and friends who did dine at Greystone was unanimous, however: go for appetizers at the bar. Reportedly the tapas at Greystone are wonderful.

The Napa valley has perhaps more fine restaurants within its borders than any other such limited geographic area in the country. World class chefs and dining spots abound. The current favorite is a Yountville restaurant called The French Laundry. How trendy is it? It is so trendy there isn't even a sign outside to let you know you've arrived. Locals and tourists alike rave about the incredible food served by chef Thomas Keller. Reservations are a must and the waiting list is several months long.

Don't despair if you can't get into the French Laundry, the choices for fine cuisine are almost endless. One place I didn't get to try, that many of the locals also recommended was Brix. Located right on the main highway that cuts through the valley, they are very easy to find and feature California cuisine.

Fans of Italian might try Piatti, a bustling bistro with an open kitchen and wood fire ovens. Try the carpaccio "Trevisana" for a wonderful appetizer. Served with grilled radicchio and a green peppercorn mustard sauce, it has a perfect balance of flavors, textures and temperatures. The Taglionini con Fungi Arrabiato was an outstanding pasta selection containing roasted portabello mushrooms, garlic, arugula and pecorino cheese. And the gentleman dining next to me, a local who is a regular at the restaurant, claims that a better osso bucco can't be found anywhere.

Another thing I particularly liked about Piatti was the live entertainment provided by David Auerbach. David has an eclectic collection of unusual folk instruments, ranging from wind instruments to concertinas, over fifty different instruments in all! He appears to be a virtuoso at all of them and it made for a delightful dinner accompaniment. If you happen to be in the area Christmas time, check out David's innovative "Carols in the Caves" concerts, in which he plays selections of holiday music in the wine caves.

Napa Valley Wine Train
Some of the Napa Valley's finest food can not be had in a restaurant at all. It's part of the package of the Napa Valley Wine Train. Whether it be for lunch, brunch or dinner, the train is a very special experience that takes you back to the elegant days when rail travel was a common method of transportation (although I would venture to guess that the food is better today). The food chef Patrick Finney manages to turn out of his tiny kitchen is truly amazing. Elegant, savory appetizers, grilled steaks and lamb, salmon and even luscious desserts await wine train travelers on their 36 mile round trip journey past acres and acres of grapevines and countless wineries. Dinners are served in a fully restored 1917 Pullman Dining Car, done in rich mahogany with etched glass windows.

Like anywhere in Napa Valley, you're never far from wine, and the train is no exception. Before departure, wine expert Brent Trojan gives riders a short lesson in wine tasting. Once aboard you can head straight to the tasting car to sample some of the valley's finest offerings. Of course, wine is also available to go along with your meal.

On some runs the train makes a special stop at Grgich Hills winery in Rutherford, where some passengers elect to get off for a special four course luncheon and winery tour. As tempting as that sounds, I was glad I didn't opt for it. The wonderful cuisine on board is hard to beat and the peaceful scenic ride was over far too soon.

Picnics
Another way of dining in Napa Valley that doesn't involve restaurants is picnics. Spots for dining al fresco dot the valley, in fact many of the wineries have picnic grounds right on the property, so you can pick up a bottle to go with the food you brought. Now undoubtedly the best place to get said food is at Dean and  DeLuca. New Yorkers don't need me to tell them about this famous grocery which recently opened a branch in the Napa Valley (nor will readers of Fabulous Foods who have heard me rave about their terrific cookbook). For the rest of you, Dean and DeLuca carries an astounding assortment of fine quality gourmet foods -- they practically created the current sun dried tomato craze single-handedly. Produce, meats, olives, cheeses (my favorite spot in the store), they have it all and have a friendly and knowledgeable staff to educate you about things you may not have tried before. There's also a wonderful prepared food counter where you can order gourmet sandwiches and hot lunches to go. Oh, and yes, they also carry wines.

Lodging
Lodging choices abound in the valley which is populated by countless quaint little inns and B&Bs. The visitor's guide can help you make choices, but I'll give a few suggestions here, each in a different part of the valley.

There's an absolutely wonderful place in Calistoga called the Cottage Grove Inn. I give it my highest recommendation as it is my personal favorite of any place I've stayed, ever! Coming from a travel writer, that's saying a lot. Gorgeously renovated California Craftsman style cottages, the inn has all the charm of a B&B with one important difference, privacy.

When you want the B&B experience, it's there - at breakfast time and in the early evening when fine wines and cheeses are set out in the common room of the office cabin. The rest of the time, you are in your own cozy little bungalow. The owners, a group of former college roommates, have thought of everything you could possibly need or desire - each cabin has a two person whirlpool tub complete with candles and bath salts, a wood burning fireplace with plenty if firewood stacked neatly outside the door and convenient gas jets to get it started, a CD player and stereo system, a VCR player (CD's and videos of favorite movies are available in the lobby), a refrigerator stocked with Calistoga's famous mineral water, freshly ground gourmet coffee and comfortable robes. I can't think of a more romantic spot anywhere.

Also in Calistoga is a perfect place to stay if you're planning a group function. The Silver Rose Inn & Spa has a conference and event facility that can accommodate up to 50 people and they have a total of 20 well appointed rooms, each uniquely decorates with incredible views right into the vineyards. They have an on site spa facility and even a wine bottle shaped swimming pool!

I wouldn't be the first writer to compare the Napa Valley to the wine growing regions of France, but a stay at Yountville's Maison Fleurie can really make you forget that you're in the USA. Billed as a French Country Inn, the tiny hotel certainly does evoke a European charm and grace. Part of the Four Sisters group of inns on the west coast, Maison Fleurie has a loyal following of guests. Many of my fellow lodgers, who I spoke to over early evening wine and hors d'oeuvres in the common area, have stayed there before and some even make it an annual pilgrimage. The rooms are comfortable, romantic and elegant. The common area always has a cookie jar, overflowing with delicious baked goods, where guests can help themselves. Wine is put out in the early evenings and brandy is set out for a bedtime nightcap. The inn is in easy walking distance of Yountville's numerous wonderful restaurants, including The French Laundry and Piatti.

At the south end of the valley is the town of Napa and a bed and breakfast that in 1996 was voted "Best Bed & Breakfast in North America" by the OHG. Originally built in 1886 for Emanuel Manasse, the inventor of leather tanning techniques that are still in use today, the Blue Violet Mansion is a gorgeous Victorian that has been meticulously brought back to life by owners Bob and Kathy Morris along with their charming daughter Melanie.

You have to give the Morrises a lot of credit and respect. When they took ownership of the mansion it was in a pretty sorry state of disrepair. You'd never know it today. Polished hardwood floors and banisters can be found throughout the inn, gorgeous stained glass windows and trompe l'oeill paintings decorate the walls, the furnishing are a tasteful mix of authentic Victorian and elegant treasures Kathy has brought back from trips abroad. The job of renovating the mansion must have been daunting, but the Morrises have succeeded far beyond expectations. It is simply exquisite.

The top floor of the Blue Violet Mansion is billed as the Camelot Theme Floor and it is a favorite of honeymooners or anyone seeking an especially romantic getaway. Each of the hand painted rooms offers crystal and silver amenities, two person spa tubs, corner fireplaces, and stained glass throughout. Guests of the Camelot floor can elect to have an elegant five course champagne candlelit dinner delivered directly to their rooms.

Breakfast at the Blue Violet is an event - two courses including fresh fruits and juices as well as hot entrees. When we arrived at the inn on Thursday evening the air was filled with the aroma of cinnamon and spices. It turned out to be the scent of pears poaching for the following morning's breakfast. A variety of teas and other hot beverages as well as desserts are available to guests at any time.

Getting There

• Calistoga Chamber of Commerce - 707-942-6333
• Napa Chamber of Commerce - 707-226-7455
• Yountville Chamber of Commerce - 707-944-0904
• St. Helena Chamber of Commerce - 707-963-4456
• Sharpsteen Museum - 707-942-5911
• Beringer Vineyards - 707-963-7115
• Chateau Montelena - 707-942-5105
• Hess Collection Winery - 707-255-1144
• Neibaum Coppola Estate - 707-963-9099
• Robert Mondavi Winery - 707-259-9463
• Schramsburg Vineyards 707-942-4558
• Sterling Vineyards - 707-942-3344
• Napa Valley Wine Train 800-427-4124 or 707-253-2111
• Culinary Institute of America Greystone - 707-967-2303
• Piatti 707-944-2070
• The French Laundry - 707-944-2380
• Brix - 707-944-2749
• La Boucane - 707-253-1177
• Dean & Deluca Store 707-967-9980
• Cottage Grove Inn - 800-799-2284 or 707-942-8400 or visit their web site at www.cottagegrove.com.
• Silver Rose Inn & Spa 800-995-9381 or 707-942-9581 or visit their web site at www.silverrose.com.
• Maison Fluerie - 800-788-0369
• Blue Violet Mansion B&B 800-959-2583 or visit their web site at www.bluevioletmansion.com.
• David Auerbach Music (call for concert schedule) 707-224-4222