Head up the coast in the morning on Highway 1, passing Fort Bragg, home to the redwoods Skunk Train,

This is the sort of thing that makes me wish I had a lot more time on my hands. September is California Wine Month, and Wine Institute - hard-working champion of the California Wine industry - has come up with five great wine country tours that will introduce you to California tours vacations and cruises wine by roadtrip.
Each tour is a five-day trip that covers different California wine regions, from emerging treasures like the Sierra Foothills and Temecula to the well-known grape-stomping grounds like Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles. When combining wine tasting tours vacations and cruises and cars, always remember to spit, and have a designated driver. Look at the video, then start booking hotels.
There s nothing like a drive on California tours vacations and cruises s scenic tours vacations and cruises North Coast to show you not only the Pacific Ocean s dramatic beauty but also how profoundly it affects the region s climate. That coastal influence gives us San Francisco s famous tours vacations and cruises fog, towering redwood trees, and a perfect home for cool-climate grapes like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and others. This scenic five-day round trip from San Francisco takes you wine tasting, shopping, dining, kayaking and more. Visit Sausalito, Muir Woods national park, quaint Mendocino and Sonoma County s diverse wine regions.
Start with an invigorating walk along San Francisco s lively Fisherman s Wharf, taking in the shops and eye-popping views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Alcatraz, and if you re lucky, a show-stopping patch of mysterious fog. Then put the top down and head north on Highway 101 to the artsy village of Sausalito just across the bay. Treat yourself to a seafood lunch paired with a glass of California wine before continuing north to see some of California s famous redwood trees at Muir Woods, a national park about 30 minutes away. Stroll among the giants, and when your neck gives out from too much looking up, get back in the car and drive an hour north to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. In addition to historic Railroad Square with restaurants, shops and a California Welcome Center to help you plan your journey, Santa Rosa is a great place to spend the night, offering centralized access to various great wine regions and wine towns in Sonoma County.
From Santa Rosa, there are a lot of great options for how to spend the day. In the morning, stroll Santa Rosa s Railroad Square, and if you re a Peanuts comic strip fan, check out the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center before heading out for lunch and wine tasting in the pastoral and picturesque Russian River Valley. If you like to greet the morning with exercise, go to Bodega Bay (where Hitchcock filmed The Birds) for a morning kayak ride, then head to the quaint town of Occidental, Freestone, Graton or Sebastopol for lunch before tasting the cool-climate Pinot Noirs of the Sonoma tours vacations and cruises Coast in the surrounding areas. If your version of the great outdoors is to shop and dine alfresco, visit the fun wine country town squares of Sonoma to the southeast tours vacations and cruises or Healdsburg to the north for lunch and shopping. If you head to Sonoma, explore the various wineries of Sonoma Valley, also known as Valley of the Moon. If you go to Healdsburg, tours vacations and cruises check out the nearby wine regions where you ll find Alexander Valley s rich Cabernet Sauvignons and Dry Creek Valley s signature Zinfandels. Overnight tours vacations and cruises in Santa Rosa.
In the morning, take 101 North, exiting at Highway 128 at Cloverdale. Soon you will be in Mendocino County s wine region, tours vacations and cruises a great place to stop for brunch and wine tasting. Once in the postcard-perfect, seaside village of Mendocino, most of which is listed tours vacations and cruises on the National Register of Historic Places, there are many options for entertainment. You can explore the charming shops and eateries, buying your loved ones a treat at the Mendocino Chocolate Company. You can spend the afternoon exploring via scenic Highway 1, checking out historic lighthouses, such as Point Cabrillo Light Station, which features an inn or take a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grounds of the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Try hiking coastal or wooded tours vacations and cruises trails such as the Van Damme Pygmy Forest Trail (in the winter months you can enjoy whale watching). Stay overnight in a romantic B B.
Head up the coast in the morning on Highway 1, passing Fort Bragg, home to the redwoods Skunk Train, and continue until you get to 101 North. Soon you will see the awe-inspiring Avenue of the Giants, a world-famous drive through more than 51,000 acres of redwood groves. There are many quirky attractions in the area, including places you can drive through a redwood, but don t miss Rockefeller Forest s Champion Redwood at 370 feet tall. If you have an extra day, travel north to Redwood National and State Parks for hiking and an overnight stay. Stop for lunch as you go south on 101 in the early afternoon towards historic Ukiah, where you can check into a charming B B and explore the area s wineries. If you don t mind a slightly longer drive, before Ukiah take Highway 20 south to stay in scenic tours vacations and cruises Clear Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake entirely in California tours vacations and cruises and a great home base to check out wineries in the Lake County wine region, known for its delicious Sauvignon tours vacations and cruises Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon wines.
Spend the morning enjoying tours vacations and cruises a stroll or hike in Ukiah or Clear Lake, before making your way south towards San Francisco. tours vacations and cruises Make sure to stop in the Los Carneros wine region, which straddles both Napa and Sonoma counties. Los Carneros, which means sheep in Spanish, is aptly named for the sheep dotting the rolling hills. These natural weed controllers tours vacations and cruises are the perfect reminder that more than 70 percent of California s acreage participates in California s Sustainable Winegrowing Program, the largest of its kind in the world. As you head back to San Francisco on 101 South, you can choose among several enticing small towns in Marin County. Nestled below majestic Mt. Tamalpais, Mill Valley s Lytton Square is reminiscent of a European village, complete with cafes, and fashionable boutiques. With celebrity musician residents like Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir and Sammy Hagar, it s no surprise that Mill Valley tours vacations and cruises is home to the famous Sweetwater, one of the top roots music clubs in the nation, well-known for its famous guest musicians who occasionally drop in for an evening to improvise. The historic railroad town of Tiburon is reminiscent of a New England fishing village. Its chic Main Street filled with trendy shops, art galleries, high-end waterfront restaurants and popular casual cafes -- is known as "Ark Row" because of the 1890s recreational houseboat lifestyle enjoyed in Belvedere Cove by sea captains, Bohemian artists, and summer residents from San Francisco. San Rafael, the oldest, largest and most culturally diverse city in Marin, boasts one-of-a kind shops, ethnic eateries and lovely tours vacations and cruises Victorian buildings. Here you can also cruise down Fourth Street in San Rafael, where part of American Graffiti was filmed.
This five-day round-trip itinerary is a foodie s paradise, with stops from San Francisco s Chinatown and Little Italy to Berkeley, the legendary tours vacations and cruises birthplace of California cuisine. It also takes you from mountains to the sea: you ll take in the thrilling scenery and wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Livermore tours vacations and cruises Valley and Half Moon Bay.
Take advantage of San Francisco s food and wine culture. In the late morning, try one of the city s walking foodie tours, such as North Beach/Little Italy, Chinatown or the Mission District (Latin Quarter). Head to Jackson Square and sample some California wines at the various wine bars. Follow up with antique shopping in this lively neighborhood, or general shopping in Union Square. Take a spooky night tour of Alcatraz, paired with wining and dining on Fisherman s Wharf or nearby North Beach. Overnight in San Francisco.
Spend the morning at a San Francisco tours vacations and cruises museum or two, then put your day in gear and head east over the Bay Bridge to charming university town Berkeley. Take a guided tours vacations and cruises or self-guided walking tour of the city s famous Gourmet tours vacations and cruises Ghetto, sampling the neighborhood s culinary offerings. If you re not too full, don t miss Chez Panisse, the landmark eatery owned by Alice Waters, pioneer of California s locavore movement and California cuisine. For those who love wine bike tours, tours vacations and cruises skip Berkeley and head straight to Oakland, where you can do a guided or self-guided biking tour of various urban wineries, including lunch. For dinner head back to San Francisco, leave the car at the hotel and walk to any number of eateries, where you can enjoy great California wine paired with regional cuisine. Overnight in San Francisco.
After a leisurely breakfast of San Francisco s famous sourdough pancakes, drive southeast to beautiful Livermore Valley, one of California s oldest wine regions. Enjoy lunch in charming and historic downtown Livermore, filled with quaint shops, eateries and galleries. Enjoy wine tasting downtown at one of the tasting rooms or wine bars, or check out one of the local renowned wineries, some of which date back to the 1880s! In the late afternoon, drive 40 minutes southwest to San Jose for fun and dinner on Santana Row, a Mediterranean-style shopping and entertainment district filled with chic boutiques, trendy eateries, hotels, wine bars and lounges. Overnight in San Jose.
In the morning visit a museum or gallery in the charming, tree-lined streets of downtown San Jose, all within a quick stroll of each other. Or go for chills and thrills at the spooky Winchester Mystery House, featured on many haunted and mystery television shows. At lunchtime, stop by the beautiful wine country town of Los Gatos for a bite and a short stroll. Then go wine tasting in the Santa Cruz Mountains, one of California s first designated wine regions and an area rich with wooded peaks and small vineyards tucked into quiet hillsides. Noted by Food and Wine as a region to watch for Pinot Noir, the region boasts smaller wineries tours vacations and cruises known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay tours vacations and cruises on the west side, and Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel on the east. D