A wine tour in San Francisco can make a good side trip when you plan to take a holiday in the city. This could give you an introduction to the California Wine Country especially if you haven’t been there yet. A trip to the outskirts can enrich one’s experience — in this case, knowing something (or something more) about wines!
The best way to score a wine tour in Napa Valley is to look for tour packages that will bring the most to your visit. For instance, choose Balloons Above the Valley (BATV) which features one of its most popular tour packages, the “San Francisco Balloon & Wine Tour Package.” For only $836.50 per two persons, it will enable you to experience the good life in Napa Valley for two days. The first day is devoted to visiting wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties, while the second day is the hot air balloon ride.
On the first day of this package, you will be picked up in the morning by Napa Valley Country Wine Tours from one of three locations in San Francisco — the 4th at Mission, Union Square, and Pier 39. Once inside one of the limo buses, you and fellow guests will enjoy breakfast with a mimosa drink.
Before leaving San Francisco, you and the other guests will stop first at the vista point of the Golden Gate Bridge for viewing and picture-taking.
As you travel in and around the Wine Country, your knowledgeable chauffeur will point out interesting sites and answer your questions. The wine tours consist of visiting two wineries in Napa and another two in Sonoma, which gives you the opportunity to discover and appreciate the wonderful, delectable differences between Napa and Sonoma wines. Apart from the wine-tasting at Jacuzzi, there is also an olive oil tasting by The Olive Press.
You will also enjoy a picnic-style gourmet lunch, in an idyllic setting, at one of the wineries. The lunch consists of a build-it-yourself turkey sandwich, pasta, freshly baked rolls, skewered mozzarella-tomato-basil bites, falafels, hummus, and a yummy seasonal dessert for a sweet ending.
The second day of this package should easily be the highlight of your San Francisco wine tours — the hot air balloon adventure! Mornings are the most appropriate time for hot air balloon launching and flying because it is the part of the day where the winds are at their coolest and most stable.
A buffet-style breakfast at the lobby of the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel will greet you and the other guests. Enjoy Starbucks coffee and freshly baked pastries to warm and fill your bellies as well as to wake up your senses and get you in the hot air ballooning mood! After receiving a brief orientation, then it’s time to go at the hot air balloon launch site!
Upon arriving at the site, you and your fellow guests have the opportunity to witness the balloons being inflated. Once the balloons are up and you are comfortably settled into the baskets, you will find yourself gradually lifting off the ground and up into the sky!
Once the hot air balloon floats high enough in the sky, enjoy a breathtaking 360-degree view of the world-famous Napa Valley, with incessant, neat rows of vineyards, the deep valleys, the rolling hills, trees that now appear like little clusters of broccoli, and the occasional morning fog that envelops the hills and the mountains. Witness the gradual rising of the sun above the horizon, waking up the fields, the valleys and the hills. Of course, a moment like this will have you taking lots of pictures and (appropriate) selfies as your personal souvenir!
After the one-hour flight, you and the other guests will be treated with a champagne brunch celebration, consisting of fresh, seasonal buffet goodies with sparkling wine! You and the fellow guests will excitedly give your own accounts of the wonderful and successful flight while dining on the delicious brunch.
Do you want to have a last-minute sightseeing or shopping before going back to San Francisco? If you choose to do so, then the Napa Valley Country Wine Tours will pick you up by the afternoon (after the brunch) and drop you off at either Oxbow Public Market or The Napa Valley Premium Outlets. Finally, you will be driven to the Ferry Terminal in Vallejo where you will take the ferry back to San Francisco — for free.
You will also have the option of being transported directly to the Ferry Terminal right after the champagne brunch.
Balloons Above the Valley’s “San Francisco Balloon & Wine Tour Package” will be the perfect way to spend a wine tour in San Francisco. To book this package, call us at 800-464-6824 or send an email to info@balloonrides.com.