Though it may not be as large as South Australia’s Barossa Valley, California’s wine region in the Napa Valley is where you can enjoy the endless scenery of vineyards that covers hectares of land, even if you aren’t a big fan of wine.

It is located about an hour drive out from San Francisco. This will give you the chance if you hadn’t done so to drive across the city’s Bay Bridge (which I personally think is much nicer looking than the Golden Gate Bridge especially at night). On the other side, you’ll also get the chance to see the childhood drawings of green hills come to life. Remember those days when you were in primary school and you’d draw hills with the sun either just setting behind the hills or is shining brightly above it? As hard as it is to explain you’ll understand it when you see it because it is nothing like what we have in Australia where if we drive out from a city, all we get is a combination of bushlands made of shrubs and rocky walls.

Napa Valley is a place that lets you appreciate the feeling you get when you arrive in a small town but not nearly small enough that it is so secluded. Rather, Napa, the main town of Napa Valley, is filled with great character – plenty of small cute boutique stores that specialise from knitting to souvenirs which run along the main road and is usually buzzing with visitors during the weekends. There are even chocolate stores with hand-made chocolates just for those with a sweet-tooth to satisfy. This is also the place to grab information before your start your own guided tour of wine tasting. There are also plenty of wine tours that are offered that will take you to the popular vineyards but out of personal preference, driving on your own will let you visit the vineyards you usually wouldn’t see if you were on a tour.

Often than not, the popular vineyards offer free wine tasting but there are also a lot of places that are family owned and will charge about $10. You’ll also get the option to go on wine tours at individual vineyards to find out how each place makes their own wines. Whilst you’re visiting the vineyards, drop by V.Sauti to enjoy a relaxing picnic on their lawn and do it like a true Italian with good bread, good cheese, good Italian styled salami and of course good booze!

For more information, visit www.napavalley.com