How to spend 48 hours in the Napa Valley

Napa has a reputation that arrives before you do. The cabernets, the restaurants, the bottles you’ve been mentally adding to your collection for years. It would be easy to spend a weekend racing between appointments.

We recommend leaving a little breathing room. Alongside its celebrated estates, the Napa Valley offers mineral pools, excellent food and thoughtful hospitality, with plenty of opportunities to better understand what’s in your glass. Here’s how to make a weekend of it.

Friday: Take the waters in Calistoga

Begin at the northern end of the valley in Calistoga, where hot springs provide an excellent reason to ease into the weekend. Your base is Indian Springs Calistoga, a historic resort with palm-lined grounds and mineral pools supplied by thermal geysers. Its spa history stretches back to 1861, and that old-school holiday feeling remains central to its appeal.

A Palm View King room makes a comfortable base, but the pool is the main attraction. Drop your bags, find your bathers (or swimsuit as they say in California) and spend the afternoon doing very little. Relaxed and approachable, Indian Springs is also well positioned for exploring the northern valley once you’re ready to leave the water.

For dinner, keep things close to home at Sam’s Social Club on the property. Settle in for a meal, then take the short stroll back to your room. There’s plenty of time for cabernet tomorrow.

Leave room for a little indulgence with a soak in the hot springs or restorative massage between winery visits.

Saturday: Meet a few Napa classics

Devote Saturday to the wineries, allowing time between bookings to enjoy the conversations. Duckhorn, Cakebread and Heitz offer different perspectives on Napa, with exceptional hospitality across all three. In fact, the service is so exceptional that it's enough to make even a tip-wary Australian want too reach for their wallet!

Duckhorn Vineyards

Beautiful grounds, polished hospitality and a warm welcome make Duckhorn a memorable introduction to the valley. The service is polished, but the atmosphere encourages you to settle in and take your time. For all Napa’s associations with cabernet, Duckhorn is also a name to know for merlot. Give both your attention.

Cakebread Cellars

At Cakebread, the welcome is as memorable as the name on the bottle. Jack and Dolores Cakebread founded the winery in 1973, and it remains in family hands today. Their story is a reminder of the people behind Napa’s international reputation. Settle into the tasting and ask questions. The hospitality makes that history feel personal.

Heitz Cellar

Heitz brings a more formal feel to the day: think white tablecloths, attentive service and a tasting that feels like an occasion. For readers interested in classic Napa cabernet, we’d put it high on the list.

Founded in 1961, the estate holds an important place in Napa’s wine history, with its Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon among the region’s defining wines. It’s an excellent place to explore longevity and vineyard character, particularly if you’re considering which bottles deserve a place in your cellar.

Leave room for lunch

Oakville Grocery offers sandwiches, picnic provisions and outdoor tables – an appealing way to break up a tasting day without another elaborate booking.

For a food-focused detour, look towards Yountville, home to Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc. Fans of The Bear might also recognise The French Laundry from Carmy’s culinary backstory – though you can expect considerably less swearing and far more exceptional service with your dinner. If it’s on your wish list, make the reservation a starting point for your plan.

Make a reservation at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry the centrepiece of your Yountville detour.

Sunday: Make Meadowood your home in Napa

For the final part of your stay, head to Meadowood Napa Valley...although once you arrive, you may find yourself wishing you had allowed more than a day.

Set across 250 acres of wooded hillsides and wine-country landscape, Meadowood feels less like a traditional resort and more like your own corner of Napa Valley. The luxury is understated, but the hospitality is anything but. This is the kind of place where the team gets to know what you are interested in and can help shape the experience around you – from winery appointments and restaurant reservations to drivers and experiences you may never have found yourself.

Where Indian Springs is about embracing Calistoga’s relaxed charm, Meadowood is the place to settle in and go deeper into Napa.

Expect understated luxury and room to unwind at Meadowood Napa Valley.

Start with The Wine Center

For wine lovers, The Wine Center is reason enough to make Meadowood part of the itinerary.

Its educators take what can be an overwhelming wine region and bring it into focus through thoughtful, highly personalised tastings. Our Understanding Napa Valley experience with Josh Kelly moved from Morisoli Plinio’s Block Zinfandel and Kongsgaard Chardonnay through cabernets from Lithology Las Piedras, DiCo and Bergman, before finishing with a 1994 Spring Mountain Cabernet.

More importantly, it gave context to what we had been tasting across the valley – the differences between valley-floor, hillside and mountain sites, the producers shaping modern Napa and how these wines evolve with age. It is wine education without the classroom feel, and one of those experiences where you leave knowing significantly more than when you arrived.

Discover Napa’s varied vineyard sites through a tasting at The Wine Center with Josh Kelly.

Stay for the spa

The Meadowood Spa is designed for lingering rather than rushing in for a treatment and heading straight back out. Book a 90-minute massage and allow time on either side to enjoy the facilities, move between hot and cold therapy, find a quiet spot outdoors and resist the temptation to schedule your next winery visit immediately afterwards. This is Napa, after all. There is always tomorrow.

Eat, drink and stay awhile

Forum is Meadowood’s gathering place for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with menus centred around seasonal and local produce, including ingredients from Meadowood Farm and the surrounding region.

And this is where we would resist over-planning. Have a long breakfast, spend some time by the pool (perhaps for some tacos and a spicy margarita), wander the property or let the Meadowood team point you towards something you hadn't thought to book…a yoga class perhaps?!

Seasonal produce from Meadowood Farm and the surrounding region takes centre stage at Forum.

Before you go

Take advantage of the exceptional team at Meadowood, where very little feels like too much trouble. They can help curate your stay, from winery appointments and dining reservations to drivers and other experiences across the valley. Lean on their local knowledge and let them help shape an itinerary that feels considered rather than overpacked.

And leave a little breathing room between appointments – the best conversations rarely run to schedule.

Join Halliday in Napa Valley

We loved our 48 hours in Napa Valley so much that in 2027, we want to take a small group of just 8–10 Halliday Wine Companion members with us.

Over six days, we’ll start in San Francisco before heading into Napa Valley for an immersive deep dive into the region, its wines and the people shaping them. Expect exceptional winery experiences, serious wine education, standout food and hospitality, and access to some of the very best the region has to offer.

This will be a carefully curated Halliday experience designed for wine lovers who want to go deeper – to taste, learn, explore and experience Napa in a way that goes well beyond the usual itinerary.

If you’d like to be one of the first to hear more, register your interest here.