The valley unspools north from downtown Napa, and the easiest day trips are the wine towns strung along it. Yountville, fifteen minutes up Highway 29, packs the most Michelin stars in the country into a walkable few blocks. St. Helena is the prettiest of the towns, with a stone main street, the Culinary Institute's Greystone campus and Beringer and Charles Krug within easy reach. At the north end, Calistoga trades the wine-country polish for hot springs, mud baths and a frontier-era main street.
For a change from tasting rooms, the volcanic country around Calistoga has a cluster of geological curiosities — Old Faithful Geyser of California, the silica-turned redwoods of the Petrified Forest, and, an easy drive east, the Monticello Dam's giant morning glory spillway at Lake Berryessa. The quieter Silverado Trail up the east side of the valley is the most enjoyable way to link these stops.
