Carmel/Napa Valley Honeymoon Itinerary
I have been meaning to write this blog post for a while because an overwhelming amount of you requested it when we came back from our honeymoon last July! So here it is. We spent 3 nights in Carmel by the Sea to just relax after the wedding and then headed up to Napa Valley to drink my body weight in wine and eat copious amounts of cheese. Hope you find this helpful if you’re planning a trip to the west coast anytime soon!
Carmel
Day One:
-Flew in to San Francisco and rented a car to drive down to Carmel. Stopped at Pebble Beach for lunch.
-Checked in to Tickle Pink Inn– truthfully the cutest inn I’ve ever stayed at. Gorgeous views of the ocean. They had wine and cheese night every evening on the common terrace for guests.
-Dinner at PortaBella – quaint delicious Italian food
Day Two:
-Brunch at Stationaery– delicious homemade cookies! We walked around town and shopped.
-Grabbed a drink next door to our hotel at the Hyatt. They have FABULOUS views and a bar.
-Ordered pizza for dinner from La Bicyclette and ate on our balcony
Day Three:
-Drove to Big Sur/Pacific Coast Highway during the day
-Lunch at Dametra – delicious Greek food
-Dinner at Toro– Dao Rosé was superb and honestly it was the best sushi I’ve ever had. Great date night vibes.
-We ended the night at Barmel. Super dive bar but so much fun. Tiny inside so get there earlier if you want a table.
Napa Valley
Day One:
We drove up from Carmel and arrived around 2pm. We stopped at In and Out burger then checked in to our hotel Napa Valley Lodge in Yountville. We hung out at the hotel pool for a while then headed to La Calenda (Mexican) for dinner. All the restaurants we ate at were walking distance from our hotel. We wanted to start off the trip without wine since the next few days would be heavy on the wine drinking 😂
Day Two:
We hired a local wine driver Carlos who was FABULOUS. He drove our rental car around to all the wineries for our tastings on this day. (DM me if you want his info). You will need to make reservations ahead of time at the wineries.
- Mumm Napa – in Rutherford. started with their champagne/cheese tasting it was SO good. Definitely great to start the day with.
2. V. Sattui– in St. Helena. Pretty good wine. Would definitely add it to your itinerary as they have an entire marketplace and food trucks on the weekends. Dog friendly.
3. Hall– in St. Helena. Tim’s Fave. Big red wine winery. I definitely enjoyed the wine here. One of the only ones that had an actual tour, which I appreciated.
4. Alpha Omega – in St. Helena. My fave but can’t afford the wine 😂. They comped our tasting so it got lit. It was a gorgeous winery.
-Dinner at R + D Kitchen: (American). It was directly across from our hotel and the perfect spot after the long day of wine tastings.
Day Three:
More wine tastings.
- Domaine Carneros– in Napa. It honestly wasn’t my favorite champagne but the vibe and aesthetic were beautiful.
2. Caymus- in Rutherford. They will comp your tasting if you order wine that day. It was so good and we definitely found new favorite wines here.
3. ZD– in Rutherford. My fave that day! Great vineyard views and the workers were so nice.
-Had dinner at Restoration Hardware in Yountville. It was DELISH! It was also such a gorgeous restaurant. Chandeliers, trees, bougie vibes.
There was also a taco truck parked right outside our hotel that was phenomenal! We went like three times. Tacos Garcia was the name.
Day Four:
- Castillo Di Amoroso– in Calistoga. I wanted to go here to get my Italian vacation vibes, but it was more like a tourist attraction since it’s built after a medieval castle. The rosé was good but all the other wine was fine. Views are incredible though. Don’t know if I’d tell people to go here.
-We had dinner at Bouchon in Yountville. THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD. They book up so fast though so set an alarm to make a reservation. Tim needed to dine here as it is a Thomas Keller restaurant and he loves chef things. This was definitely our splurge night but so worth it.
–RH wine vault – Had a night cap here. It had lounge bougie vibes. I felt like I was on Gossip Girl. It was the perfect way to end our trip.
