San Francisco and Wine Country with Toddler?

[cresus]

Hi, I stumbled on a timeshare in San Francisco that's available in a few weeks (early February) and I'm hoping for some opinions. My wife and I have wanted to do a Napa/Sonoma trip for a while and this opportunity looks great but we're not too sure how to manage this. Does anyone have any experience doing the wine country trips with toddlers? Ours is a 20 month old who is usually great (did Italy at 1 yr old exceptionally well) but if there are no places for her to run around (and nap) it may be a difficult trip. Do the wineries typically have picnic areas or are there enough parks where that can be a planned destination on the trip? We figured that February would be slow season for the wineries so that would probably work out better in this regard. Any advice would be very appreciated. Even if it's "Your crazy! Cancel while you still can..."

P.S. Timeshare is Wyndham Canterbury at SF

 

[Rent_Share]

The answer to the questions is yes most of the wineries have picnic/garden areas to allow toddler room to stretch it's legs

Other observations

A car is a liability in dpwntown San Francisco and can add $25 per day in basic parking fees

It's a 100 mile round trip from SFO to NAPA

 

[vacationtime1]

A car is a liability in dpwntown San Francisco and can add $25 per day in basic parking fees

More like $40 - $50 per day.

Which is not to say that wine tasting in Napa (or Sonoma) is not a nice day trip from SF, only that if that is the major reason you would rent a car, rent for one day only.

 

[amycurl]

I took my 18 month old to the Hunter Valley in Australia, and she did great in all the wineries. We have a great shot of her falling asleep on my husband's shoulders during one of the tours.

(I think that resort is a Wyndham now; they were transitioning as we stayed there....it was great. We basically had our own two-bedroom cottage, with a fantastic patio that looked straight down the valley into the sunset. Huge picnic table where we would set out the "spoils" from the day's trip and have a fantastic tea time watching the sunset.)

 

[DeniseM]

If you are going to drink wine, rather than "swish and spit," you should consider a tour. Driving back on strange roads in the dark after imbibing all day would not be a good idea.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Remember too, that February can be cold and wet in Northern California, so whether there's a picnic area or not might not matter. Wyndham SF is lovely. We stayed there last summer. Beware the sales presentation.
Liz

 

[swift]

I live in this area. Hate to say this but cancel and reschedule to another time of year if you can, especially with a toddler. This is our WET time of year. Better to come in the fall. Here in Sonoma County we have received 6 inches of rain in the last 2 days.

Also, the energy and mobility of a 1 year old is very different than a 2 year old.