Downtown Napa – The Ultimate Staycation Guide
For my 31st birthday this year, I wanted to stay local and be in a place where I could walk around, eat delicious food, shop, and do some outdoor activities. Downtown Napa happened to be that place. With a wide selection of top rated restaurants, tasting rooms, boutique stores, and a river, Downtown Napa met all my criteria, so I was thrilled when Downtown Napa invited me to visit! We spent 3 days and 2 nights there and had a delightful time. Here’s a guide of how to spend your time in Downtown Napa:
Things to do in Downtown Napa
Wine Taste While Trying on Jewelry
Did you know Downtown Napa is California’s most walkable wine country destination? There’s over 45 tasting rooms in Downtown Napa alone. These tasting rooms are literally right next to each other, whether that’s right next door, right across the street, or right around the corner. You can literally walk from one tasting room to the next. How convenient is that? Gone are the days where you had to worry about arranging transportation to get from one place to another. Being able to freely walk around was especially convenient during these pandemic times.
One especially unique thing about Downtown Napa is that you can wine taste while trying on jewelry! Padis Jewelry is aiming to start offering wine tastings in their Napa store Memorial Day Weekend. I really wanted to do this, but since we were a bit early, the bar wasn’t quite set up, so we’ll have to come back next time. Imagine how fun of a trip it would be to bring your girlfriends to wine taste and try on diamonds!
Dine at World Class Restaurants
Downtown Napa has a diverse selection of world class restaurants to choose from and they are all walking distance from each other, which means you can go restaurant hopping! Nothing I love doing more than trying restaurants back to back! These were some of my favorites:
Kenzo
Kenzo is a Michelin Star restaurant serving authentic Japanese Sushi and Kaiseki delicacies with fish flown in daily from Toyosu Fish Market in Japan! We did a spontaneous trip so we weren’t able to get reservations, but luckily Kenzo has take out bento boxes so we were still able to get some sushi. The sushi and uni was buttery soft and delicious. I’m definitely going to make reservations in advance next time to dine at the restaurant.
Morimoto
Morimoto is an upscale contemporary Japanese restaurant by Iron Chef Morimoto. The food is a culinary mix of both Japanese and Western flavors and sushi. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating. I tried Morimoto in NYC back in the day and was happy to see that there was a restaurant in Downtown Napa. I’m going to be back to Downtown Napa much more often just to eat here!
La Taberna
La Taberna is a Spanish restaurant inspired by the Pintxo bars of Northern Spain, but with a modern twist. Every dish that we ordered here had unique flavors and was absolutely delicious. The empanadas here were especially reasonably priced – $5 for this huge empanada which would’ve cost more elsewhere. Usually when I order tapas, I really like a few dishes, and think some dishes are okay (mostly because tapas dishes are so small you’re ordering so many dishes, chances are some just aren’t as mind blowing) but I loved every dish we had at La Taberna and will definitely be back!
Sky & Vine
Sky & Vine is a rooftop restaurant & bar on top of the Archer Hotel. It is the sister property to Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse downstairs. The rooftop is a great spot to watch the sunset. There is one section where it’s swanky with fireplaces and cute lounge chairs and another section where it’s more sports bar like. They don’t take reservations, but the wait wasn’t too bad. They also have reverse happy hour which starts at 8pm where their well known dishes are heavily discounted, like their famous lobster corn dog. We didn’t try that though because we had just eaten a lot right before coming here, so we only tried the beet salad and the chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Both of which were yummy!
Oxbow Public Market
Oxbow Public Market is an indoor market with a few shops and a bunch of different restaurants to choose from. Some notable restaurants include Hog Island Oyster Company, The Model Bakery, Kara’s Cupcakes, Live Fire Pizza, Oxbow Wine & Cheese Merchant, and many more! There’s something for everyone here. There are tables and benches where you can eat both inside and outside.
Do Outdoor Activities
Downtown Napa has a river that runs through it and it just makes me feel like I’m in Venice or something! There are kayak tours and gondola tours on the river. The gondola is quite large and grand. I would’ve loved to do the tour, but my friend and I had our own equipment already. You can also rent kayaks and paddle boards at the Main Street Boat Dock (behind Morimoto) if you want to cruise along the river on your own. The best time to be on the river is in the morning because the water is calmer then. You can also see the hot air balloons fly over the river if you wake up early enough (I think sometime between 5am-6am). I really wanted to see the hot air balloons, but I can’t wake up that early.
Go Shopping & Enjoy the Art
Walking around Downtown Napa, we saw lots of art by local artists and lots of cute boutique stores. I wanted to buy all the clothes. They also had a few fan favorite stores, like Free People and Lululemon.
Go to the Spa
Downtown Napa also has 20 luxury spas. We didn’t have time to go to the spa this time, but I’m definitely going to come back and try them next time.
Where to Stay in Downtown Napa
Downtown Napa has 30 beautiful hotels and 13 picturesque bed & breakfasts, and we were lucky enough to stay at the charming 1801 First Luxury Inn. 1801 First Luxury Inn is rated a solid 5 stars on TripAdvisor with over a thousand reviews and I can totally see why!
The Rooms at 1801 First
1801 First has 8 suites in the main historic house and 3 cute cottages in the back. Each suite and cottage is decorated with its own unique design. We stayed in our own little cottage called ‘La Casa Dolce’ and absolutely loved it! We had our own patio outside our cottage that had a huge kumquat tree. Kumquats are very good for your health so we were thrilled to eat some. Inside our cottage, we had our own TV, fridge, fireplace, and bath tub – perfect for cozy evenings. Each room also has its own air conditioning, which comes in handy during pandemic times. Everything was well thought out inside the room – there’s yummy truffles waiting for you in the room and they even had a different color towel for you to use to wash off your makeup.
The Property at 1801 First
1801 First has a few common areas, like:
– The living room where you can read books and relax
– The dining room where the delicious breakfast is served and where there’s always coffee, tea, and fresh baked cookies at all times
– The outside patio where the daily wine & cheese hour is held
The Food at 1801 First
Since 1801 First is a B&B, you’re probably wondering what the breakfast is like. Well let me tell you, it is amazing! 1801 First leaves a form at your door daily where you choose what you want for tomorrow’s breakfast by 7pm the day before and choose what time you want to eat breakfast (8:30am, 9am, or 9:30am). The breakfast will then be ready for you the next day. They have three food options to choose from:
1. Chef Special of the Day – This changes everyday. When we were there, it was an omelet, and a smoked salmon egg scramble with a bagel. Both of which were sooo good!
2. Daily Classic Plate – 2 Eggs Scrambled with Garden Herbs, Served with Roasted Potatoes & Smoked Bacon
3. Continental – Local Yogurt with Home Made Granola, Hard Cooked Egg, Chicken Apple Sausage
Each of these three options comes with fresh baked breads, like croissant, muffins, and scones, and fresh fruit. I wish my breakfast could be the breakfast I had at 1801 First everyday!
The Hospitality at 1801 First
Overall, we had such a great experience at 1801 First because of the lovely staff and guests. Carrie, the owner, is so nice and a fun host! The other guests were also very friendly to talk to at the wine & cheese hour. After being in lockdown for so long, it was so nice to be able to happily interact with others again.
All in All
Downtown Napa was such a nice spot for a birthday staycation and felt very safe during the pandemic, with lots of outdoor seating. We also saw a bunch of bachelor and bachelorette’s parties while we were there, so Downtown Napa is also great for that. Located just an hour and a half from San Francisco, Downtown Napa is perfect for weekend trips. The drive to get there was also very scenic as you past through all the wineries. Can’t wait to go back! If you visit Downtown Napa, let me know. what you think!
Thanks to Downtown Napa and 1801 First Luxury Inn for hosting us!
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