Frommer's Napa & Sonoma Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket)
by Avital Binshtock
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Book Summary Information
Author: Avital BinshtockEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-02-20
ISBN: 0470050217
Number of pages: 228
Publisher: Frommers
Book Reviews of Frommer's Napa & Sonoma Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket)
Book Review: Looks Good, But the Recommendations Are Terrible
Summary: 1 Stars
I was excited to see this book - I like the idea of specific tour ideas a lot, but once I looked below the surface, this book recommends places I would never ever send anyone. The budget tour, for instance, recommends V. Sattui. It is a complete waste of your time in Wine Country to visit such a tourist-only winery. It has awful wine and doesn't represent anything "authentic" about wine country at all. It makes me feel sad that any author would RECOMMEND going there or that anyone going there would think this is actually the real Napa. You could have gone to St. Clement instead.
It also recommends having a meal at Taylor's Refresher...would you waste a precious meal in Napa at a burger joint? When you could instead have gone to a special culinary spot, like Rutherford Grill or Tra Vigne instead for a lovely lunch instead.
And the idea of a wine country tour without a car - pull-ease. By balloon and limo instead? As if you will avoid the traffic? And bicycling in Napa is just plain foolish, although many fools do it. Shall we review the statistics on bicycle deaths by car on Napa's primary roads? Filled with tourists who don't know their way around driving - and who have been drinking? The weekend traffic on 29 will surely leave you feeling like you have been cycling the relaxed and rustic byways - NOT. You should have brought your dust mask. But with guidebooks like this one, who can blame you for heading down this road?
Recommending that people dine at the French Laundry, which requires reservations a month in advance - (and, if you win the lottery, your call might get through) - is cruel and unusual punishment. Shame on you, for setting these unrealistic expectations - and sending people off to be frustrated by the reservation phone line (always busy) at the French Laundry, drink horrible wine at V. Sattui, and off to see Copia, a wine museum that was always a failure and is now closed. (You could have gone to a perfectly lovely restaurant that is authentically "wine country," drunk one of the best Chardonnays in the world, or spent time at the diRosa, a truly great wine country art collection instead.)
The Napa in a day tour seems odd - who in their right mind visits downtown Napa if they have but one day to spend in wine country? No one. It's okay, if you have several days to spend, but who would recommend walking around Napa when there's St. Helena or Calistoga. And then sending people on a one day tour of Napa to Rubicon, the late-arriving, commercial, tourist trap interloper, over more authentic wineries? Why not send people at least to the places mentioned in the Paris Tasting? Or Bottle Shock? Grgich Hills and Chateau Montelena would be so much better as recommendations. And saying that Domaine Chandon makes the valley's "most renowed bubbly" - please, don't insult the audience. That's a highly debatable honor - and it's more likely that title belongs to Schramsberg, not this corporate-owned French joint, which is still a fun place, but not perhaps as authentically Napa as Schramsberg (although you should visit both, in a best case scenario). This book makes no sense to me.
There are so many better options - I am just shocked that Frommer's would use this great format - specialty tours - and put such rotten choices in it.
One more complaint - each day tour seems to me to have about twice as much activity in it as is really a good estimate on time. I would recommend doing no more than 3-4 wineries per day, and combined with lunch and dinner and gazing...that will be more than enough for the average person. This book has an art tour that boggles the mind. The diRosa museum itself is a half day tour - and well worth it. This book recommends it as one of five art museums PLUS five wineries - in both Napa and Sonoma. Well, if you can speed climb El Capitan in Yosemite in three hours, then this is the tour for you!
I say all this as a person who has visited and brought friends on wine country tours for about 20 years...not often, but often enough to know what to do and what not to. If you want to visit tourist traps and race from one to another, for the most part, use the recommended specialty tours in this guide. Otherwise, you might use this book to make up your own tours...
It's too bad, Amazon makes you enter one star at a minimum to post a review. If I could give this book negative stars I would.
I would recommend reading a great book about Napa - like both of the titles by James Conaway - and then the Paris Tasting book by Taber. That way you will see the real Napa story.
Summary of Frommer's Napa & Sonoma Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket)
These attractively priced, four-color guides offer dozens of neighborhood and thematic tours, complete with hundreds of photos and bulleted maps that lead the way from sight to sight. Day by Days are the only guides that help travelers organize their time to get the most out of a trip.- Full-color package at an affordable price
- Star ratings for all hotels, restaurants, and attractions
- Foldout front covers with maps and quick-reference information
- Tear-resistant map in a handy, reclosable plastic wallet
- Handy pocket-sized trim
At last, a travel guide that tells you how to see the best of everything?in the smartest, most time-efficient way.
- The best of Napa & Sonoma in one, two, or three days
- Thematic tours for every interest, schedule, and taste
- Tips on wine-tasting, including best wineries for aspiring oenophiles
- Walking tours of the region's best-loved towns
- Outdoor itineraries to fit in active pursuits between wine-tasting, such as exploring the region by bike, in a kayak, and along hiking trails
- Hundreds of evocative color photos
- Bulleted maps that show you how to go from place to place
- Hotels, restaurants, & shopping, for all budgets
- A tear-resistant foldout map?enclosed in a handy plastic wallet you can also use for tickets and souvenirs
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