Exciting, luxurious, comfortable, and relaxing. Limousine tours can offer a unique way to enjoy your scenic trip in the Napa Valley.

    Sightseeing in the Napa Valley is always a pleasure but can be a hassle. Traffic on Highway 29 can distract from the beautiful scenery that you will want to enjoy. Finding a smaller, more memorable winery hidden off the beaten track may end up in a series of dirt roads going seemingly nowhere only to waste precious vacation time. Exploring the valley, as your own personal chauffeur may seem like a fun idea, but a few “tastings” later into the day, and this idea becomes more like a drag and potentially dangerous.

    So now you may be thinking, to be pampered like a celebrity, I am going to have to pay like a celebrity. Not necessarily. Limousine tours can actually be quite affordable whether you are traveling solo or you have a large group to entertain. Private 6 passenger limos typically start at $65 an hour all the way to $160 an hour for a 16 passenger limo bus. These are typically 6 hour tours if your pickup/dropoff location is in the valley. Doing some simple calculations, this is roughly $10 an hour per person, and around $60 for the entire day. Not entirely too costly, however, this does not include the wine tasting prices of each visited winery which can add up quickly when you are forking out over $10 a tasting. If you do happen to be traveling solo and still want a limousine tour at this price, California Wine Tours offers a 5 winery public tour including V. Sattui, Merryvale, and Niebuam Coppola Winery for about $70 a person.

    Some Napa Valley limousine tours offer a lunch menu which can add at least another $20 to $30 per person which seems expensive for a lunch, but should be considered if you are only planning on stopping at wineries which offer mostly bits of bread, crackers, and samples. This is because many are not allowed to serve food on the premises or even allow picnicking because of county restrictions.

    There are a variety of places to stop off at to grab a quick bite, like Oakville Grocery or Dean and Deluca, which are always fun places to pick up souvenirs and find a wide selection of Napa Valley goodies. Keep in mind, when paying for a limousine tour, the hour you spend at lunch adds $10 per person to this “cheaper” lunch. Also, these places can often be crowded which may be inconvenient for a larger group. Some wineries, including V. Sattui offer picnicking, and you can hit two birds with one stone.